AUDACIOUS MESPT FETED AS DEVOLUTION WARRIOR

Micro Enterprises Support Programme Trust (MESPT) emerged the second runners up of theDevolution Warrior Awards Kifaru category. This was announced during the second edition of the awards, organized by the Council of Governors on 16th August 2023, in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County. The Kifaru Award category recognizes individuals or   institutions that have provided support and taken a keen interest in a particular devolved sector. They also objectively address the issues that relate to that sector.

MESPT’s work in line with the award

Funded by the Danish International Development Agency  (DANIDA),  the European Union and the Nature Conservancy, MESPT has been supporting the agriculture and financial sectors in twenty seven  counties across the country. This has enhanced their capacity in agricultural productivity, access to finance for employment creation and poverty alleviation with a focus on women and youth. To start with, these   counties have increased agricultural productivity and food safety. This has  resulted  in the  establishment of  seventeen  county food safety committees whose  members  have been  trained on food and feed control system ,  besides  domesticating   food and feed safety regulation at the  county level.

Secondly, twelve agricultural training centres have been revamped through renovations that support training. They have also been equipped with modern facilities for training of farmers in agriculture. These centres are accredited and are attracting youths and different organizations for training and meetings. In the same vein, twelve counties have their regulatory framework on feed and food safety in place with increased county investment in surveillance and inspection. There is a budget provision in their 2023/2027 county integrated development plans.

Another major achievement is that five wet markets  have new infrastructure, staff trained on sanitation and hygiene, market management, new food and feed inspection philosophy. They have also developed wet market management policies and bills.

By the same token, four hundred and sixty five county staff have been trained as trainers of trainees (TOTs). Their role is to provide training and extension services on sanitary and phytosanitary standards focusing on the competency based education and training   approach. The TOTs have trained 16,964 value chain actors as well as 3000 champions for food safety.

Moreover, fifteen green technologies have been promoted and 8,000 farmers have adopted them. The farmers can save energy and water and know how to reuse their waste, thus increasing their incomes while conserving the environment.

All in all, 150,000 farmers have been trained, Kshs.7 billion in sales turnover realized, 70,000 jobs created and 600 youth enterprises strengthened. Additionally, Kshs.6.6 billion has been  disbursed in form of  credit,  reaching over 350,000 end users for investment in agribusiness and impacting over 1,330,000 people in Kenya ( the Reaverage household  size being 3.8). This underscores the pivotal role that is played by MESPT in the socio-economic development of Kenya.

 Devolution Conference and Warrior Awards

Over the last nine years, the Council of Governors, in collaboration with other devolution stakeholders, has hosted seven annual devolution conferences. This year’s conference in Eldoret marked the eighth edition. The conferences seek to take stock of the progress made in devolution.  They also offer a platform for sub-national governments to deliberate on matters of interest and upscale these conversations on a national and global scale, besides promoting sharing and learning of best practices both locally and beyond.

As part of the devolution conference, the Council of Governors holds the Devolution Warrior Awards aimed at recognizing and celebrating the efforts of individuals and institutions that have shown exemplary performance in promoting, protecting and championing devolution in Kenya. Indeed, the journey of devolution has been marked by successes, challenges and new opportunities that offer unique solutions to some of the most pressing problems facing our society today. The Devolution Warrior Awards seeks to recognize and celebrate the efforts of individuals and institutions that have been at the forefront in promoting, protecting and championing devolution in Kenya.  These awards are held after every five years.  They were inaugurated in 2017 during the fourth  Annual Devolution Conference.