The EABL Foundation has signed a partnership with CARE International to invest more than 35 million Kenyan shillings ($270,000) in gender-inclusive programmes aimed at empowering 1,600 people across the brewer’s value chain.
The agreement supports East African Breweries Ltd’s (EABL) Spirit of Progress strategy, under which the company aims to ensure women make up at least half of beneficiaries in its community programmes.
Under the partnership, the two organisations will roll out a community empowerment model focused on farmer livelihoods and small business development in western Kenya.
The farmer empowerment pillar will reach 1,500 small-scale sorghum farmers in Kisumu, Homa Bay and Siaya counties, with women accounting for at least 60% of participants. The initiative is designed to improve productivity and strengthen household economic resilience.
The second pillar will pilot Tuzidi Kuinuana, a business skills programme targeting 100 Senator brand bar owners in Kisumu, aimed at improving entrepreneurial capacity and profitability.
“Through our Spirit of Progress strategy, we champion inclusion and diversity across our value chain,” EABL Foundation Managing Director Eric Kiniti said at the signing ceremony. “This partnership with CARE International will help elevate the economic status of women and strengthen the communities we work with.”
CARE International President and Chief Executive Officer Michelle Nunn said private sector partnerships were critical to advancing gender equality.
“By integrating gender-transformative tools into EABL’s supply chain, we are ensuring that farmers and small business owners do not just participate in the economy, but lead it,” she said.
EABL said the partnership reinforces its commitment to building a more resilient and equitable supply chain while supporting socio-economic development in its operating communities.
