Kenyan county, Kakamega unveils smart plan to empower thousands of villagers and boost growth of local business

Kakamega County has allocated Sh70 million ($700k) to be divided among its 12 sub-counties and see every village in the county specialise in producing items they have an edge in.
The county has since budgeted Sh100 million ($1m) for setting up training centres where small scale traders would be trained.

A Kenyan county has unveiled an innovative plan to empower thousands of villagers and boost growth of local business under a plan called one-village-one-product programme.

Kakamega County has allocated Sh70 million ($700k) to be divided among its 12 sub-counties and see every village in the county specialise in producing items they are good and have an edge in.

Under the one-village-one-product programme, villages will also be expected to diversify their produce and focus so that they create demand for neighbours' village products.

The county has since budgeted Sh100 million ($1m) for setting up training centres where small scale traders would be trained.

“We have set aside Sh100 million to train small-scale traders to identify possible trade ideas and come up with products they want to be promoted through value addition,” said Trade executive Kassim Were.

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These training centres will be established across all the 12 sub-counties.

Mr. Were added that the county would graduate from practising part-time business, to full-time operations and has already developed and refurbished six markets while eight others are currently under construction.

The county government has enacted the Kakamega County Trade and Markets Act, 2017 which has established market management committees to streamline operations of the markets.

Kakamega County Governor Hon Wycliffe Oparanya, said the act would go a long way in raising the profile of the County as an ideal investment and business hub with a bias in industrialisation, trade and tourism.

“The development and refurbishment of markets is geared at ensuring traders operate under conducive environment and promote revenue generation within the county,” said Mr Oparanya.