Bringing income and inclusion: How poultry farming is empowering women in Kenya

Rithvan’s enterprise has grown through practical training and regular coaching that strengthened her housing, vaccination and feeding routines. With clearer market information and reliable access to hardy, month-old growers from a nearby Farmer Service Centre, survival rates have improved and her customers receive consistent, quality birds. Day to day, she fulfils orders from both refugee and host households, using simple record-keeping to track sales and plan feed purchases. This disciplined approach is helping her household meet essentials while placing nutritious food on the table.

Her progress is closely linked to collaboration with a brooder in the Kakuma–Kalobeyei corridor. By sourcing growers from the Farmer Service Centre run by Charles Lukudu, she saves time and reduces risk, while contributing to a local supply chain that serves both communities.

This initiative is part of ILO PROSPECTS’ broader poultry value-chain upgrade in Turkana West, designed to economically empower women and youth. By commercialising poultry farming, the programme increases access to quality chicks and feed, reduces costs through local innovations, and strengthens producer groups to reach markets and finance. The work focuses on sites across Kakuma, Kalobeyei and Lopur — including the refugee camp and the Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement — and uses Farmer Service Centres, targeted training and behaviour-change communication to embed decent-work opportunities and foster social cohesion between refugees and host communities.

Together, these efforts are creating dignified livelihoods while deepening cooperation across the refugee–host divide — showing that even in Turkana’s arid climate, poultry can thrive and deliver lasting benefits for families and local markets.