Homabay County Draft Strategic Plan

HOMA-BAY COUNTY
STRATEGIC PLAN
(PRECURSOR)
Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ..5 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 13 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 2 3 4 5 Background information................................................................................................... 13 Rationale for the Strategic Plan ........................................................................................ 15 Methodology ................................................................................................................... 15 Summary Schedule of the Strategic Plan Writing Activities for Homa-Bay County ............. 17
Vision and Missions of Homa-Bay County ................................................................................ 18 County Strategic Objectives ..................................................................................................... 18 Values...................................................................................................................................... 19 Strategic Foundation................................................................................................................ 22 5.1 Education, Research and Technology ............................................................................... 22 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 22 Situation Analysis ..................................................................................................... 22 Vision for the Education Sector ................................................................................. 26 SWOT Analysis of the Education sector ..................................................................... 30 Strategic Interventions. ............................................................................................ 31 Research and Technology ......................................................................................... 32 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 32
5.1.1 5.1.2 5.1.3 5.1.4 5.1.5 5.1.6 5.1.7 5.2
Health services ................................................................................................................. 33 Reproductive health .............................................................................................. 33 STI/HIV/AIDS .......................................................................................................... 34 Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats of the Sector ................................. 34 Strategic interventions: ............................................................................................ 35
5.2.1 5.2.2 5.2.3 5.2.4 5.3
Agriculture, Livestock and Land ........................................................................................ 37 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 37 Situational analysis ................................................................................................... 37 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for the sector ............................ 39 Strategic Interventions ............................................................................................. 40
5.3.1 5.3.2 5.3.3 5.3.4 5.4
Trade, industry, cooperatives and tourism development .................................................. 52 Trade and Industry ................................................................................................... 52 Cooperatives and Incorporation ............................................................................... 54 Page 2
5.4.1 5.4.2
5.4.3 5.5
Tourism .................................................................................................................... 56
Infrastructure: Physical planning, transport, public works, energy and utilities ................. 61 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 61 Vision and Mission statements ................................................................................. 61 Situational analysis ................................................................................................... 61 Strength Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats analysis......................................... 64 Strategic interventions ............................................................................................. 65
5.5.1 5.5.2 5.5.3 5.5.4 5.5.5 5.6
Minerals, Environment and Natural Resources Management ........................................... 69 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 69 Vision and Mission statements ................................................................................. 69 Situational analysis ................................................................................................... 69 Strength Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats analysis of the sector .................... 70 Strategic interventions ............................................................................................. 71
5.6.1 5.6.2 5.6.3 5.6.4 5.6.5 5.7
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources....................................................................................... 73 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 73 Situational analysis ................................................................................................... 73 Mission and Vision for the sector .............................................................................. 74 SWOT Confrontational Matrix for the Sector ............................................................ 74 Strategic interventions ............................................................................................. 75
5.7.1 5.7.2 5.7.3 5.7.4 5.7.5 5.8
Social, Youth and Gender Development and Cultural Services .......................................... 81 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 81 Vision and Mission statements ................................................................................. 81 Strategic Objectives .................................................................................................. 81 Thematic areas ......................................................................................................... 81 Situational analysis ................................................................................................... 81 Strategic interventions ............................................................................................. 84
5.8.1 5.8.2 5.8.3 5.8.4 5.8.5 5.8.6 5.9
Public Services, Human Resources, Security, and Linkages ................................................ 88 Introduction: ............................................................................................................ 88 Mission and vision statements .................................................................................. 88 Situational analysis ................................................................................................... 88 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for the Sector ............................ 89 Strategic interventions ............................................................................................. 90
