Goal 1

About 57% of Kenya’s population are among the global P20 (the poorest 20% of the global population). Based on estimates of extreme poverty ($1.90/day), Coast, Eastern and North Eastern regions of Kenya would have to maintain near record levels of poverty eradication to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030.

Some of the CSO Contributions

Target 1.4: By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular, the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance

1. Caritas Kenya promoted access to financial services for 6,398 farmers in Machakos, Makueni and Kitui counties for agribusiness. For the purchase of farming inputs, the value of loans accessed was KES 15,769,910 in 2018. 
2. Caritas Marsabit disbursed cash grants of KES 500,000 to eight women’s groups. It also provided shade nets for 12 groups. The support that Caritas provides has assisted in diversifying livelihood options for target communities who were once dependent on livestock as a main source of income.
3. Islamic Relief Kenya assisted over 200 women to access financial facilities in Kajiado county. The women-initiated microenterprises thereby improving household income to above a dollar a day and providing the ability to access basic services

Target 1.5: By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters

1. Caritas Kenya contributed to improved income from mature goat breeds it supplied to farmers. Caritas Malindi supplied 116 bucks (he-goats) in Magarini sub-county, Kilifi county to improve the local breeds from 2017. By Jan 2019, around 2,129 kids were sired in Mombasa in Magarini sub- county. A mature improved goat sells at KES 6,000, double what previous breeds used to fetch.

Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

While agriculture contributes 30% to gross domestic product , the country meets the needs of its people through both formal and informal imports of maize, rice and wheat. Food insecurity in Kenya is closely linked to historical underperformance of the agricultural sector and the lack of consistent focus on food productivity and sufficiency at household level pose as challenges. However, the Government of Kenya has been increasing budgetary allocation to the State Department for Crop Development.

Whereas the target to achieve 100% food and nutrition security by 2022 is ambitious considering that the proportion of the population living below the food poverty line is 32%;, several initiatives are in place to support the achievement of these targets in Kenya. These include the establishment of a Common Program Framework, the existence of devolved government, close collaboration of the national government and development partners on the issue, particularly those most affected in arid and semi-arid land (ASAL) and the establishment of the National Drought Management Authority in Kenya in 2016.

Some CSOs' contribution

Target 2.1: By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round

Recognising no food security without food safety, Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS)-Nairobi under the Voice for Change Partnership Project is leading the dairy food safety and loss reduction advocacy engagements to enhance consumer welfare in the dairy sector by improving milk safety and reducing milk losses. Apart from providing evidence, CUTS-Nairobi undertook several interventions including providing forums to share the existing and emerging issues on food safety and ultimately enhance consumer awareness and protection. It also built the capacity of religion- and community-based organisations to be effective consumer champions in pilot counties (Laikipia, Nyandarua, Murang'a and Nakuru.)

Target 2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality

Agriculture and Climate Risk Enterprise Ltd (ACRE) Africa’s project, Downscaling Agro-Weather Advisories and Index Insurance for Sorghum Farmers, aimed at piloting and scaling up of innovative private sector investments in agricultural adaptation and low carbon, climate-resilient services and assets. Implemented in Nyandarua, Kisumu, Siaya and Homa Bay between 2016 – 2018 emphasised agro-climate and agro-weather information services to smallholder farmers to address climate/weather risks. For instance, pre-season alerts and notifications were communicated to farmers via an information and communications technology platform and local channels, reaching over 4,000 farmers in three years. The exit survey indicated that 85% of the farmers made climate-informed plans and decisions.

Target 2.a: Increase investment, including through enhanced international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension services, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks in order to enhance agricultural productive capacity in developing countries, in particular least developed countries

ACRE Africa contributed to SDG 2 through its Getting Farmers Insurance Ready – Bridging the Protection Gap implemented from 2018 in Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, Siaya, Kisumu, Embu, Meru and Uasin Gishu counties. The project aims at the local communities’ trusted social structures to promote uptake of insurance services. The programme operates using the Village Champion Model – a peer-to-peer knowledge transfer channel model. The village-based change mechanisms are in the form of a network of rural change agents, called champions, who are trained in good agricultural practices; financial literacy and insurance. The ACRE Africa project’s outcomes are: 362,050 farmers trained in good agricultural practices; 650 rural change agents (champions) recruited to train farmers using a peer-to-peer model; and 3,625 farmers purchased insurance.

