Baringo County in Kenya is located in the basin of the Molo River, one of the watercourses that originate from the Mau Forest, the largest rainforest in East Africa. The Baringo lowland belongs to the semi-arid belt of the country and is exposed to the risk of desertification, affected by both droughts and floods and the growing impact of global warming. These climatic conditions threaten the food security of the area. The malnutrition rate reaches 25%, while more than 50% of families live below the poverty line.

The city of Marigat, the main commercial hub of the area, was chosen as the main area of intervention.

The project is in continuity with the experience that Mani Tese and its local partner NECOFA have gained in previous years to promote food security.

The project aims to promote food and nutritional security within Baringo County by guaranteeing new job opportunities, particularly for women and young people, and by developing local poultry production. In particular, efforts will be made to increase poultry production and trade in its products to ensure that the entire county population has access to better quality food.
Information and awareness-raising activities will also be promoted in Italy, aimed at the population of the Emilia-Romagna region, on the valorisation of local agricultural production.

• The project envisages the introduction, in Baringo County, of an improved poultry breed, the IMPROVED KIENYEJI, selected in a special government research centre and particularly suited to the arid environment of the area.
• A poultry centre with a solar incubator for raising chicks will be built in the city of Marigat.
• Ten family poultry houses will also be built and given to ten families, who will receive a supply of improved poultry and materials to be used in the construction of the animal shelters. The families will also be involved in training on poultry house management and animal care.

Households will be selected on the basis of social criteria (such as particular vulnerability, the presence of women as heads of households and interest in agricultural production) and technical requirements (such as the availability of a small plot of land and water sources not too far away).

This pilot experience will enable other families to approach this type of activity, allowing it to be replicated.

• In Italy, awareness-raising activities are planned in Emilia-Romagna, in the cities of Bologna, Faenza and Finale Emilia, with the dissemination of the project results and the main issues addressed: circular economy, sustainable agriculture, activities to counter the effects of climate change, the importance of economic independence for local communities and equal opportunities.