5.9.1 5.9.2 5.9.3 5.9.4 5.9.5 5.10
Finance and Economic Planning ....................................................................................... 91 Page 3
5.10.1 5.10.2 5.10.3 5.10.4 5.10.5 6 7
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 91 Vision and mission statements ................................................................................. 91 Situational analysis ................................................................................................... 91 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for the Sector ............................ 91 Strategic objectives and interventions ...................................................................... 92
Charts of Industrial Clusters (existing and potential) ................................................................ 94 Action Plans and Key Performance Indicators .......................................................................... 95 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Action Plan for Education, Science and Technology .......................................................... 95 Action Plan for Agriculture and Land ................................................................................ 96 Action Plan for Health Services ......................................................................................... 97 Action Plan for Agriculture and Land ................................................................................ 98 Action Plan for Trade, Industry, Cooperatives, and Tourism Development ........................ 99
7.6 Action Plan for Infrastructure: Physical Planning, Transport, Public Works, Energy and Utilities ...................................................................................................................................... 100 7.7 7.8 7.9 7.10 7.11 7.12 8 Action Plan for Mineral, Natural Resources, Wildlife Conservation and Environment...... 101 Action Plan for Fisheries and Other Aquatic Resources ................................................... 102 Action Plan for Social, Youth and Gender Development, and Cultural Services ............... 103 Action Plan for Public Services, Linkages, and Security .................................................... 104 Action Plan for Finance and Economic Planning .............................................................. 105 Action Plan for Cross Cutting Issues ................................................................................ 106
Appendices ............................................................................................................................ 107
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Homa Bay County strategic plan (2013-2023) is a proactive move by the County government to address the many underlying social, economic, cultural and developmental challenges in the County. Developmental issues are multifaceted and cut across different sectors necessitating coherent and comprehensive planning strategies. The objective of this strategic plan hinges on the desire to create meaningful change that will improve the conditions of the populace in Homa Bay County. This Strategic Plan therefore, sets out the road map that will direct the future course of action of the County. It articulates the mission, vision and strategic goals and objectives that the County intends to achieve during the period. Homa-Bay County is poor by ratings of the World Bank and relatively poorer than other counties in Kenya in spite of a great potential in her people, climate, and physical resources. More than 50% of its residents earn less than one dollar per day. The County is found along the shores of Lake Victoria in Western Kenya. It comprises the following constituencies: Karachuonyo, Kabondo Kasipul, Karachuonyo, Rangwe, Homa-Bay Town, Ndhiwa, Mbita, and Suba with the total population of 963,794 out of which 14.35% are in the urban areas, 206,255 households and a population density that was about 303 persons per square kilometer in 2009. The Countys average life expectancy is 47.5 compared with 64 years for counties in the former Central province, in Kenya. The promulgation of the constitution of Kenya in 2010 allowed for a self determination of the County and strategic issues have been structured and discussed in 10 sections which also represent the executive sectors of the County namely: Education, Research and Technology Development; Health Services; Agriculture, Livestock and Land; Trade, Industry, Cooperatives and Tourism Development; Infrastructure: Physical planning, Transport, Public Works, Energy and Utilities; Minerals, Natural Resources, Wildlife Conservation and Environment; Fisheries and other Aquatic Resources; Social, Youth and Gender Development, and Cultural Services; Public Services, Linkages and Security; and Finance and Economic Planning. For each sector, some background information is given, a vision and mission statement proposed,
Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 5
situational analysis in view of Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental Status (PESTLE) is done, a tentative Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analyses is carried out and sample of strategic interventions proposed. Education is key to development of the County. The Countys competitiveness will depend on the ability to attract or create a human resource base that will be constantly subjected to retraining and access to technology learning within employment. A high pool of technical, industrial and human resources capable of utilizing knowledge and information in design, production and marketing of the Countys products is a prerequisite for the Countys economic transformation and societal development. The technically qualified personnel within the County must match or outdo competitors for its products to succeed in the market. Role of research to inform education and the other sectors in the County cannot be underestimated in the current knowledge era. The County needs to urgently, raise infrastructure to support education, technology development and research. Therefore, an immediate establishment of a university is not debatable. Attendance in schools will be increased by improving the capacities for secondary school learning through upgrade of one in three primary schools. The role of Mawego Technical Institute to Support technology upgrade in the County through training will be enhanced to that of supervision of vocational training in all the constituencies. The health sector of County is still bedeviled with myriad preventable diseases and conditions. The most prevalent diseases in the County district are malaria, respiratory disorders, skin diseases, ARI, diarrheal diseases and eye infections. Thus programs of Primary Health Care (PHC); and preventions of STI/STD including HIV/AIDS should be put in place. The under-5 years child mortality of between 102 to 230 per 1000 is alarming and measures should be taken to stem this. There is general need to improve infrastructure, facilities, and human resources capacity in the health sector. Agriculture is the mainstay of the Kenyan Economy. The main industrial crops in Homa-Bay County are sugarcane and cotton. Sugarcane is majorly grown in Ndhiwa and parts of Rangwe constituencies and so far 334,250 tons of cane
