Strengthening Livelihoods to Keep Children in School

When families cannot meet their basic needs, children are pulled out of school. The decision is rarely made against education. It is made against hunger.

They are sent to work, to herd, to fetch water, or to take on paid labour that supplements the household's income. Girls are married off, in part because a married daughter is one fewer mouth to feed. Boys are drawn into casual labour, or into activities that put them at risk. The decision is rarely made against education. It is made against hunger. A family that cannot put food on the table will make the choices that put food on the table, even when those choices cost a child her schooling. Economic stability at the household and community level is therefore not separate from the work of keeping children in school. It is one of the conditions that makes it possible.

We support community-based projects that generate income and strengthen local livelihoods. The projects are designed and run by the communities themselves. This is deliberate. A project that is designed in an office and delivered to a community is a project that the community may use while it lasts and abandon when it ends. A project that is designed by the community, with the community's own priorities and capacities at its centre, is a project that the community has a reason to sustain. Our role is to support these projects with resources, technical assistance, and connection to markets and services. The ownership belongs to the community.

Our Approach

Supporting small-scale agricultural projects

Small-Scale Agricultural Projects

How it works:

  • We support small-scale agricultural projects. Many of the communities where we work depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, and small improvements in what they are able to produce can make a meaningful difference to household income.
  • We work with farmers to improve the practices they use — better seed, better timing, better storage — and to reduce the losses that occur after harvest. Where a community has land that is not being used productively, we work with the community to bring it into use. Where a community is producing more than it can consume, we help connect it to markets where the surplus can be sold.
  • The purpose is not to transform the local economy. It is to increase the margin that households have, so that a bad season does not mean a child is withdrawn from school.

The purpose of this work, from the perspective of a child, is that the household the child belongs to is not under so much pressure that the child has to be withdrawn from school. A family that can meet its basic needs is a family that can afford to keep a child in school. A family that has some margin is a family that can absorb a bad season without making a decision that costs a child her education. A community that has economic activity is a community that offers its members a reason to stay and build a future. The work of community-based economic projects is not separate from the work of keeping children in school. It is one of the conditions on which that work depends.

A community-based economic activity

Community-based economic projects are designed and run by the communities themselves. When households have enough stability to meet their basic needs, they are able to keep their children in school.

Our commitment

When families cannot meet their basic needs, children are pulled out of school. Community-based economic projects strengthen local livelihoods so that households can keep their children in school.

Join us in strengthening livelihoods

Help us support community-based projects that generate income and strengthen local livelihoods. Support our campaign, volunteer your time, or partner with us to build economic stability across Kenya.

Every action counts—only a willingness to act is required.

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A community-based livelihood project

Strengthening livelihoods

When families cannot meet their basic needs, children are pulled out of school. The decision is rarely made against education. It is made against hunger.