Activities in Kenya

EXP: Expert
DS: Development Study
GA: Grant Aid Assistance
ICT: In-Country Training
LOAN: Japanese ODA Loan
TA: Technical Assistance
TCTP: Third Country Training Program

Transport Infrastructure Development

[Background]

In Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, rapid traffic increase due to population growth and inefficient traffic system caused by unconnected ring road networks have not been sufficiently addressed, resulting in serious traffic congestion, accidents and pollution. It is urgently necessary to develop proper road networks and maintenance system to respond to rapid urbanization of Nairobi with an estimated population growth from 3.0 to 4.3 million by 2025. Mombasa Port and international trunk roads starting from the Port are important for securing transportation to neighboring landlocked countries, i.e. Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. However, 40% of trunk roads has lost function due to inappropriate maintenance practices prevailed for a long time in Kenya. Furthermore the handling volume of containers at Mombasa Port has reached 800,000 TEU/year, over its maximum capacity of around 450,000 TEU/year, making it difficult to respond to further increase of container volume. Consequently, costly and time-consuming transportation became a major bottleneck for economic development of Kenya and East African nations.

[Japan's Assistance Policy]

The emphasis is put on infrastructure development which promotes logistics with neighboring landlocked nations, considering the importance of Kenya as a hub for logistics in Africa and the measures to promote regional infrastructure addressed at TICAD IV. Japan will assist not only hard infrastructure development but also technical aspects such as support for smooth custom clearance, and the entire maintenance and management of developed infrastructure. Specifically, Japan will support improvement of transportation networks in Nairobi Metropolitan Area and development and improvement of regional infrastructure which will enhance logistics in the entire East African region.

Program on Improvement of Infrastructure for Transportation in Nairobi Metropolitan Area

The program is to develop and improve roads in Nairobi and strengthen road maintenance and management in order to mitigate traffic congestion, reduce accidents and solve the bottleneck of regional transportation

JICA Projects

• Strengthening of Capacity for Supervision and Operation on Road Maintenance Works through Contracting
• The Project for Dualling of Nairobi-Dagoreti Corner Road C60/C6
• Construction of Nairobi Missing Links No. 3, 6 & 7

Program on Improvement of Regional Transport Infrastructure

The program is to improve facilities and functions of Mombasa Port and regional trunk roads starting from the Port, and support streamlining the custom procedure in order to enhance the trade in the entire East African region.

JICA Projects

• Mombasa Port Container Terminal Expansion Project
• Mombasa Port Area Road Development Project
• Capacity Building for the Customs Administrations of the Eastern African Region (Phase 2)

Improvement of Electricity Access

[Background]

Energy demand has been increasing by about 5% per year over the past 5 years, and the peak of national consumption reaches 1,084MW, while the production capacity is 1,375MW (hydro 761MW, thermal 415MW, geothermal 165MW). It is estimated that the demand would increase by 7-8 % per year over coming 10 years. Construction of new power plants and development of transmission system development, need to be urgently addressed.

[Japan's Assistance Policy]

Japan will continuously support power generation with a focus on geothermal power to meet Kenya's demand and to tackle global warming. Taking into account hydropower generation in neighboring countries, Japan will also assist extension of transmission system with neighboring countries to realize the Power Pooling Initiative in East Africa.

Program on power generation and Transmission Improvement

The program is to strengthen the power supply capacity of Kenya through support to power plants and domestic transmission lines. It is also to strengthen international transmission lines to realize the Power Pooling Initiative in East Africa.

JICA Projects

• Olkaria I Unit 4&5 Geothermal Power
• Sondu/Miriu Hydropower Project (Sang'oro Power Plant)
• Olkaria-Lessos- Kisumu Transmission Line Construction
• Establishment of Rural Electrification Model using Renewable Energy
• Capacity Development for Rural Electrification using Renewable Energy

Private Sector Development

[Background]

Industrialization through trade and investment promotion, employment creation and income generation are crucial for poverty alleviation through economic growth. The Government of Kenya aims at industrialization in Vision 2030 and promotes local industrialization.

[Japan's Assistance Policy]

Japan will support SMEs development for achieving poverty alleviation and economic growth through industrialization and export promotion.

Trade and Industry Promotion

The program is to focus on the SMEs promotion by their training, and the promotion of "One village One Product" for local industrialization in terms of more competitive product development for export promotion.

JICA Projects

• Trade Training Program for SME exporters (Phase 2)
• Project for Improving OVOP Services
• Project on Productivity Improvement

Market-oriented Agriculture Development

[Background]

Agriculture in Kenya contributes about 24% of the GDP and about 70% of export earnings. In particular, horticulture sub-sector takes lead in the agriculture sector development reaching 10% annual growth in recent years. Meanwhile, more than 80% farmers in Kenya are smallholders with less than 1 ha of land, and production by smallholder farmers accounts for more than 60% of the horticulture subsector. Therefore, support to smallholder farmers is vital for development of agriculture sector in Kenya. Vision 2030 states that agriculture sector is one of the pillars for economic growth, and sets a goal of 7% annual economic growth. It also identifies improvement of productivity and increase of land area under irrigation as important issues for the achievement of the goal.

