Empower

Empowering Women
In Kenya, the majority of field laborers and farmers are women and a great many of them end their days nurturing children in poor and disease-stricken environments. NECOFA works with women’s groups to develop income-generating projects and microfinance initiatives to empower them financially and politically, and introduces them to sustainable technologies that significantly reduce their physical efforts. For example, NECOFA provides training on value-added uses of the indigenous Molo lamb – the Karunga Women’s Group in Molo, Kenya, make and sell handcrafted woolen animals, rugs, and bags. NECOFA and the women are marketing these products in the United States, Germany and Italy and via the internet. In a contest in Eugene, Oregon, a rug made by these women won first prize.

Fighting Poverty. NECOFA organizes events such as Food Fairs and Food Days. In Octobe 2007, they organized a Poverty Requiem Event that brought local attention to the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.

• The Poverty Requiem included a Salvation Army Brass Band, a “Speak Out” session, and a 400-member children’s choir. NECOFA presented a petition to the Ministry to step up efforts to eradicate poverty by 2015.
• NECOFA promoted the event to community members and the press.
• NECOFA visited schools to train students in Poverty Requiem songs, and recruited other NGOs to exhibit and “speak out” against the lack of efforts to reduce poverty.
• To attract more attention to the event, we invited exhibitors to provide information on sustainable agriculture to the audience and to demonstrate their skills, foods, and other products in the town sports stadium.