USAID | East Africa Regional

Kenyan women now cross to Somalia to give birth at a maternity clinic at a USAID “Peace Dividend” project along the Kenya/Somalia border—promoting development, relationships, and peace

Photo: CARE Tanzania

A successful constructed SanPlat pedestal.

Photo: CARE Tanzania

A successful constructed SanPlat pedestal.

Photo: Iman Yazdani

The Mara River EFA team collecting data during the low-flow sampling event held from 6 to 12 February 2012 in Tanzania.

Photo: CARE Tanzania

Community members in the Serengeti District in Tanzania learn how to construct SanPlat latrines.

Photo: CARE Tanzania

Training of community members in the fabrication of concrete water storage jars.

Photo: Dhahia Mbaga & Iman Yazdani

Training a VSL Group on Soap Making in Serengeti District, Tanzania.

Photo: USAID/EA

Another scene of food distribution in Dadaab Refugee Camp that is supported by the American People.

Photo: USAID/EA

Updates from the Regional Center for the Quality of Health Care (RCQHC).

Photo: MLI

A farmer weighing maize on a modern platform scale purchased with funding from USAID and a private sector grain bulking center (GBC). USAID support for GBCs results in increased availability and quality of staple foods.

Photo: MLI

On site at the grain bulking center of a USAID grantee in Rwanda that can now use a clean plastic sheet and a modern platform scale to ensure quality handling of maize. USAID co-financed the purchase of this equipment, which replaces rudimentary methods such as drying directly on the ground that results in contamination from pollutants.

Photo: MLI

A mobile dryer in field testing in Eastern Kenya. Smallholder farmers face many constraints to access adequate drying and storage facilities and are often forced to dry their maize through rudimentary means, such as roadside drying. This results in improperly dried grain, deterioration of the grain in storage, and the development of aflatoxins to levels which are fatal if ingested. Through USAID support, the mobile dryer—an innovative technique in Kenya—brings modern drying closer to farmers.

Photo: MLI

Farmer Field Day at UZ Investments, a grain bulking center and grant recipient under USAID’s Market Linkages Initiative. USAID and UZ co-funded the field days to reduce insect infestation and moulds and improve crop conditioning so that smallholder farmers can obtain a higher price (based on quality) when they sell their crops to the grain bulking center.

Photo: MLI

Collection centre for Smart logistics, a USAID grantee buying crops from smallholder farmers. USAID support for the refurbishment and expansion of staple crop storage warehouses and integration of smallholder farmers into these storage systems results in improved sales and income for smallholder farmers, such as the ones pictured above.

Photo: US Embassy

Left to right: Ambassador Juma V. Mwapachu, Secretary General of the East African Community; US Ambassador to the East African Community Alfonso E. Lenhardt; and USAID/East Africa Regional Director Larry Meserve, at the signing of the Assistance Agreement for Comprehensive Regional Development in September in Dar es Salaam.

Photo: COMPETE

Community leader Juliana Kaburia Jasper poses in front of the sign for Mwegiki’s Kithangene Commercial Producer’s Group.

Photo: USAID/EA

Left to Right: Sharon Cromer, USAID Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Africa Bureau; Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator; Sebastian Oggema, Deputy Chief of Party, Kenya Maize Development Program.

Photo: CEWARN

The Moyale Oromiya Ethiopia team took first place in the tournament and show off their trophy and medals.

Photo: CEWARN

Moyale Kenya and Moyale Oromiya teams greet one another before starting the game.

Photo: USAID/East Africa

Kapsasian Rock Catchment gathers natural rain water into a 50,000 liter cement tank for the local community. In this way, water from the rivers and ponds will be sustained for the wildlife and unique habitat that cuts across two countries and two of the world’s best loved game parks.

Photo: USAID/East Africa

A pastoralist from Kajiado, Kenya brought his cattle to a water point visited by the assessment team.

Photo: USAID/East Africa

Somali goats in Northeastern Province, Kenya. It is not the number of animals on the land that causes degradation, it is the time they spend on it in a given space and period.

