Sixty women from the local community in Amboseli have graduated from a project seeking to transform them into wildlife champions.
The 60 are part of Jenga Mama (Swahili for Empower a Woman), an initiative developed by International Fund for Animal Welfare and the German foundation Margarete-Breuer-Stiftung.
Jenga Mama is a three-year vocational training programme to equip women with the tools to set up micro-enterprises and generate sustainable incomes for their families and communities.
Robert Kless, Country Director for IFAW in Germany, said, “I am convinced that everyone will benefit from this initiative, not only the people and the local community but also nature and wildlife.”
The 60 women from the Maasai community graduated Thursday last week after their first year of vocational training.
They will now learn how to establish a business over 12 months and complete the programme with a year of mentorship.
“Empowering women is a big step for every society. We at MBS are proud to support these 60 Maasai women on their personal growth path because we know that they will not stop,” MBS chairman Peter Dehnen said.
IFAW and MBS started the programme to help women become champions for wildlife because they are more prone to human-wildlife conflict, given their daily duties of fetching firewood and water and herding livestock.
“Where I come from, we do not have many plumbers, and I will be receiving many calls for plumbing work. I am guaranteed a source of income,” Janet Sabore, one of the participants of the initiative who studied plumbing at the Maasai Technical Training Institute, said.
Helping women find more sustainable sources of income gives them more significant opportunities to speak up against poaching and human-wildlife conflict and participate in decision-making with local community leaders.
IFAW believes supporting local communities living with wildlife is critical to success in wildlife conservation.
Wildlife spends over 70 per cent of their time in community lands where they interact with people, primarily women.
It is vital that the community is engaged in meaningful ways to promote coexistence and associate socio-economic development with wildlife.
Habitat loss and land degradation from climate change and urbanization continue to increase human-wildlife conflict.
But innovation such as the Jenga Mama initiative ensures that people living closest to wildlife protect the animals from threats.