worth KES 111,625,118.00 produced in the County annually. The potential to establish other industrial crop in the County are great. In the short-term the County could leverage the horticulture by relying on the improved infrastructure, the Kisumu airport, road, irrigation channels, and technology, and produce crops to compete in Kenyas already established market . The channels are already well-established and moreover the County has more water and conducive climate that should allow it to compete effectively. Quick gains could also be achieved by concerted Countywide planting of trees as these require low capital and appear to have inexhaustible market. The County has an unmatched potential for production of milk and beef as it has a great potential for water and growth of pasture / fodder. The growth of trade in the County has not resonated well with the national growth of trade. The devolved system offers opportunity to closely study determinants of growth of trade and industry that are specific to the County with a view to formulating strategies that will support trade and business. The County can now streamline its factors of production such as skilled labor, infrastructure, or the natural resources like water, minerals, climate for purposes of wealth creation. Direct planning and involvement in creation of new factors that are specific to the County can be carried out within the County. The demand of the Countys products can be put into perspective and be better understood so that requisite actions are instituted. Interrelationships between the different industries within the County and with others in the country may support synergies or antagonisms. For instance a planned beef industry may augur well for a hides and skin industry while competing demand for land eg pasture versus food crop may strain growth of hides and skin industry. The County should immediately upgrade the gains from its current exports namely fish, labors, tourism, hides/skin, sugar, gold, mats, building materials, pineapple, groundnuts. Policies to encourage clusters of industries related to the upstream and downstream level of the value chain of the Countys products should be formulated and implemented. Grouping to conduct business has advantages that are ill-exploited in HomaBay County. Complementarities, transference, continuity after demise or exit from the business, ceding of parts or proportion of business, negotiating ownership, negotiating finances, fundraising, shielding family from business
storms and constructive partnerships are a few of the many advantages of group approaches that should be nurtured by the County. Specifically, advantages of the cooperatives are many. They embody the values of self-help, honesty, openness, self-responsibility, social responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, solidarity, mutual caring, efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability. They also facilitate economies of scale, better bargaining power, investment in more advanced stages of the value chain including storage, processing, marketing and distribution of products and services, growth of relationships and reduction of transaction costs. As community institutions, they devolve decision making to the community level, build social capital, and nurture community spirit. Incorporation may provide a better means to raise funds through sale of stock, loans, debentures or otherwise and is probably the best portal for investors into the Countys development. It equally facilitates exit from a business, transfer of ownership as well as continuity after demise or exit of a shareholder. Incorporated entities offer opportunities for the County to formulate effective policies on fees charged and tax advantages. They are often more credible with customers, employees, vendors and partners. In spite of a few disadvantages of incorporation which range from difficulties in formation to more stringent monitoring from the government, the County should foster formation and growth of companies by its residents in order to raise organized entrepreneurship. In the past, tourism efforts in the Homa-Bay County have been guided mainly by the national government and the nongovernmental organizations. While those efforts have been productive, the increase in tourism activities within the Homa-Bay County and the surrounding region demands a considerable reengineering of the sector. The County possesses an array of compelling products including geographic features; national parks and museums; arts and artifacts; music (Benga, Ohangla, Kagan traditional dancers); local cuisine; culture, language, and history of the Luo and Suba; recreation and folk products; services; and events. The County should put serious consideration in her deployment of resources for the development and management of the infrastructure services (Roads, transport, telecommunication, energy, water, sewerage, sanitation, utilities
and meteorological services). Infrastructure is core to value addition to the economic activities that the County plans to undertake and to improve on as it strives to improve the economic wellbeing of the County populace. The Countys competitiveness is low given the high unit cost of electricity energy and its erratic nature. A USD 0.15 per KW/h of electricity compares poorly with 0.075, 0.070, 0.064, and 0.040 KW/h for Mexico, China, Colombia, and South Africa, respectively. The production losses due to the outages are also considerable. Potential to improve on the energy status lies in harnessing of the geothermal resources at the Homa-Hills and solar energy. Household energy status could also be greatly improved by tree planting programs coupled with improved cooking stoves. The County is richly-endowed with water even when it appears like a crippling problem at the moment. The aquifer capacity is good and a number of rivers flow into the County from the west of Mau water towers. An immediate program to provide infrastructure to tap these potential sources is needed and these include dams, water reservoirs, boreholes, piping to name a few. The absence of or poor planning of the urban and rural Homa-Bay County has resulted to haphazard development which has led to a decay of the natural and human environment. This has led to proliferation of slum and difficulties in provision of important services and utilities such as roads, water supply, electricity grid, sewage reticulation, and solid waste collection. An immediate effort to adjudicate all land and carry out an update or Countywide planning is required. Shamefully, about 40% of the Countys population uses the bush for defecation and this needs to be reversed immediately through education, and innovation of cost effective technology for construction of latrines. Aspired growth of the Countys economy may come with a collateral damage on the environment. The growth sectors in Homa-Bay are expected to be fisheries, intensified agriculture, livestock production, manufacturing, artisanal mining and the energy sector. It is important for the County to outline a sound environmental management program in order to ensure sustainability. The County should choose to entrench a strict environmental regulation mechanism as a way of inducing efficiency in order to improve business competitiveness, in concordance with the Porter Hypothesis.
