Empowering women to protect wildlife in Kenya

60 women from a rural community in Kenya are joining a trailblazing project to train them for careers as small business owners and make them advocates for wildlife 

Problem

Rural communities rely on natural resources for shelter, food, water and fuel for sustenance. 

Women are at the forefront in interacting with nature as they provide for their families, but ironically are marginalized when it comes to socio-economic empowerment and leadership of their lives and the natural resources they engage with. 

The need to generate an income for families is putting increased pressure on nature and wildlife. Loss of wildlife habitat and migration routes is occurring at an alarming rate leading to increased human-wildlife conflict causing injuries and deaths to both people and wildlife. 

Finding solutions to human-wildlife conflicts that allow local communities to make a sustainable income while giving wildlife the space to thrive is one of the most challenging but most important conservation tasks of our time. 

Solution

Together with the German foundation Margarete-Breuer Stiftung (MBS), IFAW is supporting 60 women in the Amboseli community with three-year vocational skills training in professions such as hairdressing, dressmaking and catering. 

The Jenga Mama (Swahili for “Empower a Woman”) education project will equip these women with the tools to set up microenterprises successfully to generate sustainable incomes for their families and communities. By the end of 2023, the 60 women will be prepared to sustainably run the business enterprises established by them.