Photo: East African Community

Left, Larry Meserve, Acting Regional Director, USAID/EA, Right, Dr. Julius Rotich, East African Community's Deputy Secretary General for Finance and Administration.

Photo: U.S. Embassy, Kenya

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a lighter moment during the official AGOA dinner.

Photo: U.S. Embassy, Kenya

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the AGOA Press Conference.

Photo: James Watiti, ECSA–HC

Dr. Steven Shongwe, Director General, ECSA–HC (left) and Mr. Lawrence Meserve, Deputy Director USAID/East Africa (right) signing the grant agreement.

Part of the Kenana Knitters display at the New York International Gift Show in New York- January 2008

Photo: RATES

Mrs. Lucy Karuga displays one of her company's popular products. Eldoville dairy products are consistent winners at the Eastern and Southern Africa Dairy Association's annual cheese festivals and exhibitions.

Photo: Steve Walls

USAID/Kenya Mission Director Erna Kerst cuts the ribbon at the official opening of the Warehouse Receipt Scheme program in Nakuru.

Photo: Albert Mwangi

John Muli prepares his signature drink for the judges during the semi-final competition. Competitors used a variety of ingredients, from chocolate and orange to cinnamon and chili, to give each drink a distinctive flavor.

Photo: Steve Walls

Champion John Muli celebrates after winning the 4th Annual Kenya Barista Championship at the Junction. In addition to a trip to the World Barista Championship in Copenhagen, Muli will receive one week’s specialist barista training in Denmark, sponsored by Estates Coffee.

Photo: ECA Trade Hub

The East Africa Pavilion featured flowers from Kenya, Ethiopia, Burundi and Uganda.

Photo: ECA Trade Hub

The East Africa Pavilion was awarded the trophy for Best Stand Design at the World Floral Expo in Miami. The ECA Trade Hub organized the Pavilion for the third year in a row, sponsored all of the East African participants and designed the Pavilion through the use of the floral design consultants.

Photo: KRCS

Ambassador Michael E. Ranneberger distributes USAID-donated food in Eldoret IDP camp. During a two-day visit to conflict-affected areas, Ambassador Ranneberger met with IDPs and emergency response agencies to better understand the needs of displaced families.

Photo: Photo: Yoni Bock/USAID

USAID Corn-Soya Blend in an IDP camp in Londiani, Rift Valley Province: Many IDPs and other affected groups are receiving U.S. Government (USG) donated emergency food relief. The USG is the largest donor to the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) in Kenya.

Photo: OFDA/Karie Atkinson

One unique community among IDPs who have relocated to Greater Kisii, Nyanza Province, are tea pickers such as the ones in this photo who had been working for large tea companies in Kericho and Nandi Hills in Rift Valley Province. Tea pickers often received numerous benefits, including health and education, on the tea plantations and several expressed frustration at having to be dependent on relatives and well-wishers. This group further noted the difficulties in finding steady employment in their ancestral homes.

Photo: OFDA/Karie Atkinson

Relocating IDPs are also straining the resources of the broader community, particularly local education facilities. Education officials reported that increased numbers of students have resulted in congested classrooms, packed dormitories, and insufficient sanitation facilities.

Photo: OFDA/Karie Atkinson

Several IDPs indicated that their actual connection to ancestral areas was weak because they had no immediate relatives and no title to any land. Relocating IDPs also found ancestral areas, such as Nyanza and Central provinces, to be densely populated with no unused farmland as this photo of farmland in Kisii demonstrates.

Photo: OFDA/Karie Atkinson

This grandmother lost her daughter in post-election violence. Now she is the primary caretaker of her grandchildren.

Photo: USAID

This IDP family meeting with the assessment team had relocated to Nyanza Province, reporting losses of up to 50 million Kenyan shillings (approximately USD 750,000) in business investments after being burnt out of their home in Kericho. Many IDPs expressed a need for capital to re-start their businesses. USAID/OFDA is working with various emergency agencies to determine how best to provide livelihood assistance to displaced populations in both ancestral homes and pre-conflict residences.