Mining in Homa Bay County has been restricted to artisanal sand mining, building/bush stones quarries, ballast, brick making, Bala and modicum gold mining along River Kuja. Urgent research and development is needed to map out the best value addition processes that would enhance the benefits from these activities. Also there is a great potential for the County to reap much benefit from its natural diversity including medicinal and industrial products from plants and animals. Research, innovation and product development processes are required enhance benefits from some of these natural resources. A need for in depth knowledge of land use in order to understand optimal level for sustainable exploitation of environmental resources at the County cannot be gainsaid. The County has the longest freshwater shoreline in Kenya coupled with a rich history of fish trade. So far capture fisheries has formed the bedrock of the fisheries trade and the types of fish caught are: Lates niloticus, Oreochromis niloticus, Haplochromis, Rastreneobola argentea, Clarias, Propterus, and Syndontis. Opportunities for other forms of fisheries have been identified to have a much higher potential than the current practice. Globally, aquaculture has grown from 3.5% to 50% in terms of contribution to total fisheries production from 1970 to date. Capture fisheries contributes an estimated 104,000 tons of fish catches per annum worth about KES 15 billion while pond culture contributes approximately 150 tons of fresh fish worth about KES 7.5 million. Cage culture is non-existent in the County. So far fresh fish is sold to fish traders and storage facilities lack at the landing sites. Fishers have been organized into Beach Management Units. More than 18,000 people find direct employment in fisheries as fishers (17,671), Fisheries staff (280), traders and others. Major problems facing fisheries can be categorized as legal, environmental, social and technological challenges. In the period of 1999 to 2009, the population of Homa-Bay County grew by 55% from 620,489 to 963,794, while the number of households grew by 22% from 169,179 to 206,108 in the same period. A combined effect of urbanization, immigration, emigration, HIV/Aids has led to unbundling of the household structure reflected in these figures. Homa-Bay is also a highly unequal society and the age dependency ratio is 100:107. In addition to these problems the County still faces problems of youth unemployment, gender
inequity, discrimination of minorities and uneven working environment for vulnerable members of the society like the aged and the disabled. The County should aspire to be socially balanced where integrated and equitable provision of services empowers all sectors of the society (children, youth, men and women, seniors, and disabled) to continually develop and live a fulfilling life. Proactive programs should be put in place ranging from enforcement of legal provisions, awareness campaigns, to putting up infrastructure to hone the skills of the youth. Homa-Bay Countys public service will be citizen focused and results oriented supportive of an expected rapidly growing society and a transforming economy. The gains of Kenyas public service reforms founded in 2004 will be consolidated and up-scaled. The Countys public service should aim at placing the satisfaction of the citizen at the heart of policy making and service delivery. There should be a strong link between planning, budgeting, program implementation and coordination. Results Based Management (RBM) will be institutionalized so as to transform leadership, and develop required competencies for the services at the County. The Countys wealth will be governed by productivity or the value created per day of work, the capital invested and the unit of the Countys physical resources employed. Productivity of the human resources is key and the gover nors roles to create an environment that encourages a rising productivity cannot be gainsaid. The Countys public service should positively influence human, physical, knowledge and capital resources; information; incentives; competitive pressure and supporting firms (institutions, infrastructure, and pools of insight and skills). Linkages between the County to other Counties, County to other international governments, County industries to other industries, and County business entities to other businesses are important for understanding, defining and supporting constructive engagements for purposes of mutual benefits of the linked entities. Competitive production and marketing will depend on a wellmanaged network that will allow for exchange of knowledge, transfer of technology, transmission of information, creation of incentives, provisions of support and stimulation of competition.
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The finance and economic planning sector is a key service unit of the County. This sector will be committed to providing stewardship and leadership in sound financial planning, budgeting and management in the County. It would assist the departments in the County achieve unqualified audit reports. In principle the different agencies of the government and the County would be allowed to create value for money as they get technical assistance and analyses of the finances. The sectors success will be reflected on the outcome of plans of the other sectors and their impacts on the livelihood of the people of Homa-Bay County. Therefore, the department must as a matter of necessity align its functions to that of the other sectors. It is hoped that the strategic plan will offer a framework for organized intervention in issues for purposes of socioeconomic wellbeing of the Countys citizens. It should be a living and functional document that also clearly exposes opportunities for teasing out projects and programs that are most suitable for the County. The targeted users of the document are the government of the County, the national government, the development partners, the prospective investors and the citizenry of the County.
