Empowering communities: ILO GET Ahead strengthens livelihoods in tea & coffee value chains in Nanyuki, Kenya

Nanyuki, Kenya (ILO News) - The ACCEL Africa Project continues to make significant strides in combating child labour through economic empowerment and skills development. From 17–22 March 2025, we are conducting a Training of Trainers (ToT) for the GET Ahead program in Nanyuki, equipping a total of 25 trainers drawn from Meru and Nyeri counties with entrepreneurial skills to support women and youth in the tea and coffee value chains.

In many rural communities, economic hardships drive families to engage children in labour, limiting their opportunities for education and sustainable livelihoods. The Gender and Entrepreneurship Together (GET Ahead) training seeks to address these challenges by equipping women and youth with entrepreneurial and financial literacy skills, enabling them to establish alternative sources of income and access decent work.

By strengthening entrepreneurship and financial literacy, GET Ahead offers long-term solutions for household economic stability. Trainees from this ToT will cascade their knowledge to local communities by conducting structured training sessions and mentoring programs for women and youth in their respective counties. Specifically, they will:

• Start and manage small businesses beyond tea and coffee farming.
• Improve financial planning and gain better access to credit and funding opportunities.
• Enhance household resilience, reducing the economic dependency that leads to child labour.
• Create decent work opportunities that empower families and foster sustainable economic development.

The trainers emerging from this program will play a critical role in promoting self-reliance and economic diversification in their counties. Their contribution will ensure that more households achieve financial stability, reducing reliance on child labour and breaking the cycle of poverty.

The trainers will work closely with local county governments and various other identified stakeholders such as cooperatives, religious groups, NGOs, VSLAs to ensure widespread adoption of the skills learned. These efforts will reduce economic dependency on tea and coffee farming, fostering diversified income streams, improve household financial stability, reducing the risk of child labour in agricultural supply chains, strengthen local economies, as small businesses flourish and provide employment opportunities and build a network of certified trainers, ensuring long-term sustainability of entrepreneurship programs in Meru and Nyeri.

As we train, empower, and transform lives, ACCEL Africa remains committed to enhancing sustainable livelihoods and creating child-labour-free supply chains. Our vision is to build a future where families thrive, businesses grow, and every child has the opportunity to learn, play, and succeed.