Photo: OFDA/Karie Atkinson

Some IDPs have relocated to their ancestral homelands, where they are staying with host families. Several host families reported that their families have grown dramatically and that they do not have enough food or space for extra people. This family in Kisii, Nyanza Province, has grown from two to eighteen.

Photo: OFDA/Karie Atkinson

Many IDPs in camps are idle, having fled their jobs following post-election violence. This man, a tailor, gets on with his business at an IDP camp.

Photo: OFDA/Karie Atkinson

IDPs keep their spirits up despite their difficult circumstances.

Photo: OFDA/Karie Atkinson

A typical shelter made of plastic sheeting and wooden poles where IDPs sleep in camps.

Photo: OFDA/Karie Atkinson

IDPs at a camp fill up jerry cans with water. To date in Fiscal Year 2008, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) has provided more than $5.6 million in response to the crisis, assisting violence-affected communities with health, nutrition, shelter, food security, protection, and water, sanitation, and hygiene activities. Overall USG emergency assistance to violence affected communities, including both immediate disaster response funds and reprogrammed development assistance, is valued at more than Ksh. 1 billion (approximately $14.7 million).

Photo: OFDA/Karie Atkinson

This woman is getting her fingerprint taken at a camp so emergency relief organizations can keep track of the humanitarian assistance she has received.

Photo: OFDA/Yoni Bock

Many IDPs and other affected groups are receiving U.S. Government (USG) donated emergency food relief. The USG is the largest donor to the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) in Kenya.

Photo: OFDA/Yoni Bock

Humanitarian organizations estimate that up to 600,000 people have been displaced from their homes as a result of post-election violence. The majority of internally displaced persons (IDPs) are staying in camps or with host families in ancestral homes.

Participants at the Northern Corridor Spatial Development Programme in Kampala, Uganda. Stakeholders gathered to discuss the transformation of what is known today as the northern transport corridor into an economic development corridor.

Photo: Chris Maingi

Staff from USAID/EA and USAID/Kenya with trainer Christine Lyons after the first-ever Host Country Contracting for Activity Managers Training in Nairobi.

Photo: OFDA/Karie Atkinson

Displaced people in Timbaroa in the Rift Valley. Safe drinking water, sanitation, and security are major concerns for the displaced.

Photo: Robert Ritzenthaler

Photo: USAID

John Gichuru, Secretary of the FSN Umbrella Committee, presents a donation to Zulekha Abbas from the Kenya Red Cross Society.

Photo: DAI

Dekha Ibrahim Abdi, on the right, facilitates peace talks at a meeting between Mandera, Gedo and Dollo representatives in 2006.

Photo: Janet Bland

The first woman USAID Administrator, Henrietta Holsman Fore (in center of photo wearing purple scarf), with women USAID employees during her first overseas visit as USAID Administrator. While in Nairobi, Fore signed a $60 million HIV/AIDS grant agreement with Indiana University and Moi University at the Ministry of Health. USAID’s support against HIV/AIDS benefits over 700,000 orphans and persons receiving treatment. 

Photo: USAID/Boniface Makau

The first woman USAID Administrator, Henrietta Holsman Fore (in center of photo wearing purple scarf), with women USAID employees during her first overseas visit as USAID Administrator. While in Nairobi, Fore signed a $60 million HIV/AIDS grant agreement with Indiana University and Moi University at the Ministry of Health. USAID’s support against HIV/AIDS benefits over 700,000 orphans and persons receiving treatment. 

Photo: Robert Ritzenthaler

The People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA)cluster in Busia, Kenya, holds its weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting to discuss substance abuse and other issues, including HIV and adherence to antiretroviral therapy.

Photo: Robert Ritzenthaler

Members of the Malaba People Living with HIV/AIDS Cluster pose with maize seeds donated by the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry provided one ton of certified seeds to complement agricultural training at LifeWorks Shamba.

Photo: Robert Ritzenthaler

A Tanzanian medical store operator trained by Howard University/PACE Center displays SafeTStop branding to promote quality HIV services.