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1 Introduction
1.1 Background information
The promulgation of the Constitution in Kenya (27/08/2010) created 47 counties, thereby abolishing the provinces, as were earlier known and set by the colonial Government. Nyanza Province, as it was known then, has been replaced by 6 counties, namely Homa-Bay, Migori, Kisii, Nyamira, Kisumu and Siaya counties. Homa-Bay County is found along the shores of Lake Victoria in Western Kenya. It comprises the following constituencies: Karachuonyo, Kabondo Kasipul, Karachuonyo, Rangwe, Homa-Bay Town, Ndhiwa, Mbita, and Suba with the following populations during the 2009 census, 113,117, 107,549, 162,045, 99,748, 94,660, 172,212, 111,409, and 103,054, respectively. The total population was 963,794 out of which 14.35% are in the urban areas. The population density was about 303 persons per square kilometer and there were a total of 206,255 households in the County. The table below presents estimated age distribution of the Homa-Bay County. The average life expectancy is 47.5 compared with 64 years for counties in the former central province. The life expectancy for a man is 49 years while that for the women is 46 years. The income per capita in Homa-Bay County is _____. It has an area of 3,183.3 Km2 with mean annual minimum temperatures of 17.1C to a mean maximum of 34.8C. The County has a bimodal rainfall ranging between 250 mm to 1,650 mm per annum. Soil types range from fertile to moderately fertile nitrosols, phaeozems and vertisol. Predominant soil type is black cotton soils. Table 1.1 Estimated Age Distribution of Homa-Bay County by 2012 Male Female Total 0-4 94,998 94,427 189,425 5-9 81,839 81,890 163,729 10-14 74,039 72,387 146,426 15-19 61,903 58,334 120,237 20-24 42,655 54,227 96,882 25-29 32,808 38,821 71,629 30-34 25,071 28,394 53,465 35-39 17,260 21,568 38,828 40-44 12,842 17,799 30,641 45-49 11,990 16,436 28,426 50-54 10,461 13,950 24,411 55-59 8,794 10,599 19,393 60-64 7,533 9,256 16,789 65-69 4,662 6,421 11,083 70-74 4,343 5,772 10,115 75-79 3,056 4,194 7,250 80+ 4,218 5,909 10,127 498,472 540,384 1,038,856 Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics
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The main economic activities in Homa-Bay are fishing and fish trade, agriculture (crop and livestock farming), commercial business and small scale industries. The major agricultural activities are cereal (maize, sorghum and rice farming), potatoes, beans, cassava, groundnuts, sesame and sunflower farming; dual purpose cattle and shoats farming. Other major activities and employment of the residents of Homa-Bay County are public service, small scale trading including hawking, groceries vending, fish trade. A number of youth are involved in the transport industry as touts, drivers, Boda boda services (bicycle and Motor bike taxis), and motor boat transport, taxi and minibus services. Homa-Bays major resources are water, arable land, livestock, pasture, wildlife; tourist attractions: Ruma National Park, Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, Rusinga and Mfangano Islands, Kanjera Archaeological site, Volcanic Lake Simbi Nyaima in Karachuonyo, Asego and Huma Hills. The existing financial Services are 5 Commercial Banks, 2 Micro-Finance Institutions. The Poverty Levels in the County exceeds 50 % and age dependency ratio is 100:107. At household level, poverty can be quantified in terms of total household consumption expenditure on both food and the non-food items or the food energy intake per adult household member relative to a standard reference point. Some of the impacts of the increasing level of poverty include: increasing level of secondary school drop-outs, and inability to enrol in tertiary educational institutions due to lack of school fees, increasing infant mortality rate and inability to cope with opportunistic diseases. Poverty is multifaceted and is perpetuated by a variety of factors. For example, the devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic which causes enormous suffering to peoples livelihood in this region, not only enhances poverty and its impacts through high direct medical expenses, but more importantly and significantly through reduced efficiency of labour among the sick, wasted and re-located time of he healthy people who have to spend time and money for the sick, dying, orphans and other related social responsibilities. The Constitution has given the devolved units (counties) specific functions as listed below: 1. Agriculture- Crop and animal husbandry; Livestock sale yards; County abattoirs; Plant and animal disease control; Fisheries 2. County Health Services 3. Control of air pollution, noise pollution 4. Cultural activities- public entertainment; Belting, casinos; Races; Liquor licensing; Cinema 5. County transport, County roads, Public road transport 6. Animal control and welfare 7. Trade development and regulation- Local tourism, Cooperative societies among others 8. County planning and development - Land survey and mapping; Boundaries; Housing; Electricity and gas reticulation and energy regulation 9. Pre-primary education, village polytechnics, home-craft centers and children facilities 10. Implementation and specific national government policies on natural resources and environmental conservation, Soil & water conservation, Forestry 11. County public works and services, and Fire fighting services 12. Control of drugs and pornography 13. Ensuring and coordinating the participation of communities and locations in governance In this strategic plan, the above sectors have been reorganized for clarity into ten major sectors namely: Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 14
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Education, Research and Technology Development Health Services Agriculture, Livestock and Land Trade, Industry, Cooperatives and Tourism Development Infrastructure: Physical planning, Transport, Public Works, Energy and Utilities Minerals, Natural Resources, Wildlife Conservation and Environment Fisheries and other Aquatic Resources Social, Youth and Gender Development, and Cultural Services Public Services, Linkages and Security Finance and Economic Planning
1.2 Rationale for the Strategic Plan

A strategic plan offers Homa-Bay County an opportunity to capture its aspirations and plans in a document. It captures the current position and outlines directions and avenues through which the County can chart its development activities for the social and economic benefits of its citizens. It explains resources (human, financial, and time) requirements and mobilization options for the County government. The devolved government system is an ideal opportunity for the County to tailor its interventions measures to its peculiar conditions and strategic planning could not have happened in a better time than now.
