Nuru Kenya

By 2030, Nuru Kenya wants to build the resilience of smallholder agricultural communities in six counties of remote rural Kenya by eradicating extreme poverty and establishing sustainable locally-owned agribusinesses.

Established in 2008

Nuru Kenya helps Kenyan farmers and their families lift themselves out of extreme poverty by helping farmers move from subsistence to building thriving farmer-owned and farmer-led cooperative agribusinesses. Nuru Kenya works to end extreme poverty together, one community at a time.

Nuru Kenya works to end extreme poverty together, one community at a time.

Headquartered in Isibania, Nuru Kenya works with farmers in Migori and Homa Bay Counties and plans to expand programming to Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet Counties by 2025.

Locally-Led Development

Nuru believes that the best solutions to fighting extreme poverty come from the local community, and we are a 100% locally-led organization with locally-designed solutions built for driving long-term positive impact for our farmers.

Nuru Kenya Model

Nuru Kenya is distinct in its approach because from the beginning we address the problem of extreme poverty with a vision to exit communities as they develop profitable farmer cooperatives.

View the Model In Depth

Our Model Highlights

  • Exit Strategy

    Over a period of five to seven years, Nuru Kenya works together with local cooperative leaders to help them develop the capacity to stand on their own with solid leadership while providing farmers with opportunities to improve their livelihoods through establishing market linkages for both crops and dairy.

  • Livelihoods Approach

    Nuru Kenya helps farmers build sustainable and profitable farmer cooperatives and increase their incomes. Nuru also provides farmers access to regional and international markets to support their families.

  • Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET)

    Nuru Kenya has identified that there are no locations within Kenya that provide formal training for farming communities who want to organize into cooperatives. Nuru has established a TVET in Migori County with farmers coming from other parts of the country to learn best management practices for starting and managing cooperatives.

  • Social Enterprise

    Aside from its work directly with farmers, Nuru Kenya has established Nuru Social Enterprises, which purchases milk from farmers and processes it to form yogurt which is sold throughout southwestern Kenya.

Impact

Nuru Kenya uses a variety of tools and third-party evaluation to assess its impact on farmers and communities. Read more about our impact here. Read about our impact in dairy livelihoods here.

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    Increase in Income

    Farmers are better equipped to cope with shocks as they diversify livelihoods and increase their incomes.

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    Increase in Crop Yields

    As farmers increase their crop yields, they are able to address household hunger, and sell their surpluses for a profit.

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    Reduction in Child Mortality

    Nuru’s approach helps significantly reduce under five child mortality in communities where it works.

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    Cooperative Profitability

    As cooperatives achieve profitability, Nuru is able to step away, leaving behind sustainable local businesses for thousands of farmer entrepreneurs.

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    SCOPEinsight Score

    Nuru Cooperatives exceed regional and international scores for cooperative sustainability.

Awards and Honors

Nuru Kenya has received accolades including:

Acumen East Africa Leadership Fellow

Managing Director Pauline Wambeti participated in this one-year fellowship in 2018 and used the time to develop her team’s forward-looking strategy and approach.

Climate Smart Agriculture Project of the Year Finalist

In 2018, Nuru was shortlisted by the Aid and International Development Forum for its innovative approach to climate smart agriculture.

Aid & International Development Forum

For the last several years, several Nuru team members have been invited to share their vision for scaling impactful and locally-led development programs in East Africa and beyond.

Six Best African Nonprofits

The career advice website for the Akilah Institute for Women in East Africa, named Nuru International in 2015 list of The 6 Most Inspiring Companies to Work For in East Africa.

Stopping As Success Case Study

Nuru Kenya was featured in this USAID Funded research project looking at successful exit of international NGOs from local communities. Learn more.

Anthem Award

Nuru Kenya Managing Director Pauline Wambeti was named Nonprofit Leader of the Year in the Humanitarian Action & Services Category in the 2nd Annual Anthem Awards.

 

Our Team

Coming from a wide array of backgrounds and experiences, our staff are committed to working to cultivate lasting meaningful choices in the most vulnerable and marginalized communities in Kenya by improving the lives and livelihoods of Kenyan smallholder farmers and their families.

Nuru Kenya Strategic Leadership Team

Nuru Kenya Staff

  • Andrew Chacha

    Security & Administration Officer

  • Ann Kathambi

    Cooperatives Accountant

  • Arkippo Adams

    Veterinary Officer

  • Daniel Gisiri

    Training Officer

  • George Kimani

    Dairy Program Officer

  • Hillary Reagan

    Monitoring & Evaluation Manager

  • Joseph Muniu

    Training Officer

  • Joseph Nyariguti

    Procurement & Logistics Officer

  • Kennedy Koech

    Regional Leadership Team: Production Manager, Nuru Social Enterprises Ltd.

  • Matiko John

    Regional Leadership Team: Dairy Program Officer

  • Maureen Jepkemboi

    Senior Human Resources Officer

  • Paul Mwita

    Training Officer

  • Philip Moseti

    Monitoring & Evaluation Officer

  • Sophylyne Sanya

    Accounts Receivable Officer

  • Victor Charo

    Regional Leadership Team: Regional Training Coordinator

  • Vivian Muthoni

    Accounts Payable Officer

Financials

Nuru Kenya’s Financials are managed by Grant Thornton to ensure rigor and transparency. Through this innovative partnership, our team can focus our efforts more on adapting, improving, and scaling our operations.


News & Updates

Learn more about our latest efforts in serving farmers and their families.


More News & Updates

Contact Us

Want to learn more about our work or support our efforts? Please reach out and we will work to respond promptly.

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