Ambassador Ranneberger with the team from Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI).

Photo: USAID/Janet Bland

The Magnet Theater interacts with audiences at critical points in performances. This creates an opportunity to pass on health messages and to understand the views and reactions of the audience.

Photo: DAI

Dekha with elders from Samburu.

Photo: USAID/Janet Bland

Family Health International Director Gail Goodridge with some of the men and women working at the LifeWorks Shukrani Home and Accessories Facility.

Photo: Janet Bland

A top reporter from KTN puts together a cheese masterpiece during the Celebrity Ready, Steady, Cook Competition.

Photo: Janet Bland

Customers sample cheeses at the Happy Cow Exhibit during East and Southern Africa Dairy Association's 2nd Annual Cheese and Wine Festival.

Photo: Robert Ritzenthaler

Mnazi sellers in Mariakani Kenya are partnering with ROADS clusters to promote HIV prevention through their work

Photo: Suzanne Seitz

Photo: Suzanne Seitz

Women working at the Mariakani LifeWorks Home and Fashion Unit manufacture upscale products for sale at tourist hotels and export markets in the United States and Europe.

Photo: Janet Bland

Pastoralists from Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia sell their livestock at the regional Peace Market in Mandera.

Photo: Janet Bland

Kenya's flower production boosts exports to the U.S.

Photo: Steve Walls

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa officiates at the opening of the ESADA 3rd African Dairy Conference in Lusaka.

Photo: Steve Walls

Over 32 exhibitors displayed a wide variety of products and services at the ESADA 3rd African Dairy Conference.

Photo: Tiare Cross, OFDA

Michael Hess at Dadaab Refugee Camp

Photo: Candace Buzzard

USAID/East Africa Mission Director Cheryl Anderson visits with Turkana pastoralists.

Photo: AFP

Heavy rains in October caused flooding at Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya. With parts of the camp destroyed, refugees were forced to move to higher ground where they constructed make-shift shelters out of plastic bags and cardboard boxes.

CEWARN's focus is on cross-border pastoral conflicts. It is currently operational in two pilot areas: the Karamoja Cluster, situated on the borders of Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya, and the Somali cluster on the Ethiopian, Kenyan and Somali borders.

Cassava Mosaic Virus Disease threatens food security in six East African countries.

Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) causes early ripening and rotting of fruits.

Photo: FFP

The School Feeding Program provides children with nutritious food every day.

Photo: FFP

Children line up for a meal at the School Feeding Program at Excel Primary School in Kangemi Slums, Nairobi.

Photo: FFP

A school feeding program in Nairobi's slums means students have more energy to concentrate.

Photo: DAI

Representatives from the governments of Kenya and Uganda celebrate the signing of a peace agreement.

Photo: DAI

An abducted Turkana (Kenya) child is returned to his home by a Dodoth (Uganda) elder.

Photo: USAID

Women celebrate the opening of SafeTStop in Malaba. The innovative program is designed to reduce HIV transmission, improve care for people living with HIV/AIDS and reduce the impact of the disease in commnities frequented by truckers and other mobile populations.

Photo: USAID

Onlookers gather at the opening of SafeTStop in Malaba. The innovative program extends HIV services along regional transport corridors.

Photo: Fred Hoogervorst

A scientist monitors water quality and discharge. The resulting database helps to guide domestic, agricultural, ranching, and mining activities in the Mara River basin.

Photo: Fred Hoogervorst

Strategic planning will help protect the future development of the Mara Basin. USAID is working to help ensure that water flows will sustain the biodiversity of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem and provide the local population with sufficient water for their needs.

Photo: Fred Hoogervorst

The Transboundary Mara River Project is helping to manage water resources in the Mara River Basin

Photo: Fred Hoogervorst

Monitoring programs assess river flows and water quality of the Mara River.

Photo: Fred Hoogervorst

Management of water resources affects everyone. If water sources dry up, local residents are forced to migrate to find adequate water for their livestock. USAID is working to help ensure that water flows will sustain the biodiversity of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem and provide the local population with sufficient water for their needs.