1.3 Methodology
The strategic plan is still under construction. Alive to the fact that strategic planning is supposed to be a highly consultative process, and the fact that this is an initial strategic plan for the new entity, the County; the Consultant adopted the following approach: 1. Meeting with Leaders (Governor and other executive) An initial meeting with the top leadership of the County- this meeting was held to capture the aspirations of the leaders and the promises that were given to the voters. 2. A Desk Study a collection and collation of data and information on Homa-Bay County from the relevant government offices, university libraries, and the internet. 3. Field Study and Collection of Data - A meeting with key informants from the County, the professionals from Homa-Bay County, the general populace drawn from different sectors of life in Homa-Bay County. 4. Precursor Strategic Document - Writing up a precursor strategic planning document that should be applied in the strategic planning process. The document is organized into a format that should facilitate strategic planning process. 5. Meeting / Workshop with Stakeholders - A first meeting/workshop with County stakeholders i.e. County Executive Committee, County MPs, County Senator, County Representatives, County heads of departments, and a brief on the strategic planning process. Brainstorm on the key strategies for developing Homa-Bay County should be carried out and expectations (aspirations) of the Homa-Bay County citizens spelt out. 6. Recruitment of Strategic Planning Team - Each member of the executive committee will organize their respective departments and recruit strategic planning team.
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7. Meeting / Workshop with Executive members- A workshop with all the strategic planning team to explain planning tools such as: the Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis with a confrontational matrix; Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental (PESTLE) analysis; Construction of Cluster Charts for County Industries; and Actions plans and monitoring or Scoreboard tools. 8. Strategic Planning- Strategic planning by each team and a compilation of strategic plans for each department and sector. 9. Meeting / Workshop with Stakeholders - A second meeting / workshop with the County stakeholders to explain the outcome of the plan and to impart ownership of the plan. Additional information could be added. 10. Writing and reporting - Write up of the Homa-Bay County Strategic Plan by the Consultant. 11. Meeting with Leaders (Governor and other executives) A final meeting of the County leaders to present the Final Strategic Plan
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1.4 Summary Schedule of the Strategic Plan Writing Activities for Homa-Bay County
13-May-13
27-May-13
18-Mar-13
Start Dates
Meeting Leaders (Governor &others) A Desktop Study Field Study and Collection of Data Precursor Strategic Document Meeting / Workshop with Stakeholders Recruitment of Strategic Planning Team Meeting / Workshop with Executives Strategic Planning Writing and reporting End of Project and Launch of Strategic Plan
Activities
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19-Aug-13
18-Feb-13
15-Apr-13
29-Apr-13
10-Jun-13
24-Jun-13
4-Mar-13
22-Jul-13
5-Aug-13
4-Feb-13
1-Apr-13
8-Jul-13
Vision and Missions of Homa-Bay County an industrialized, healthy and wealthy Homa-Bay County to develop and upgrade economic activities, create favorable factors for participations in and build up of industries, and continually improve the productivity of human resources and firms with a view to improving the socio-economic well-being of the citizens of Homa-Bay County.
Visions Mission -
County Strategic Objectives
[to be summarized from the objectives of the different sectors]
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Values
The County must set in motion a strategy to continually improve value created in each day, per capital invested, and for every Countys physical and human resources employed Relevant knowledge and skills should be imparted to citizens of the County at all levels of learning institutions and to all the working persons An environment to foster competitiveness and encourage competition among the County members and firms will be encouraged. Policies including affirmative action will be instituted so that all the members of the society regardless of gender, age, religion, disability will be offered equal opportunities in the Countys services A facilitation to discover innovations of the County, develop products of innovations and market them will be encouraged. The County will also support acquisition and use of advanced technologies to address the economic and social activities. A policy of fairness in allocation of resources across the geographic area of the County will be ensured. The different actors in the County: the Non Governmental Organizations, Community Based Organizations, Corporate, Individuals, and firms will be encouraged to address social issues including environmental conservation, and philanthropic activities towards vulnerable members of the society. A premium will be placed on integrity of all members of the public service and the public. Useful cultural values like piety to elderly and predilection for high quality stuff will be encouraged. Linkages and partnerships within the County, and between the County (members, firms, and government) and those outside will be proactively managed with a view to constructing engagements that would result in mutual benefits of the linked entities, and benchmarking. A well managed network would allow for exchange of knowledge, transfer of technology, transmission of information, creation of incentives, provisions of support and stimulation of competition. The County government is alive to the effect of changes that may be exerted by their programs and projects and will institute change management programs for its citizens.
