625,000 Smallholder Farmers Targeted in Heifer Kenya’s New Roadmap

By Sharon Atieno

A new roadmap unveiled by Heifer International Kenya promises to improve the livelihoods of some 625,000 smallholder farmers in 26 counties across Kenya by 2030.

The Practice for Change (P4C) Program Framework (2025-2030) will build resilient, farmer-owned groups through legal, financial and governance support. It will forge strategic private-sector partnerships to unlock inclusive, sustainable growth. Also, it will equip farming communities with tools to boost incomes and create lasting impact.

“Despite challenges such as climate variability, pest, and inadequate technology access, we see tremendous opportunity to accelerate hundreds of thousands towards a sustainable living income through market-based approaches within selected value chains,” said Clarice Bugo- Kionga, Interim Country Director, Heifer International Kenya, noting that the targeted value chains under the P4C Program include poultry, dairy, beef, and horticulture.

In the 44 years of Heifer International’s presence in Kenya, the organization has reached more than three million smallholder farmer households.

“The P4C program is based on the foundation that we have laid and the lessons learnt in the past, scaling through the model while integrating local expertise, digital technologies and climate-smart innovations to reach more farmers,” she said.

The program will focus on four thematic areas. The first area is accelerator integration, which aims to harness access to finance, technology, and innovation in agriculture. Under gender and women inclusion, P4C will promote equal benefits and enhanced empowerment of women through various interventions.

In the area of youth empowerment, the goal is to empower youths by investing in skills development, creating business opportunities and promoting private sector partnerships for youth engagement.

Under climate resilience, it will incorporate eco-friendly, climate-smart agricultural practices and partner with private actors and local public institutions to incentivize innovation in green-smart technologies.

Surita Sandosham, President and CEO, Heifer International, noted that the program reflects the organization’s shared commitment to inclusive rural development, building on the strength and potential of Kenya’s farmers, especially women and youth.

“At the core of this practice for change program is creating opportunities that are locally driven, market-oriented, regenerative and sustainable,” Sandosham said.

She observed that the P4C takes a system’s approach to market development, targeting key agricultural value chains. It invests in building the resilience of farmer-led organizations, improving productivity, increasing their profitability and opening access to sustainable markets.

In a speech read on his behalf by Dr. Christopher Wanga, Director Livestock Policy Research and Regulations, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the Cabinet Secretary, Mutahi Kagwe observed that the initiative is timely coming at a time when the agricultural sector in Kenya is undergoing transformation.

“Agricultural transformation is not a sprint; it is a decade’s long journey. It requires us to modernize on-farm production, integrate value addition and create systems that are both productive and resilient,” Kagwe said, noting that the transformation is central to accelerating economic growth, reducing the cost food, alleviating poverty and achieving food and nutrition security for all Kenyans.

“If implemented well, the practice for change programme will support the transformation of Kenya’s agricultural sector and uplift the lives of our smallholder farmers.”

The program aligns with Kenya’s Vision 2030 and the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) to drive inclusive economic growth by strengthening agricultural value chains and fostering cross-sector partnerships.

The US$ 95 million required to implement the program will be mobilized through a combination of Heifer’s resources, catalytic capital, and co-managed funds with donors and public institutions.