Barclays has donated £75,000 to the Coastal Rural Support Programme in Kenya, or CRSP(K), which is a project of the Aga Khan Foundation.  The programme seeks to achieve sustainable improvements in the livelihoods of poor households.

In Chilumani, a remote and drought-prone village in the Kwale district of Kenya, more than 80% of the population lives below the poverty line.  Poverty levels are especially high among women, who often act as the heads of households when men move away from home to look for seasonal work. 

In 2000, with the support of the Coastal Rural Support Programme, the community formed a Village Development Organisation (VDO) so they could take charge of their own development. 

Mwanaisha and Hadija are two women who are active members of the VDO.  When they joined, they started working in a farm group, growing fast maturing maize and vegetables supported by the agriculture improvement sector of CRSP(K) and benefiting from water harvesting structures which CRSP(K) had facilitated.  As a result their food security and income have improved considerably.

In 2005, they also started participating in a goat project, which has introduced a new breed of goat to the village.  They contributed about 15% of the cost (approximately US$15) to purchase ten new Galla goats each.  They are much bigger than the local breed, give more milk and are more competitive in the market.  As the women explained, “Galla goats can be sold more easily for a higher price than the local goats.  We used to get around US$12 for the sale of a local goat but now we are getting around US$44 for a Galla goat.

Yet the goats are rarely sold, the benefits that this new breed brings include improved nutrition and food security through milk consumption and the use of manure to improve crop production.  So they are kept and used for a kind of capital accumulation or a ‘walking bank account’.  As the goats produce offspring, the women can exchange them for cows, which can be used for ploughing and milk production, as well as for meat.

Both women started the project with 10 goats and now they have over 25 goats each. 

The goats have become so valued that they are only sold in an emergency.  Owning the goats has increased the women’s bargaining power when it comes to allocation of family resources.  Health and education have become top priorities in their households.

This project has not increased the women’s workload, as it takes the same amount of time to care for a local goat as it does for the Galla breed. The women have still been able to engage in other income generation projects, like vegetable production.

Through sales, exchanges and cross-breading, Galla goats are being acquired by the majority of households in Chilumani, extending the benefits to the entire village.

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