THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF MERU

THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF MERU DIRECTORATE OF EXTERNAL PARTNERSHIP AND AFFAIRS

STRATEGIC AREAS FOR PARTNERSHIP IN LINE WITH GOVERNOR'S MANIFESTO 2022-2027

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Message from the Governor

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About Meru County

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Priority Focus Areas

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Quality and adequate water for households

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Improved Health care

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Youth and women empowerment

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Management and coordination of donor funded projects

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FROM “MESSAGE THE GOVERNOR Hon Kawira Mwangaza

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t is with great pleasure that I wish to share with you my Government priorities and intentions for the period 2022-2027. As a woman Governor, I was elected on a platform of undertaking practical development activities that touch the lives of the most vulnerable in the society. I know the task is not easy, but am determined and committed to prove to the world that women are able if well empowered.

Her Excellency Hon Kawira Mwangaza during ground breaking ceremony of a water dam in Partnership with Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.

As an independent woman leader, the task will not be easy. Already I have faced many challenges, but I am determined to provide good leadership and transform the lives of people of Meru. I am aware that the resources at my disposal cannot be adequate to accomplish all my administration intentions and priorities without the support of development partners.It is for this reason that I am making a humble appeal for partnership and support in realizing the promises we made to the great people of Meru during our campaigns. I have inherited a county with empty coffers and the national government is already complaining of lack of funds. There is a backlog of pending bills and salaries of the staff which are yet to be paid. The various Departments of the County do not have enough cash to serve the people. Against this backdrop, it will be challenging and almost impossible for my administration to deliver the promises we made to the people of Meru. If this happens, it will not only affect my image as a person, but will also tarnish the name of women in leadership and promote the male chauvinism that already exists. I therefore appeal to donors and development partners to come in and offer the much needed support to enable me deliver the agship projects in the identied priority areas and uplift the lives of the great people of Meru County.

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ABOUT MERU COUNTY

MANAGEMENT AND COORDINATION OF DONOR FUNDED PROJECTS The County Government of Meru understands the importance of development partners in helping achieve development goals in a County. It is

eru is one of the 47 Counties in Kenya located in Upper Eastern

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committed to ensuring there is good management, coordination,

Region. Meru borders Isiolo to the North, Tharaka Nithi to the East,

transparency and accountability for all the donor funds received. Good

Laikipia to the West and Nyeri to the South West. Meru covers an area of

measures have been put in place and a Directorate of External partnerships

7,006 square kilometers out of which 972.3 km2 are gazetted as forest. 67%

and affairs has been established to manage and coordinate donor funded

of this area is arid and semi-arid leaving only one-third of the land suitable

projects and partnership programs. The Directorate will ensure that there is a

for agriculture. The population of Meru is 1.55million (49.3% Men and

good follow-up of the implementation process, timely reporting and good

50.7%women) people with a population density of 221 people per square

accountability for the funds received by the County. Meru County has an open

kilometer. 91% of the people live in rural areas with agriculture as the main

door policy to all donors and investors willing to partner with the County for

economic activity. Meru County has nine constituencies, 11 sub-counties and

the benet of Meru People. All are welcome for discussion on partnership in

45 electoral wards.

above areas or in any other area of their interest that will make an impact in the lives of the people of Meru. You can invite us, or pay us a courtesy call to

POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE Meru is predominantly a patriarchal society where men are held in high

discuss possible areas of development partnership.

Kindly feel free to contact us through the given contacts for the Directorate of External partnership and Affairs.

regard than women. In the last general elections, Meru entered into the annals of history by electing the rst woman governor who was an independent candidate. This was not a simple feat considering the opponents were seasoned men politicians some who boasted for having never lost an election.

Vincent Mutwiri Directorate of External Partnership and Affairs [email protected] +254 703 348 419

Her Excellency and her team had to bear with intimidation, harassment and humiliation simply because of being a woman. She however, packaged her campaigns under the motherly values of a woman and life-touching practical activities with a symbol and a slogan, “Governor ni Mama” (Governor is a mother). This was appealing to the general public and led the people of Meru to give her a chance to provide the motherly care to our people.

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PRIORITY FOCUS AREAS 5. Youth and women empowerment The County government of Meru is sensitive to empowering youth and women. It ensures that the theme of youth and women empowerment is streamlined in all government programs. Meru ranks high in Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and according to recent research, 1 in every 10 youths abuse drugs, especially bhangi. The County requests for support and partnership to do the following: I. Establish 2 rescue centres/safe houses to provide refuge and rehabilitation services to victims of GBV in Meru County. ii. Conduct capacity development and sensitization on drug and substance abuse. iii. Establish talents academy to nurture talents and promote social cohesion. iv. Support Meru micro-Finance Corporation to offer seed capital and nancial support to youth and women start-ups and enterprises.

6. Governance and climate Justice The County Government of Meru is committed to promotion of good governance and climate justice within the County. To realize this, my Administration requests for support to: I. Establish mechanisms, capacity and structures to enhance public participation in governance. ii. To conduct civic education on important aspects of governance across all the 9 sub-counties iii. Capacity building of the County administration staff on good governance and climate justice. iv. Establishment of tree nurseries and landscape restoration in the 39 gazetted hilltops, wetlands and springs. v. Develop sustainable waste management systems to mitigate climate change and encourage a circular economy.

