Solutions Panorama

Women Enhancing
Agribusiness with
Technology
Featuring:
GROOTS Kenya
Where:
Kenya
Time Frame:
2012 - Present
DESCRIPTION
In 2012, GROOTS Kenya decided to expand the level of technology accessible to women farmers
with the ‘Accelerating Rural Women’s Access to Agricultural Markets and Trade’ project. The
organization believes that by increasing the capacity of women farmers to track successes
and challenges, the women will be inspired to accelerate their own development and influence
positive change around them.
GROOTS identified 3,500 women farmers in the Nakuru and Kitui counties to participate in the
project. The women were organized into 131 common interest groups, according to their core
area of work—poultry, dairy, or horticulture. One member of each interest group was provided
with a computer tablet and trained on how to use the tablet. The group leader uses the tablet to
collect information from group members about their savings and enterprise performance on a
monthly basis. This information is automatically transferred to a central web-based management
information system. A number of reports are generated automatically that provide the women
farmers with feedback on their achievements. The user can also generate customized reports in
different formats, including excel spreadsheets and charts.
IMPACT
Poultry
production
increased from
an average of
5 to 50 birds
per farm and
milk yields
have increased
in the range of
5 to 15 liters
per cow per
day.
Since the project began, poultry production has increased from an average of 5 to 50 birds
per farm, and milk yields have increased in the range of 5 to 15 liters per cow per day. Women’s
understanding of agribusiness has grown, with 237 women trained in how to collect and track farm
management data.
LEARN MORE
Accelerating Rural Women’s Access to Markets and Trade;
grootskenya.org
Accelerating Rural Women’s Access to Agricultural Markets and Trade;
youtube.com
Submitted by Global Fund for Women
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