[Japan's Assistance Policy]

With focus on horticulture and rice, cash crops in Kenya, technical assistance to increase smallholder income will be extended in the area such as development and rehabilitation of irrigation facilities, strengthening of farmer's organizations improvement of productivity and market access. In addition, policy development in rice sub-sector such as NRDS (National Rice Development Strategy), will be supported in line with CARD (Coalition for African Rice Development) initiative.

Program on Smallholder Empowerment for Income Generation

The program is to improve productivity of food crop and cash crop through technical assistance to horticulture and/or rice smallholder farmers, improvement of irrigation infrastructure and policy support related to CARD in order to achieve 7% of annual economic growth as clearly stated in Vision 2030.

JICA Projects

• The Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion Unit Project (SHEP UP)
• Mwea Irrigation Development Project
• Enhancing Community Resilience against Drought in Northern Kenya
• The SATREPS Project on Rice Research
• Rice-based and Market-oriented Agriculture Promotion Project (Rice MAPP)
  Rice Mapp Flash Newsletters
  News Flash Nov. 2013 - Feb. 2014 (PDF/460KB)
  News Flash 2013 Oct (PDF/239KB)
  News Flash 2013 Sep (PDF/302KB)
  News Flash 2013 Aug (PDF/244KB)
  News Flash 2013 July (PDF/345KB)
  News Flash 2013 June (PDF/346KB)
  News Flash 2013 May (PDF/220KB)

Improvement of the Quality of Basic Education

[Background]

In Vision 2030, the Government of Kenya (GOK) set a goal to be an industrialized nation by the year 2030. However, currently, the level of mathematics and science education has not been improved in basic education, while it is fundamental for industrialization. Therefore, current action to improve in this field is required. In order to improve access to education, GOK introduced Free Primary Education in 2003, developed the Kenya Education Sector Support Program in 2005 and started implemented Free Day Secondary Education in 2008 . However, the number of enrolment rapidly increased due to the introduction of free education while the number of teachers has not kept up with such increase. Decline in quality of education is to be addressed.

[Japan's Assistance Policy]

Japan will assist on the establishment and stabilization of In-service Training(INSET) System targeting mathematics and science teachers of primary and secondary schools in Kenya. Japan will also focus on the quality improvement of mathematics and science education mainly through SMASE. For the cooperation of African region, Japan will continuously promote mutual technical assistance, training in Kenya, and dispatching experts from Kenya within the SMASE-WECSA Network for capacity building of mathematics/science teachers and administrative staffs.

Program on Improvement of the Quality of primary and Secondary Education (Mathematics and Science Education):

The program is to establish and stabilize Mathematics and Science INSET System for basic and secondary education as well as to improve the quality of Mathematics and Science Education.

JICA Projects

• Strengthening Mathematics and Science Education (SMASE)
• Project for the Upgrading and Refurbishment of the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa

HIV/AIDS and Infectious Diseases Control

[Background]

Kenya Demographic Health Survey 2008-09 showed HIV prevalence rate is 6.3%, or 1.5 million are HIV positive. HIV/AIDS still remains a major challenge in Kenya in its efforts for social and economic development as it is reported that HIV prevalence has not been improved for recent years despite the decreasing trend served in the 1990's. The Government of Kenya takes comprehensive approach including prevention of new infection, treatment and care and mitigation of social impact under Kenya National HIV /AIDS Strategic Plan (2009-2013) to reverse the trend of epidemic.

TB epidemic in Kenya is primarily driven by HIV/AIDS. The burden of TB remains great with Kenya being ranked 15th among the 22 highest TB burden countries worldwide and 5th in Africa (WHO, 2011). Kenya still faces considerable challenges in its efforts to reduce the burden of TB, despite the excellent progress in meeting WHO targets over the last few years. Kenyan TB control is guided by the Stop TB Strategy and this is encapsulated in the Division of Leprosy, Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Strategic Plan 2011-2015.

[Japan's Assistance Policy]

To facilitate HIV and TB prevention and control, Japan will support both from policy level to grassroots level by employing different modalities such as Technical Cooperation, Grant Aid and Volunteers.

Program on HIV and TB Prevention and Control

In order to prevent new HIV, TB and TB/HIV, the program is to provide technical assistance to policy formulation at the national level while supporting regional or grassroots activities with volunteers. Provision of HIV rapid test kits will further contribute to sustaining quality HTC services. With support of a JICA TB laboratory expert, the introduction of LED-based fluorescent microscopy and related training have been supported for improved diagnostic capacity and accuracy.

JICA Projects

• Strengthening of People Empowerment against HIV/AIDS in Kenya (SPEAK) Project Phase 2
• Technical Advisor for Tuberculosis Control for Kenya

Improvement of Primary Health Care Services

[Background]

General health situation in Kenya improved with supports from development partners until early 1990s. However since then the key health indicators has been worsened due to several problems such as epidemic of HIV, insufficient resources including human resource. To improve the current situation, the Government of Kenya launched National Health Sector Strategic Plan (NHSSP) I and II. The NHSSP II promotes decentralization of health management and governance in which health managers at provincial and district levels establish and address annual operational plans, goals and objectives, and the community specific priorities. The NHSSP II also initiated "Community Strategy" which aims at improved access to health care services at community level.