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o deliver her manifesto and promote sustainable development in Meru County, Her Excellency Hon Kawira Mwangaza, requests for partnership and support in the following priority areas:

1.Food, nutritional security and ourishing agribusiness Meru is an agricultural society where most livelihoods depend on farming. Food and nutritional security is becoming a serious concern in Meru County especially for the people living in the semi-arid belt. The County has been put on yellow alert in the current drought crisis in Kenya. In order to enhance food security, improve nutrition and promote economic empowerment through enhancement of agriculture, the County Government of Meru requests for partnership in the following areas: I.Technical support to offer Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) trainings and support to farmers to produce various crops with a special focus on promoting pulses farming in semi-arid areas (sorghum, beans, nger millet, green grams, maize, black beans) as a climate change adaptation strategy. Specically we shall seek support for certied seeds and capacity building for farmers. ii.Value addition with a special focus on; bananas, potato, macadamia and hass avocado; Meru is the leading producer of bananas in Kenya. On this value chain, we need support in value addition and export market linkages with a focus on youth and women. Meru irish potatoes are the best in quality and we only need to increase shelf-life and value addition to mitigate post-harvest losses. Specically we shall seek support establishment of cold storage facilities and frozen potato chips processing equipment for organized farmer groups. On Macadamia and Hass avocados value chains, much has been done on production and now we need export links and local value addition initiatives such as small nut and oil processing equipment for organized youth groups.

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iii. Support in production and marketing of cash crops with a special focus on coffee, tea and cotton. iv. Promotion of dairy farming: The County is a centre of excellence for dairy management. Key challenge is post-production losses due to lack of cooling facilities. This has been also my agship project during the campaigns where I donated 74 cows to poor families. The evaluation of the progress of the families. assisted with the dairy cows is a success story. The governor is keen on continuing with this project where more poor families with an ability to practice dairy farming will be identied, capacity built and helped to acquire a dairy cow to improve nutrition and economically empower the family to move out of poverty cycle. To mitigate challenges in the sector. The governor is I seeking support to construct 10 (20,000 litre) milk coolers across the county. v. Promotion of beef farming in the County. The main challenge in this value chain is disease control (Foot and Mouth Disease and Lumpy Skin Disease) due to movement of animals from Northern frontier Counties and related insecurity. Support in this area can be through improved genetics(breeds), disease control (vaccination), capacity building for beef farmers and mitigation on resource-based conicts vi. Promoting aquaculture and poultry keeping: Currently Meru County is number two in production of sh in the Country (220 tons per year) and 89% of households rear local chicken. The County will need support to upscale production and establish processing plants and marketing channels for the sh and poultry produced in the County. vii. Management of post-harvest losses in various agricultural value chains: Training farmers on post-harvest handling of produce to reduce wastage and establishment of County strategic grain reserve to store the grains for marketing and food security in the County.

2.Quality and adequate water for all households There is a serious water shortage in Meru County where over 380,320 households have no access to clean drinking water. The new county government requests for support to increase provision of water to promote health, agriculture and hygiene in the families through the following: I. To provide a sustainable school feeding program for ECDE to enhance nutrition and retention of children in schools.

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ii.To construct and equip one model vocational training centre with an industry wing in every sub-county to support production of school uniforms and furniture for poor and vulnerable children in ECDE and VTCs. iii.To support and build capacity for ICT integration in delivery of ECDE and vocational training curricula as well as on new and emerging technologies in teaching and learning.

4.Improved health care Health is an important factor of production and development hence the old adage, “a healthy community is a wealthy community”. The County faces various challenges in the health sector. One in every three pregnancies (33%) is a teenage pregnancy. Only 34% of pregnant mothers complete the 4 cycles of antenatal clinic and this has implications in immunization of children. The county ranks top ten in cancer cases in the Country.All the 14 level four hospitals in the County lack a male ward. There has been a surge in accident cases and Meru has only one blood bank at Meru level 5 hospital. To improve health care, my Government requests for support and partnership in the following areas: i. Improving maternal and child healthcare: This will entail establishment and equipping of maternity units, laboratories and good theatres in all level 3 and 4 health facilities. ii. Establishment of baby nurseries in all level 4 hospitals to care for born underage, vulnerable and abandoned children. iii. Provision of modern test and diagnostic equipment: Meru hospitals lack modern test and diagnostics equipment. Their provision will help in improving testing and diagnosis of various diseases in Meru to reduce the burden of patients having to procure tests from private practitioners. iv. Comprehensive research on cancer in Meru, capacity building and equipment for the Meru cancer centre. v. Immunization, cancer screening, HPV vaccination, NCDs screening and deworming for the children and teenagers. vi. Establishment and equipment of male wards in all level 4 hospitals. vii. Establishment of blood transfusion units in all level 4 hospitals. viii. Improvement of referral system through provision of more ambulances. ix. Capacity building and support for a model Community Health Volunteers and workers service for public and reproductive health education and support.

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