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Kinakoni - smart solutions for a better future

A pilot project in the Kenyan village of Kinakoni investigated the causes of hunger – and developed solutions together with founders from Nairobi’s young start-up scene.

Gruppenfoto auf einem Feld mit Nutzpflanzen

Africa

Kenya

Kitui, Kinakoni

Funding period: 2021-2024

Kinakoni is a village located in Kitui Counti in southeastern Kenya, approximately 300 kilometres from Nairobi, and has about 5,000 inhabitants. Water is extremely scarce in the entire region, and many children show symptoms of malnutrition. Most families live on less than 10 euros a month.

From 2021 to 2024, a pilot project was implemented as part of an initiative of the foundation Stiftung stern – Hilfe für Menschen e.V., Hamburg, and its main project partner on the ground, Welthungerhilfe Kenya. The Wilo-Foundation was a co-sponsor of that initiative. The aim was to use the example of Kinakoni to examine the structural problems that cause hunger and malnutrition whilst developing analysis-based, practical solutions that can later be replicated in other villages and regions as well. The approach was based on developing intelligent, smart solutions together with the villagers and regional start-up companies in order to sustainably improve life-threatening living conditions for Kinakoni's inhabitants. For this, the project initiators worked with local venture capitalists, for instance.

To improve the water supply, tanks were installed in Kinakoni to collect rainwater running off rocks. In addition, a trial field with vegetables is delivering good yields despite a persistent lack of water. Photo: Wilo-Foundation

What grows best under the conditions of climate change in an increasingly dry area like Kinakoni? Which cultivation methods work? Stiftung stern – Hilfe für Menschen e.V., Hamburg

Frauen bei der Arbeit auf einem Feld — Villager Josephine Mbuvi on another newly created test field in Kinakoni. Photo: Stiftung stern – Hilfe für Menschen e.V., Hamburg

The period ran for a three-year period and was accompanied by comprehensive monitoring. A lot has changed since the start of the project: thanks to TechLit, a young organisation from Nairobi, school children can now attend computer and even programming classes at their fully renovated school. Less than a year ago, the school was in danger of collapsing and had no power or internet connection. Today, there is a Wifi network covering the centre of the village. This, too, was made possible by Kenyan entrepreneurs: the company Kakuma Ventures. The company buys data packets from major mobile phone operators and then makes them available to villages at low prices via Wi-Fi antennas.

Evi Hoch (Vorstandsmitglied Wilo-Foundation) und David Höltgen (Wilo-Foundation) besuchen Kinakoni — The Wilo-Foundation visits Kinakoni in July 2024. Photo: Wilo-Foundation

A solar-powered mill from the Nairobi-based start-up Agsol, for example for millet, is used by the farmers for a fee and offers the cooperative an additional income. Photo: Wilo-Foundation, Credit: John Kuria

Another project outcome is that the honey from Kinakoni (a village with a long beekeeping tradition) will also be sold in the Kenyan capital soon, thanks to a newly founded cooperative that has partnered up with young businesses from Nairobi. The village’s own computer room has also been integrated into the vocational school, ensuring its continued financing in the future. Moreover, agricultural test plots have been created in order to develop new cultivation methods. This, in turn, has led to the creation of new cooperatives. A solar-powered mill operated by a Nairobi-based company can be used by farmers for a fee, for instance for grinding millet. This generates additional revenue for the cooperative.

Photo Header: Stiftung stern – Hilfe für Menschen e.V., Hamburg

Our funding partner

For almost 50 years, stern has been committed to helping people in need through a wide variety of aid campaigns. Inspired by its readers' great willingness to help, stern decided in December 2003 to manifest its charitable commitment and founded its own independent association: Stiftung stern – Hilfe für Menschen e.V., Hamburg. The foundation works with international aid organizations and provides financial support to projects whose trustworthiness the stern reporters are convinced of.

Welthungerhilfe is one of the largest private aid organizations in Germany, politically and denominationally independent. Welthungerhilfe has been active in Kenya with partner organizations since the 1970s. Since 1993, there has been a country office in the capital Nairobi.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) forms the global framework for action for socially, economically and ecologically sustainable development. Our funding commitment also supports these sustainability goals. With this project, we are making a contribution to achieving the following SDGs:

What are the SDGs`?