[Japan's Assistance Policy]

To improve primary health care services delivery, Japan will focus on addressing bottlenecks in health system strengthening based on a program approach.

Program on Health System Strengthening for Improvement of Primary Health Services

To strengthen the health system for providing primary health care services to communities, the program aims at improving health management at the community, district, provincial, national and regional levels.

JICA Projects

• Strengthening Management for Health in Nyanza Province
• Strengthening Community Health Strategy
• Partnership for Health System Strengthening in Africa

In addition to the above-mentioned key projects, JICA contributes to the increase in immunization coverage and the reduction of under-five mortality rate through the improvement of the central and regional vaccine depots to enable more efficient stock management and transportation of vaccines. JICA also supports the development of test kits and a rapid response system by applying best available and sustainable technologies, aiming at preventing outbreaks of Yellow Fever and Rift Valley Fever. These projects are expected to benefit Kenyans by protecting them from vaccine preventable diseases.

JICA Projects

• Project for Reinforcement of Vaccine Storage in Kenya
• Project for Development of Rapid Diagnostics and Establishment of an Alert System for Outbreaks of Yellow Fever and Rift Valley Fever in Kenya

Water Resources Conservation

[Background]

In Kenya, about 80% of national land is arid or semi arid. Safe water available per capita was 1093m3 in 2010 and is expected to decrease to 475m3 in 2030, while the United Nations recommends 1,000m3/capita. Water is a basis for living and economic activities and water management is indispensable for sustainable economic growth, poverty alleviation and national security. Vision 2030 sets a target of access to safe water by 2030.

[Japan's Assistance Policy]

Japan will enhance cooperation to capacity development of water utilities in addition to development of water infrastructure, both in urban and rural areas.

Program on Water Resources Management

The program aims at supply of safe water addressed in Vision 2030 through assistance to municipal water supply and management of un-accounted for water.

JICA Projects

• Project for Management of Non-Revenue Water in Kenya
• Project for Augmentation of Water Supply System in Kapsabet Town

Climate Change

[Background]

In Kenya, about 80% of national land is arid or semi arid and forest covers less than 2%. In recent years, degradation of forest resources, land productivity and natural environment has been accelerated by expansion of farm lands, excessive grazing and drought in addition to an increase in demand for wood energy along with population growth. Vision 2030 addresses increasing forest cover from 3% to more than 4% as a major issue of environment management sector.

[Japan's Assistance Policy]

Japan has supported farm forestry in poor semi arid areas. Japan continues to focus on flood countermeasure and forest conservation based on the assistance policy and discussion amongst the international community.

Climate Change

The program aims to sustain /improve forestry coverage which is currently considered to be very low. It also aims to improve adaptation measures to the increasing drought and flood.

JICA Projects

• Project for Development of Drought Tolerant Trees for Adaptation to Climate Change in Drylands of Kenya
• Project for Capacity Development for Effective Flood Management in Flood prone Area
  • Integrated Flood Management Newsletter, November 2013 (PDF/431KB)
  • Integrated Flood Management Newsletter, February 2014 (PDF/537KB)

Improvement of Capacity for Environmental Monitoring

[Background]

In Kenya, degradation of environment such as deforestation, forest degradation and waste disposal is accelerated due to industrialization, urbanization and population growth. Appropriate environmental management is indispensable for sustainable economic growth and Vision 2030 aims at hygiene, safe and sustainable environmental monitoring.

[Japan's Assistance Policy]

Japan has supported improvement of environmental management capacity in Nakuru, started supporting on capacity development of solid waste management in Nairobi and will continue supporting its implementation.

Program on Improvement of Capacity for Environmental Management

The program aims to improve capacity for environmental management in the area where natural environment has been affected due to rural development and increase in urban population.

JICA Projects

• Project for Capacity Development of Solid Waste Management of Nairobi City

In Japan, Participants are engaged in Forestry field study in JICA Training and Dialogue Course.

JICA's Training and Dialogue Programs are a form of technical cooperation that JICA carries out in Japan. Some of the knowledge that Japanese society has accumulated, including its background in areas such as organizational know-how and social systems, can only be understood through first-hand experience. The programs are an important means of technical cooperation which supports human resource development and resolving issues in developing countries.In2012, two hundred and thirty-four (234) Kenyan participants took part in the training and dialogue programs in Japan.

The Program for Young Leaders is 18 days-training program in Japan in specialized field for young participants (from 20 to 35 years) who will eventually hold important positions in their home countries. This Youth Invitation Program started from fiscal year 2007 aiming more emphasis on technical training aspect with Japanese citizens' participation built up in the Youth Invitation Program era.

Partnership Program in collaboration with Japanese NGO (Community Health Workers who made a home visit in the community)

JICA cooperates with NGOs, the Government and various institutions in the country in the Development Partnership Program.

The objective of the program is to promote social welfare activities in Kenya based on Japan's experiences. JICA takes the initiative to plan and operate the program's activities by involving experts from Japan and local NGO's working in communities covered by the program.