Across the country, women-led organisations and community groups remain the backbone of local mobilization, particularly in driving change around nutrition and resilience especially in the wake of climate shocks, entrenched poverty, rising food prices and widening gender inequalities.
Often, women shoulder the responsibility of food production, household nutrition, and childcare, yet restrictive social norms and structural barriers limit their ability to make decisions that directly affect family diets and well-being. However, systemic barriers such as limited access to land, credit, and cooperatives continue to silence their influence. These and other challenges constrain their potential to influence both household practices and wider food system priorities.
Tackling these challenges calls for not just strategy, but also intentional and collective involvement of all stakeholders; the government, private sector, development partners, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) among others.
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At intervention level, development organisation need to ensure that gender equity is embedded throughout. Women should not be treated as passive beneficiaries but as central actors who play a key role towards shaping the food system.
An example of such an approach is the the CAtalyzing Strengthened policy aCtion for heAlthy Diets and resiliencE (CASCADE) project, which is implemented by CARE Kenya and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) in the counties of Nakuru, Nyandarua and Nairobi. Through Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), Farmer Field and Business Schools (FFBS), and home gardens, women access the skills, credit, and confidence to produce nutritious food and advocate for community priorities.
By last year, CASCADE had strengthened 314 VSLA groups, mobilizing nearly Ksh 8 million in savings. Eight out of ten members are women, with over 70 percent of loans going into farm inputs and nutrition-sensitive enterprises such as poultry, vegetable vending, and retail shops.
Through the FFBS model, over 3,000 farmers – two-thirds of whom are women, have gained hands-on training in climate-smart agriculture, seed preservation, composting, and water conservation. Often, women are left to produce, many times just growing crops for subsistence. With empowerment, though, they are strong tools of entrepreneurship. Earning income is core towards elevating their social standing.
While production is key, the nutrition aspect is a fundamental component in the food arena. There is a need for training among relevant stakeholders including health workers, teachers, and community promoters. Through the CASCADE project, Trainers of Trainees have already reached nearly 100,000 women with vital counselling on breastfeeding, dietary diversity, and food safety. Mother-to-mother support groups and school-based kitchen gardens extend this learning into families and classrooms, embedding nutrition knowledge across generations.
Many times, women produce and prepare food yet lack the final say on how household income is spent or what meals are served. Through structured dialogue sessions integrated into VSLAs and FFBS groups, men and women are encouraged to reflect on power dynamics and explore shared responsibility. This shift is already leading to more equitable resource allocation and stronger women’s confidence in decision-making.
It is also important for women to be engaged at the policy level. In the wake of a devolved government system, women groups need to be linked to county planning groups such as the Agriculture Sector Steering Committees. Here, they can voice their priorities whether advocating school feeding projects, kitchen gardens, or maternal health services. These platforms ensure grassroots realities inform county budgets and strategies, bridging the gap between lived experience and formal governance.
Women’s participation in cooperatives and producer organizations remains disproportionately low, curbing their influence in markets. Financing grassroots’ advocacy is inconsistent, often dependent on donor support. Civic space restrictions also risk silencing community voices at the very moment they should be amplified. And while community groups excel at mobilization, they require sustained technical support to analyze budgets, monitor services, and use data for evidence-based advocacy.
Embedding women’s participation permanently into county planning processes would institutionalise their influence, making their voices integral to governance. Building cross-county coalitions of women’s groups would amplify advocacy, pushing for common agendas such as maternal nutrition services and expansion of school feeding. Linking VSLAs to formal financial institutions would expand women’s economic power and sustain advocacy efforts beyond project cycles.
Empowering women is not charity. It is a vital strategy towards achieving healthier diets and stronger resilience in the face of today and tomorrow’s challenges.
The writer is project manager, CASCADE, GAIN Kenya
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By Sheila Odhiambo