Reporting on Rural Issues
The Forgotten Traders of Kware Market: Devolution’s Broken Promises in Ongata Rongai
By Vivien Njagi, DevReporter, Kajiado County
Key highlights
Kware, an open-air market, is devastating despite the guidelines of devolution towards the development of trading centres.
Politicians use the market as a campaigning strategy.
Promises of building the market date back as far as 5 years.
The economy is at stake due to unfavourable trading conditions.
In...
Breaking the Silence: Busia Youth Confront Pornography’s Hidden Scars
By Philip Barasa, DeveReporter, Busia County
Key Highlights
Rising smartphone access in Busia is fueling youth exposure to pornography, with NACADA surveys showing over 30% of adolescents affected.
Early exposure, often by age 14, has led to addiction-like behaviors and damaging effects on self-esteem and relationships.
Girls face unique harm, including body image struggles...
Foster parents Wanted: Kenya’s bold shift from Children’s homes to community care
By Rebecca Wangari, DevReporter, Murang’a county
Key Highlights
The government plans to phase out charitable children institutions by 2032
The child care reforms offers alternative family or community care
Approximately 50,000 children are in children homes
Kenya’s Children Act 2022 is reshaping child welfare by replacing institutional care with foster and family based solution.
As...
A New Step: How Prosthetics Are Empowering Meru’s PWDS
By Brian Gitinga, DevReporter, Meru County
In Summary
Meru County has 49,815 PWDS, but most remain unregistered and miss out on support
Spark provides free prostheses and counseling through donor support, changing lives
Prosthetics cost up to KSh 300,000, putting them out of reach for many without help.
Meru County is home to...
Elderly in Ngong’s Mathare Suffering from Poverty and Neglect
By Amy Moyi, DevReporter, Kajiado County
Key Highlights
The number of neglected elderly individuals in the Mathare area of Ngong town is on the rise, particularly among those whose children have migrated to urban areas and abroad.
These elderly residents often live alone and lack essential resources such as food and healthcare, severely affecting their...
Sanitation Crisis: Life Without Toilets in Meru’s Shauri Yako Slum
By Brian Gitonga, DevReporter, Meru County
Key Highlights
Over 250 households in Shauri Yako have been without toilets for four years, forcing residents to rely on flying toilets.
From January to September 2023, the area reported 814 cases of diarrhea, 209 cases of intestinal worms, and 75 cases of H.Pylori, according to Dr. Festus Mwenda,...
Poisoned Flow: How Water Pollution is Threatening Lives in Meru’s Kooje Estate
By Brian Gitonga, DevReporter, Meru County
Key Highlights
River Mpuoni in Meru’s Imenti North Constituency has become a health hazard due to raw sewage pollution.
Blocked septic tanks from the Kooje and Gakoromone estates are the primary sources of contamination.
Public health tests have confirmed that the river is heavily contaminated with fecal matter.
According to...
Why Soil Testing Could Transform Kenya’s Food Security Agenda
By Kipkorir Tarus, DevReporter, Trans Nzoia County
Key Highlights
Many farmers in Kenya are unaware of the importance of soil testing and believe it to be too costly.
Soil testing assesses nutrient levels, pH, crop suitability, and provides soil-specific fertilizer recommendations.
The government, through Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), is currently testing and...
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