Empowering tea communities in Kenya

What we have achieved so far

Since the partnership started in January 2022, we have established 53 groups for smallholder farmers and informal workers in three communities. Through the groups 1,474 Rights Champions, 1,098 women and 376 men have been trained who in turn support others to learn about and claim their rights from the Duty Bearers, those people or institutions such as employers or government departments that have a responsibility to respect, promote and realise human rights. The groups have taken part in training on women’s rights and local government responsibility for providing essential public services, such as health care, education, water and housing that respond to the needs of women and girls.  

Three multi-stakeholder platforms have been established, one in each community, providing networks that link communities to Duty Bearers (such as community leaders, government officials, child protection services, police and court prosecutors) and enable conversations around rights issues, child labour, sexual and gender-based violence, support for survivors of violence, and provision of improved public services by the government in tea growing communities. 202 Duty Bearers have been engaged through the multi-stakeholder platforms to date.  

The platforms have been instrumental in establishing community-led local reporting mechanisms, providing channels for community members to report rights violations and have these addressed in a timely manner.  

We have supported women and girls across the three communities to address gender-based violence, through training, regular meetings and strengthening women’s networks. 144 Women’s Champions have been trained and supported to train other members of the community through a training-of-trainers model. A total of 2,880 people so far have been reached with information on their rights and the laws and policies in place to prevent sexual and gender-based violence. 

To date 231 survivors of violence have been supported to access justice through referrals to medical, psychosocial and legal support. Survivors’ networks have also been established, providing safe spaces for survivors to meet and share experiences, access support services, and discuss ways to increase their income through alternative options.  

Rights Champions have been supported to develop Community Led Participatory Change Plans, submit Memoranda to their County Governments for their priority needs and participate in local government planning processes. As a result, communities have successfully secured local government commitments to build and maintain key roads, construct new classrooms, equip two hospitals with maternity wards, improve piped water, and build new public toilets in the project communities.  

The project has also started a 'Back to School' campaign following a study produced by the project outlining the high prevalence of child labour in the programme communities. To date 131 children have been re-enrolled in school across the three programme locations. Recorded instances of child labour have reduced from 42 in 2023 to 32 between January and June 2024.   

To improve livelihoods across the three communities, 47 groups have been supported to legally register and adopt the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) model, enabling people to save and access loans to improve their incomes. Groups have also undergone training delivered by the Kenya Tea Development Agency to support them to diversify and improve their livelihoods.  

The project has also undertaken research and developed a report on the status of women’s land ownership in the project communities. The report contains recommendations for promoting land ownership by women and is being used to ensure land rights issues are addressed through the multi-stakeholder platforms. To date, 49 women have been supported to seek justice on land rights. 

The project has also completed reviews of key laws and policies in the tea sector, as well as laws and policies to protect women and girls from violence in Kenya, providing a useful tool to advocate for improvements in the sector and for policy violations to be addressed.