Kitise Rural Development (KRD) is a Community Based Organization (CBO) currently operating in Makueni County, Kenya. The organization was started by community members in 2005 to address the problem of water scarcity. Later, its mandate expanded to cover other key sectors in development such as Livelihoods and Health.
KITISE FARMERS COOPERATIVE SOCIETY
WO-NI SACCO COOPERATIVE SOCIETY LTD
Member-focused cooperative providing:
- Agricultural financial services
- Savings & credit facilities
- Member investment programs
SMART AGRICULTURE & PRODUCTION
Kitise Rural Development's Smart Agriculture Initiative:
- Precision farming tools & technology
- IoT-based crop monitoring systems
- Data-driven production techniques
- Sustainable resource management
- Digital market linkages
Our Core Values
Transparency
At KRD, we maintain open communication about all our water and livelihood projects in Makueni,
ensuring community members understand how resources are allocated and used.
Accountability
We take responsibility for delivering measurable results in our community development programs,
regularly reporting back to our SHG members and partners in Makueni.
Honesty
In all our water access and youth empowerment initiatives, we provide truthful information
about project challenges and successes to build trust within Makueni communities.
Hard Work
Our team demonstrates relentless dedication to solving water scarcity and improving livelihoods
across Makueni's challenging terrain through persistent grassroots efforts.
Professionalism
We implement all our health and economic programs with the highest standards,
training local volunteers to deliver quality services throughout Makueni.
Commitment
Since 2005, we've maintained unwavering focus on sustainable development solutions
tailored to Makueni's unique environmental and social needs.
Our Vision
To be an effective organization that harnesses and utilizes available resources and opportunities to empower and develop communities across Makueni County.
Our Mission
To strengthen the capacity of communities to self-organize, embrace sustainable development practices, and take ownership of their growth for long-term self-reliance.
KITISE RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Management Board (MB)
Project Management Committee (PMC)
Projects implementing staff
Project volunteers
Ward/Grassroot committees
Beneficiaries
Kitise Rural Development promoted and continues to support 2 main, cooperatives in the target area.
- 1.Kitise Farmers' Cooperative Society, established in 2014.This cooperative aggregates, value adds and markets farmers produce. Currently it is involved in 3 main value chains; pasture, milk and green grams.
- 2.Wo-ni Sacco Cooperative Society Ltd, established in 2017 provides financial services to the farmers.
Projects
Makueni Governance
The Makueni Governance Project sought to promote just and accountable governance through public participation in 2 wards within Makueni County, namely Kitise/Kithuki and Makindu wards. The interventions ran for 7 months, directly impacting 2896 community members...
Project Details
Makueni Governance Project sought to promote just and accountable governance through public participation in 2 wards within Makueni County, namely Kitise/Kithuki and Makindu wards. The interventions ran for 7 months. The project directly impacted on the lives of 2896 community members in the area of governance and rights. The implementation plan was built on a theory of change guided by the following assumptions;
(1) if the community governance systems are strengthened, citizens will exercise their capacity to demand for quality service delivery;
(2) if government and community governance systems increase coordination, collaboration and informed decision making through meaningful public participation, services will be more accessible and responsive to the needs of the Citizens, and;
(3) if the capacity of the Citizens is enhanced, Citizens will be empowered to demand, exercise their Social-economic rights and benefit from quality public services.
To achieve the goal, the project was working on the Christian Aid thematic area of governance and rights. It focused on one outcome: Active citizen participation where communities are empowered to demand for their socio-economic & gender rights. The project left in place community structures and systems that will continue empowering the citizens to demand for their social-economic & gender rights. This has been realized through 3 major approaches highlighted below;a. Community governance system strengthening; The project in collaboration with Makueni county government has put in place 26 TOTs and 40 Opinion Leaders as part of development committees at cluster and ward levels for Kitise/Kithuki and Makindu as pilot wards in the county.
b. Capacity building; The project in collaboration with County government of Makueni continuously trained and sensitized the community on their social-economic rights in order to increase their knowledge thus enabling them to make informed decisions through public participation reaching out to 2896 citizens (1054 male, 1637 females, 205 PWD) citizens
c. Community empowerment; the project supported community engagement forums with service providers either directly or via media.
The project worked with all the stakeholders in the governance space. Through this, the multi sectoral approach to development was embraced as characterized by synergy between the County government, key stakeholders and civil society organization. In future, the good working relationship between stakeholders, government and the citizens enhanced by the project will continue to foster the focus of citizens. To further improve on this, there is need for intensified civic education to empower citizen to rightfully demand for quality service provision as opposed to rivalry between communities for projects that may not reflect their needs. The project learned that given space, communities can surface out their needs through public participation and with support of professionals informed by data the county has the capacity to design projects that reflect needs of the community.Kitise Rural Development promoted and continues to support 2 main, cooperatives in the target area.
- 1.Kitise Farmers’ Cooperative Society, established in 2014.This cooperative aggregates, value adds and markets farmers produce. Currently it is involved in 3 main value chains; pasture, milk and green grams.
- 2.Wo-ni Sacco Cooperative Society Ltd, established in 2017 provides financial services to the farmers.