Productivity
Knowledge and Skills
Competitiveness and competition Equitability
Innovation and technology advancement
Fairness
Social responsibility
Integrity and conservation of cultural values Partnerships and linkages
Adaptation to change
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Efficiency
A continually improving efficiency in all aspects of the County development programs will be ensured. A Demings Cycle framework will be instituted to assist chart continual improvement in quality and efficiency of services and products of the County.
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THE DEVOLVED GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE

REPUBLIC OF KENYA
Legislature
Executive
Judiciary
Transition Authority
Superior Courts
National Assembly
Senate
National and County Government Coordinating Summit and the Council of County Governors
Subordinate Courts
GOVERNOR - HOMABAY COUNTY GOVERNMENT
County Assemblies
County Executives
Intergovernmental Relations Forums
County Security Committee
County Assemblies Service Board
Boards of Cities/ Municipalities
County Public Service Board
Common Citizens
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Strategic Foundation
5.1 Education, Research and Technology
A sector by sector explanation of strategic foundation is outline below.
5.1.1 Introduction Education is one of the most important Sectors that the Homa-Bay County Government must pay particular attention to. The Constitution of Kenya enacted in 2010 recognizes education as a basic human right. It is through Education that the citizens acquire the desired and useful knowledge, skills and perceptions. Relevant education also provides the sphere for identification and nurturing of talents that would otherwise remain dormant and is a core foundation for the maximal creation and management of the resources at the disposal of all the citizens of the County. The Countys competitiveness will depend on the ability to attract or create a human resource base that will be constantly be subjected to retraining and access to technology learning within employment. A high pool of technical, industrial and human resources capable of utilizing knowledge and information in design, productions and marketing of the Countys products is a prerequisite for the Countys economic transformation and societal development. The technically qualified personnel within the County must match or outdo competitors for its products to succeed in the market. At present, records paint a generally grim picture of the status of Education in Homa-Bay County. The level of education as at 2009 could be estimated at 65% as those with Primary Education, those with Secondary Education at 11%, those with University Education at 3% and the rest is at 21%. The rest could include those who never attended and/or dropped out. A summary of the Countys level of education is presented in Table 7.1.1 below.
Table 7.1.1: Education levels by population and gender, 3 years and above Sex Never Pre-primary Primary Secondary attended Male 6% 11% 53% 23% Female 9% 10% 37% 19% Source: Kenya Open Data (www.opendata.go.ke) Tertiary 4% 4% University 2% 1%
In this Chapter, the current situation in the Education Sector is analyzed, the vision for the sector is highlighted, a SWOT analysis is made and some strategic interventions are suggested. In addition to providing formal knowledge and skills, education should ultimately be fine tuned to effectively address the needs of the County. Therefore, strategies to develop the education sector should interact intimately with other sectors in the County. Continuous needs assessment should be carried out and County should strive for holistic improvement of education, research and technology through this sector. 5.1.2 Situation Analysis In this section, the current situation of the Education Sector in the County is presented. To be systematic, this is done progressively to cover Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE), Primary Education, Secondary Education, Vocational and Technical Education, Tertiary Education, University Education and Adult Education.
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5.1.2.1 Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) Early Childhood Development and Education (hereafter, ECDE) centers are the institutions that enable children to gain some foundational life skills and be prepared for Education at the Primary School levels and later Secondary School levels. It is at this level that a foundation is laid in basic life skills, numeracy and literacy for Children of ages 4 to 6. Given this quite tender age, it is important that the centers are accessible and have the necessary resources for all the Children in the County. At present, there are no updated data on the numbers and distributions of the ECDE centers in Homa-Bay County. This data is absolutely crucial in planning for the subsector. However, estimates obtained from the County Education office in March 2013 indicate that there are a total of 982 public and 346 private ECDE centers in the County distributed, respectively (public/private) as follows: Homa-Bay 174/82; Rachuonyo North - 171/ 61; Rachuonyo South 216/80; Mbita 100/38; Suba 110/25 and Ndhiwa 151/60. 5.1.2.2 Primary Education By August, 2005, there were 814 public Primary Schools in Homa-Bay County. (These numbers are will be updated as current situation gets established). As part of the strategic plan for Homa-Bay County, it is important to find out the current exact number of primary schools and their distribution by the constituencies and districts. It will also be necessary to establish the population of the children eligible to attend school at both levels so as to determine the ratio of schools to the learners and possibly work out the deficit. The exact status of the schools in terms of academic facilities and resources for co-curricular activities is also important to establish. 5.1.2.3 Secondary Education It is a concern of the County Government to consider the progression of the Primary school leavers to Secondary Schools. The Secondary School sub-sector is important for consolidation of the learning achieved at the Primary School level. It also prepares learners for professional courses to be undertaken at the tertiary level. Data available at the National level currently shows that only about 40% of the learners who sit for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education Examination (KCPE) progress to Secondary School level. One of the factors that has been attributed to this is the lack of enough Secondary School space to accommodate all the eligible learners. It is therefore important to obtain data on the actual number of secondary school space in Homa-Bay County and establish their distribution so as to establish the deficit for purposes of planning. Table 4.2.1 below presents the data on the number of primary and secondary schools in Homa-Bay County as at August 2005. While it may not be accurate, it presents a picture that can be used as a guide.
