Empowering Women Farmers and Bridging Divides: The Impact of Shibuye Community Health Workers Organization in Kakamega County

By Joyce Nyaboga, Capacity Strengthening Advisor, USAID Advancing Nutrition, and Dorothy Waweru, Communications Assistant, Save the Children

It is a bright Tuesday morning, on the 16th of May, 2023 in Kakamega County, Kenya where the sun's golden rays gently illuminate the lush landscape, welcoming us to a mesmerizing farm owned by the Shibuye Community Health Workers' community-based organization (CBO). In 1999, 15 women founded this grassroots, women-led organization to provide care to community members when HIV was declared a national disaster in Kenya. Since then, the group has grown to include close to 2,000 women.

On this particular day, a team from USAID Advancing Nutrition , led by Capacity Strengthening Advisor Joyce Nyaboga, is checking in on the CBO. USAID Advancing Nutrition has been working with Shibuye to strengthen its systems in implementing coordinated multi-sector nutrition interventions that benefit the local communities.?

The team is warmly welcomed by some of the women in the organization who are busy assessing the progress of their farm, including their cone gardens where they have planted highly nutritious crops such as the isukha and murenda—vegetables indigenous to the area. Violet Shivutse, director and founder of Shibuye, warmly welcomes the team.

Violet wears many hats. She is the global chair and African regional representative of the Huairou Commission, which supports grassroots women-led organizations in 43 countries. She is also the co-chair of the Scaling Up Nutrition Kakamega chapter, an alliance of civil society organizations and private sector actors that advocate for nutrition in county policies to combat malnutrition and ensure food security in the county’s communities.

Shibuye's work extends to five sub-counties in Kakamega County, where it implements nutrition and climate adaptation initiatives. One significant aspect of their work is advocating for women's land rights. Violet explains that it is impossible to talk about nutrition and food security without addressing the issues of land rights, especially for women who are primarily responsible for putting food on the table every day for their families. She adds that Shibuye has invested in legal clinics, where lawyers assist widows who are being thrown out of their homes, denying them access to agricultural land.

"We also follow up on women's livelihoods, such as their business centers, which can sometimes be closed down by family members when they lose their husbands, exposing them to economic vulnerabilities," said Violet.

When asked about the state of nutrition in Kakamega County, Violet observed the need for a coordinated approach that was previously lacking.

"Initially, there was a lack of coordination between sectors in the county, including health, agriculture, education, water, social protection, and civil society. This fragmented approach hindered the comprehensive addressing of malnutrition cases, as caregivers would only rush their children to hospitals when they suspected malnutrition, without realizing that nutrition-oriented agricultural activities could promote better health and nutrition outcomes in their children."

Violet noted that it was when USAID Advancing Nutrition arrived in Kakamega County that a coordinated multi-sectoral nutrition platform was launched. Through this coordinated approach, CBOs like Shibuye have been able to amplify their voices and advocate for policy changes and budgeting for nutrition-inclusive interventions to ensure that the nutritional needs of children, women, youth, elderly, and other community members are met.

USAID Advancing Nutrition facilitated a joint organizational capacity assessment that revealed gaps in organizational management, which Shibuye have since addressed to improve their programs. Reflecting on how far Shibuye has come in terms of practice and governance, Violet said that the organization is now recognized as a peer learning organization by other grassroots, women-led organizations.?

USAID Kenya is working to advance nutrition in other counties in Kenya. Visit our website to learn more.