Thematic area
- Food Security
- Agrifood
Project type
- Research, capacity building
Country
- Kenya
Duration
- 3 years
Partners
- Laikipia Permaculture Centre (LPC)
- Centro Laici Italiani per le Missioni (Ce.L.I.M.);
- Cap Holding (Consorzio Acque Potabili Milano)
Scientific supervisor
- Angela Bassoli
Founded by
- AICS, Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo
Snapshot of project
| Objectives | Beneficiaries |
|---|---|
| The intervention responds to the weaknesses identified among the agro-pastoral groups of Laikipia County, in the arid areas (ASAL) of northern Kenya: poor agronomic skills, limited access to water resources, poor profitability of business activities related to supply chains and tourism. Through a holistic approach originating from Permaculture Principles, the project aims at increasing agricultural production and profitability of business activities for 11 target groups (770 direct beneficiaries), improving in this way the economic conditions of the agro-pastoral groups of Laikipia North, and encouraging the resilience of the communities in the arid and semi-arid areas of Laikipia County. The main actions concern the training and supply of equipment for agriculture, access to water for four communities, support to supply chains suitable for dry climates (honey, aloe, opuntia) and strengthening the tourism sector. All actions are anchored on environmentally friendly methods and principles to have a positive impact in mitigating desertification and encourage the protection of local natural resources. The transformation of opuntia stricta, in particular, is a suitable methodology to contain the propagation of this intrusive plant species, which diffusion in the area represents a threat to the community, causing injuries to people, as well to both domestic and wild animals. Due to ulcerations caused by the spines when animals feed on it, Opuntia stricta cause the death of Maasai population’s livestock which is the main economic activity hence, raising the poverty levels of the already poor indigenous communities in Laikipia. The leading organisation of the project is IPSIA, an NGO with a long-time experience in the rural development sector. The NGO CeLIM will be responsible for the component on value chain and tourism. Scientific partners of the initiative are Cap Holding for the water component and the Department of Food Science of the University of Milan for the food processing component. The local counterpart is Laikipia Permaculture Centre, an internationally recognized training centre, which has introduced projects on Permaculture and value chains in the county of Laikipia, obtaining the recognition of local institutions. | Laikipia Permaculture Centre (LPC); local agropastoral target groups and communities. |
| Role of UNIMI |
|---|
| 1st and 2nd year: on-site visit for technical consulting for improvement of local agrifood processing (from aloe, opuntia, honey); 3rd year: hosting of technical personnel from Laikipia for capacity building in food technology. |
| Attachments |
|---|
| File |