Commonwealth of Learning in Western Kenya

COMMONWEALTH OF LEARNING (COL)

Kenya Rural Learning for Livelihood Program (KERLLIP)

The Commonwealth of Learning (CoL) inspired an idea that would later develop into KERLLIP project. The overall goal in this was to

Project Overview

In 2005 the Commonwealth of Learning (CoL) set out on a mission to identify institutions in ACP region involved in the following activities;

a. Management of climate change

b. Management of water resources

c. Disaster management

d. International linkages

e. Open distance learning approaches

After a screening that took between 2005 and 07 the following institutions were selected to spearhead the project in Kenyan;

a. African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTs)

b. Masinde Muliro University of Science & Technology (MMUST)

c. Ugunja Community Resource Centre

d. Kenya Aids Infection Prevention Project Group (KAIPPG)

e. Sustainable Agriculture Centre for Research, Extension and Development in Africa (SACRED Africa)

A series of global preparatory meetings were held to plan the way forward for the various countries that would participate in this project. Thereafter the following activities have so far been done;

a. Signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) on terms and conditions for project operation between the partners and CoL.

b. Baseline surveys done on socioeconomic status and activities in the project sites; Teso & Mumias region (KAIPPG), Bungoma region (SACRED Africa and Siaya region (UCRC).

c. Community groups in each of the regions in ( c ) above have been identified and each group selected one livelihood option that will be used as a pilot / case study in the project. One group in Bungoma region identified cultivation of tissue culture bananas while the other groundnut production.

d. Value chain analysis for the livelihood options identified by the community groups done.

e. Project staff trained on multimedia technologies. This knowledge will be used to develop learning materials for communities and other stakeholders.