Building resilience among smallholder Kenyan farmers

Send a Cow Kenya was joined today by representatives from Stanbic Bank, Mannion Daniels, Kenyan Ministry of Interior and Co-ordination of National Government and the United Nations Environment Programme to discuss the role organisations can play in supporting smallholder farmers to build resilience. The event is sponsored by Stanbic Bank, Kenya.

A culmination of global crises in the last couple of years has sent shockwaves through the most vulnerable communities and created setbacks in many areas where progress had previously been made. The deadly combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly frequent climate shocks is predicted to result in the doubling of food insecurity in Africa and an additional 60 million Africans being pushed into poverty.

Send a Cow Kenya has been working alongside smallholder farming communities in western Kenya for the last 25 years to accelerate lasting change in all these areas. Achievements from the last four years are documented in their recently published Kenya Impact Report.

Stanbic Bank Kenya, Chief Executive (CE), Mr. Charles Mudiwa (second right), Head of Stanbic Kenya Foundation, Pauline Mbayah (second left), Country Director Kenya, Send a Cow, Titus Sagala (left) and Chief Administrator Secretary (CAS), Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Lawrence Omuhaka during the Send a Cow Report Launch at Hilton Hotel, Nairobi.

Debate at the event focused on what resilience looks like for smallholder farmers and the importance of all aspects; social, economic and environmental. Smallholder farming families, who make up approximately 70% of Kenya’s population, are no strangers to unexpected shocks and stresses.

With COVID-19 shining a spotlight on the need to support vulnerable communities to build the capacity to withstand unexpected shocks and stresses. The discussion also focussed on how to safeguard the progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Kenya. The panellists discussed why there is no place for ‘business as usual’ and why partnerships between the public, private and civil sectors are an effective way to build resilience.

” This is a task that requires collaboration from all fronts. Coming together and leveraging on our strengths will certainly contribute to us realizing this and also achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs). This will also have a significant impact on a number of levels, further contributing to the growth of our economy,” said Stanbic Bank Kenya Chief Executive, Mr. Charles Mudiwa.