The World Bank through its Western Kenya Community Driven Development and Flood Mitigation Project (WKCDD&FMP) has given out grants totaling to over Ksh. 200 million to various community development groups in Lugari and Likuyani sub counties.
Speaking during a stakeholders meeting held at the Lumakanda Teachers Advisory Centre (TAC ) Hall the project coordinator in charge of the two sub counties Ms. Mercy Nyongesa revealed that for the last 9 years the project has been in the region, it has heavily invested in the area and managed to reach and empower over 315, 000 people from the two sub counties.
The meeting brought together projects officials from the benefiting communities and line ministries official to chat on the way forward on the sustainability of the WKCDD&FMP projects as the project closes its activities in the area.
She said that the main objective of WKCDD&FMP was to empower local communities to engage in livelihood income generating activities and thereby lower the incidence of poverty as well as reducing vulnerability of people living in the region to adverse impacts of flooding.
“This project mostly targeted the disadvantaged in society to unshackle them from debilitating poverty,” she said adding that such a measure was aimed at seeing the country realize vision 2030.
Consequently, she said that the poor, the less fortunate, youth, the aged and the physically challenged were fully involved in the project.
She disclosed that the funding was done in three categories which included micro projects, Support to Local Development (SLD) and Natural resource management.
Under the micro projects categories a total of 21 sub locations were considered with 67 groups engaging in agricultural based activities such as dairy cow and goats farming, poultry, rabbits, tissue culture banana farming, green houses among others being funded.
In the second category of support to local development the project mostly focused on value addition and infrastructure where it constructed a fully equipped Amaranth processing plant, a chicken processing plant, animal feeds processing plant several milk coolers, irrigation and gravity water projects, construction of fully equipped workshops for persons living with disabilities, market stall and several foot bridges among others.
In third category 41 groups were funded to engage in Natural Resource Management activities.
As WKCDD&FMP closes its activities in the area Ms. Nyongesa urged residents to ensure continuity of their projects to enable them fight poverty.
“Since its inception in 2008 WKCDD & FM project had pumped over Ksh. 200 million into the area to fund various community initiated programs,” she said arguing that the projects should not be let to ground following the exit of the lending agency.
Ms. Nyongesa encouraged benefiting communities to work in liaison with line ministries and other collaborators and also work smart by embracing modern technology within their diverse income generating activities in order to boost productivity as well as sustaining WKCDDFMP projects and efforts in the region.
She emphasized on the need for proper community participation in decision making processes, transparency and accountability so as to develop trust, which she observed was important for attracting other donors to the region in the future.
