Community empowerment has become a cornerstone of sustainable development projects, enabling communities to access knowledge, resources, and innovations that ensure objectives of donor-funded projects (such as the ongoing Mama Link project on maternal health) are achieved.
It is against this backdrop that the project’s Maternal Health Champions, including staff from the Rural Integrated Development Programme (RIDEP) (the partner Community Based Organization (CBO)) and a few community health promoters (CHPs), visited Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) to gain various insights that could benefit members of the Thara-Nithi subcounty where the project will be implemented.
Welcoming the delegation on Tuesday August 12, 2025, Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Research, Production and Extension (RPE), Prof. Jackson Kwanza, applauded the Mama Link Project as a timely intervention in improving maternal health outcomes.
He emphasised the importance of continuous Monitoring and Evaluation to ensure that all parties achieve set objectives, deliver tangible community benefits, and demonstrate impact that satisfies donor expectations.
During the meeting, the project lead, Dr. Mwikamba Kaibui from the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, who also serves as Director of Linkages at RPE, stated that the Mama Link Project was presenting a smart TV and a laptop to RIDEP to enhance training capacity.
These tools will facilitate virtual meetings between JKUAT experts and RIDEP field teams, as well as expand the delivery of health and agricultural training to the rural communities in Tharaka Nithi Sub – County.
RIDEP’s team leader, Ms. Susan Wanjiru, expressed her gratitude for the donation.
“Sometimes we need to train farmers using video content but cannot due to a shortage of such equipment. We also share laptops, so with this additional one, we can work on reports on time and submit them promptly. We look forward to more collaborations,” she said.
Dr. Florence Kyallo from the Department of Human Nutrition Sciences noted that the smart TV would facilitate farmer training and support the engagement with the Community Health Promoters (CHPs) thus ensuring uninterrupted delivery of information aimed at improving maternal and newborn health. This, she said, would strengthen the link between JKUAT’s research expertise and RIDEP’s grassroots implementation.
The visit concluded with a tour of key JKUAT facilities, including the Cricket Centre, the Department of Food Science, and JKUAT Enterprises (JKUATES), which produces a variety of agricultural innovations such as tree seedlings, and animal feeds most notably the Black Soldier Fly (BSF).
The exchange allowed project beneficiaries to engage directly with experts and witness firsthand how research outputs can be transformed into income-generating ventures. For example, JKUATES offers affordable tree seedlings retailing for as little as Ksh 50 with no wholesale requirement. This can help farmers venture into the export market. The resulting income can, in turn, improve household livelihoods, including access to better nutrition for their families.
The Mama Link project, funded by VLIR-UOS, is a partnership between JKUAT, RIDEP and three other Kenyan universities, working in collaboration with VIVES University of Applied Sciences in Belgium through Prof. Tony Claeys and Prof. Magali Depauw.