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Presently, the country has a proportion of 14 doctors per 100,000 population and 42 nurses per 100,000 population as at 2016. This is below the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of 21.7 doctors per 100,000 population and 228 nurses per 100,000 population. There is regional disparity within the distribution of existing health workers in hard to reach areas.

Upscaling of insurance coverage for the vulnerable, referral hospitals construction, availability of health personnel and specialised equipment for hospitals are the top priorities of The Government of Kenya in its effort towards universal health coverage. The National Hospital Insurance Fund covers 6.2 million Kenyans or 15% of the population. The government aims to increase the number of Kenyans covered under the health insurance scheme to 13 million by 2022.

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

The government of Kenya (national) provides free primary education and free day secondary education as part of its efforts to achieve SDG 4 to achieve universal primary and secondary education. County governments oversee implementation of early childhood development education and technical and vocational education and training.

Still, education is one sector that clearly depicts the close linkage between poverty and schooling. There is inequality across regions in terms of households with a child in or out of school. Some counties which are poor under SDG 1 in the National Voluntary Report, such as Mandera, Wajir and Garissa, register the highest share of children out of school - more than 50% of households having a child out of school; while Nyeri and Murang’a, are ahead of Nairobi with an impressive record of no child out of school. The link between poverty and schooling is also reflected in total years of schooling. Again, inequality across counties is evident in the share of low years of schooling. Turkana, Mandera and Wajir take the lead with more than half of households registering low years of schooling. Nairobi, Machakos, Bomet, Kiambu and Nyeri have a record low share of less than 3% of households with low years of schooling.

Some CSOs' contribution

Target 4.1: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes

Twaweza East Africa under its flagship programme, Uwezo, has been producing evidence on the learning levels of children and their distribution in the country for the last 9 years. Between September 2016 and July 2017, Twaweza East Africa under the Husika project reassessed pupil and teacher absenteeism in Baringo and Kilifi counties. It reported that there was an 8 percentage points’ improvement in appreciation that teacher absenteeism was a problem in the counties between baseline and end-line; 5 percentage points’ improvement in teacher attendance; 11 percentage points’ improvement in appreciation that pupil absenteeism was a problem among community members; and 3 percentage points’ improvement in pupils’ attendance. The programme reached over 5,000 children, 1,700 teachers and 74 local level administrators.

Target 4.5: By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations

Since 2017, VSO Kenya facilitated access to quality and inclusive education for children and adolescents with disabilities in Kisumu, Siaya and Wajir counties for 368 children with disabilities (197 boys and 171 girls) and 60 adolescents with disabilities (34 male and 26 female). Under its Education and Empowerment project for out of school girls, it has managed to reach 200 extremely marginalised girls from Kisumu and Siaya. The organisation trained 104 teachers (27 male, 77 female) on appropriate teaching methodologies for deaf children with enrolment of 185 deaf pupils (101 boys, 84 girls) in pre-primary and lower primary; and family members (131 male, 205 female) of deaf children equipping them with sign language skills.

Target 4.6: By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy

Informed by the Uwezo report (2015), ZiziAfrique chose three counties, Turkana, Tana River and Bungoma to implement the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) between January 2018 and June 2019. These counties ranked among the bottom 7 with every 10 learners in grade 3, only 3 had the expected reading ability. ALP is designed to reach learners in middle school (grades 4 and 5) falling behind in foundational literacy and numeracy skills. The goal of the program is to ensure that all children can “read with understanding” and “reason with numbers”. ZiziAfrique reports that the programme has so far benefited 777 children (376 boys and 401 girls), but the ultimate target is to reach 3,600 by end of June 2019. About 31% of learners enrolled for the program had progressed and could read a basic story in Kiswahili. This was a 15% improvement from 17% who progressed to story level in the first cycle of the learning camps.

Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Gender-based violence

Sexual and gender-based violence is one of the most pervasive human rights violations in the world. Whereas there has been tremendous progress in the formulation of law in this area such as the Protection against Domestic Violence Act, 2015, gaps still exist in implementation of the law. Additionally, there is a notable vacuum in available official data on violence and exploitation against women.

In this regard, GROOTS Kenya (a national movement of grassroots women-led community-based groups) conducted community led research on violence against women in Laikipia, Kiambu, and Kakamega and Kitui counties. Data collected and analysed by GROOTS Kenya show that the majority of violence takes place within the home setup with 84% in Laikipia, 79% in Kitui, 77% in Kiambu and 75% in Kakamega county. In all the cases, intimate partners are the key perpetrators with 33% in Kiambu, 47% in Kakamega, 35% in Kitui and 49% in Laikipia.

Unpaid care and domestic work

There is little appreciation and recognition of unpaid care and domestic work (UCDW) in Kenya. Unpaid care and domestic work is indispensable in contributing to the well-being of individuals, families and societies. Female workers spend more time in UCDW than male counterparts. CSOs, such as GROOTS Kenya and Oxfam in Kenya have been conducting assessment on UCDW in counties and urban informal settlement areas, respectively. Data from four counties indicate that in Kakamega, a female worker spends 84% of her time in UCDW, which is 5.3 times more than a male worker.

Access to ownership and control over land

Despite various progressive pieces of legislation enacted in the recent past, Kenyan society is still predominantly patriarchal, and women are constantly side-lined and discriminated against particularly with regard to land ownership and control.

Some CSOs' contribution

Target 5.4: Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate.

Since 2015, Oxfam in Kenya has been working on addressing unpaid care work under a project on promoting livelihoods and inclusion of vulnerable women working in the urban informal economy. The project is working with 30,000 women living in the Nairobi informal settlements of Mukuru, Kibera, Kawangware, Mathare and Korogocho. Oxfam in Kenya sensitised a total number of 11,185 people (3,075 men and 8,110 women) UCDW. Oxfam in Kenya supported women from the informal settlements in the campaign to increase budget allocation to water and early childhood development education (ECDE) that have been identified as care reducing infrastructure. The campaign at ward and county levels resulted successfully in consideration of these two services in the 2018–2022 County Integrated Development Plans (CIDP).

GROOTS Kenya together with community champions lobbied for changes in budgetary allocation to ease burdens on those carrying out UCDW. As a result, in Kitui county KES100 million was allocated to promote and train communities on the installation of clean cook stoves. It also successfully lobbied for increased allocation to water infrastructure development in Laikipia whereby several dams are being constructed to address water scarcity in the area.

Target 5.a: Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws

To enhance financial access to grassroots women, GROOTS Kenya established the GROOTS Savings and Credit Co-Operative (SACCO). The SACCO is a financial vehicle for women to access larger loan amounts at flexible and affordable rates.

Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Similar to access to education and health care services, inequality in access to water and sanitation services across counties in Kenya is staggering. While 80% of households in ten counties have access to water from improved sources, five counties have less than 40% of households having access to the service.

Some CSOs' contribution

1. The Kenya Water and Sanitation Network supported two schools in Kilifi and Kwale counties with a student population of 1,085 (544 boys and 531 girls) to have access to improved hygiene in their schools.
2. Kenya Water Health Organization, Laikipia Wildlife Forum, Neighbours Initiative Alliance and Centre for Social Planning and Administrative Development, formed a strategic partnership to address poor water governance in Athi and Ewaso Ng’iro North Catchment area.
3. Under the Watershed empowering citizens, five-year programme (2016 – 2020), the CSOs aim to produce evidence including tracking of Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and water resource management budgets and expenditure using the life cycle costs approach and TrackFin.