New partnership launched with GIZ-Kenya, I&M Foundation, and The Maa Trust to empower women and youth in the Maasai Mara

cc: Nick Spollin UK

On 19th September, The Maa Trust officially launched the develoPPP project, a three-year initiative designed to transform lives across the Maasai Mara.

The project is a collaboration between the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the I&M Foundation on behalf of I&M Bank, within the develoPPP funding programme.

Women and youth in Kenya’s Maasai Mara face significant barriers to financial services, education, and income-generating opportunities due to gender inequalities, cultural practices, and limited economic prospects. Addressing these gaps is critical to fostering inclusive socio-economic development. 

At its core, the project seeks to ensure that women and youth, the heartbeat of the community, are not left behind. ​​The project will directly engage approximately 48,000 beneficiaries, including 27,000 women/girls and 41,000 youth/pupils across Narok West Sub-County. It aims to:

1.  Equip community members (mainly women) with entrepreneurship and business skills to enhance income opportunities.

2.  Equip women with leadership skills to enhance their participation in both conservation and leadership at a community level.

3.  Enhance youth employability and educational advancement by increasing transition to tertiary education.

Economic Empowerment and and Financial Inclusion

The project will equip community members (mainly women) with entrepreneurship and business skills to enhance income opportunities. It will strengthen Maa Beadwork and Maa Bees through marketing as well as technical skills and financial inclusion training. Further, it will support 115 existing women self-help groups to improve their access to finance. I&M Bank will provide access to banking services and products for these individuals and small enterprises.

During the launch celebration, Denis Sengeny reflected on his journey:

“As Maasai people, we used to only depend on cattle. But when I joined Street Business School, I learnt that a business, like a chair, needs several legs to support it. To grow, you must build on many different skills. That training helped me start my restaurant in Aitong. Today, I’m also an entrepreneurship trainer because I want others to benefit the way I did.”

Kilokunye Kaigil, one of the first members of Maa Beadwork, shared her story:

“Joining Maa Beadwork changed everything. The money I’ve earned has allowed me to educate my daughter and build a family home. Before, we had nothing. I urge more people to support beadwork because it is truly helping women make a living where there are no opportunities.”

Her story reflects thousands of others. With every beaded necklace, bracelet, or ornament, women are building confidence, independence, and security for their families.

Youth Employability through Educational Advancement

The develoPPP project will further contribute to enhancing youth employability through skills development, career guidance in schools,  and ending of female genital mutilation (FGM) and child pregnancies, which are leading causes of school dropout.Further, the project will provide IT training and career guidance, with the objective of increasing transition to tertiary education thus increasing youth employability.

Trizah Nampaso is living proof of what this kind of support can achieve. Sponsored through secondary school and university by The Maa Trust, she has since graduated with a diploma in Supply Chain Management and is now employed at the organization. 

Moses Saitoti Naurori also exemplified the diversification of career that Maasai youth dream of. At the project launch event, he explained how he was inspired by seeing plumbers at work and helping them out. He attended a career fair organised by The Maa Trust and applied for a course in plumbing and a tertiary scholarship. He was successful in both and is looking forward to graduating soon and starting his own plumbing business. 

Gender Equality, Community Leadership Development, and Social Empowerment

The develoPPP project will equip 2,800 women with leadership skills to enhance their participation in both conservation and leadership at a community level. Further, conservation organizations, tourism camps and conservancies will be supported to become more gender inclusive, for example, through the implementation of gender and safeguarding policies.

Branice Sinke, a member of Women in Leadership, explained how this knowledge is being disseminated across Maasai Mara communities:

“As Women in Leadership, we are trained on key topics and then we go back to our villages and organise for meetings with women’s groups and barazas to share what we have learnt. This includes legal land rights, women’s rights, child rights, conservation and climate change. As Women in Leadership members, we also support the C3B programme by leading the training module on gender. This takes place in three villages over three days and we train the men and women separately.” 

Abigael Pertet, from the Mara Elephant Project, added that the Professional Women in Conservation programme is providing women employed in the male dominated conservation field a forum through which they can exchange ideas, support each other, and become role models for girls that women from the region can break through into these careers.

Building Systems for Lasting Impact

Lasting change requires more than one-off training. That is why the project invests in systems and structures that strengthen communities from within. During her panel discussion at the project launch, WIL member Branice noted:

“We really appreciate that The Maa Trust is training us from within the community to lead these training workshops rather than bringing in trainers from outside of the area who do not understand our specific context.”

This approach will ensure that empowerment is not a one-time intervention but rather a sustainable shift for generations to come. The develoPPP project will touch thousands of lives, not as an abstract idea, but with clear programmes, measurable outcomes, and human stories of transformation.

As Kilokunye, Denis, Branice and Trizah remind us, opportunity is the difference between struggle and stability, between survival and thriving.

Sustainable conservation is not only about protecting wildlife; it is about uplifting the people who have protected it for generations. Together, we can ensure that the heartbeat of the Maasai Mara: women, youth and families are no longer left behind.