Table 4.2.1: Distribution of Primary and Secondary Schools per District Administrative unit as at 2005. DISTRICT No. of Primary Schools No. of Sec Schools District Total SUBA RACHUONYO HOMA-BAY COUNTY TOTALS 172 339 303 814 12 58 32 102 184 397 335 916
Source: District Strategic Plans from Suba, Rachuonyo and Homa Bay Districts 2005 - 2010
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5.1.2.4 Enrolment and Dropout Rates at primary and secondary school levels According to the strategic plans of the districts in Homa-Bay County as at 2005, it was estimated that primary enrolment rate was at 75.5%, while secondary enrolment rate was at 15.7% as at 2009. Projections of drop-out rates were captured from District Strategic Plans 2005-2010 for Suba, Homa Bay and Rachuonyo districts. The table below presents a summary for the County as at August, 2005.
Table 4.1.3. Percentage dropout rates in Homa-Bay County Level Sex Homa Bay Primary Boys 30% Girls 20% Secondary Boys 10% Girls 15% Source: District Strategic Plan 2005-2010 Rachuonyo 15% 20% 28% 15% Suba 8% (Boys) 21%(Girls)
Information obtained from the Homa-Bay County Education office in March 2013 puts enrolment of learners at primary and secondary levels, respectively as at end of January as follows: Homa-Bay 60,100/6162; Rachuonyo North - 12426/ 66118; Rachuonyo South 9496/48778; Mbita 14101/54461; Suba 3964/28000 and Ndhiwa 6049/28957. This totals to 286,318 enrolment for primary and 52,189 for Secondary education. Data on the eligible learners at these levels at present and distribution by sex are not available at the County Education Office. So far, it would appear that one of the challenges to good strategic planning is the lack of up-to-date data. It would mean that the County Government should invest in carrying out some baseline survey on such issues to facilitate better planning. 5.1.2.5 Vocational and Technical Training It is apparent that less than 40% of the primary school graduates proceed to Secondary School in Kenya, generally. The next logical question then is: Where do these children go? A few of them probably join Vocational and Technical training institutions; however, most of them end up doing unskilled and unstructured labour, most of the girls end up in early marriages while a few could even be lured into crime. The greater consequence of this is that the County ends up with a relatively very large population of people with very low education (primary level education) whose general level comprehension of social, economic, political and health issues, etc. is inadequate. These dropouts are potential resources of the County in whom talents and skills could be nurtured in Vocational and technical institutions. The County Government therefore ought to take an audit of the existing institutions for Vocational and technical training, their distribution across the districts/constituencies, the facilities available, courses on offer and the need for them in the light of the eligible pupils. At present, records show that the following are some of the institutions available for vocational and technical training in the County, distributed in the Districts as shown in Table 2, below.
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Table 4.1.4: Technical Colleges in Homa-Bay County and Districts where they are located. District Technical Institutions Homa-Bay Asumbi Technical Institute, Homa Bay Youth Polytechnic Rachuonyo North Rachuonyo South Homa Hills Centre Mawego Polytechnique Oyugis Technical College, Atemo Youth Polytechnic Oyugis Craft Training College
Ndhiwa Mbita Suba Source: Kenya Open Data (www.opendata.go.ke) Note: List to be updated.
5.1.2.6 Tertiary Education In this sub-sector, the concern is with the education of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate holders who have not made it to the University. It is important that, as part of the overall development of the County, the County Government takes stock of the numbers involved and considers ways of making provisions for this important group. It is noteworthy to take cognisance of the fact that records at the National level show that in Kenya, only about 10% of the students who complete High School join the University. Therefore, the tertiary institutions would play a very important role in absorbing this significant population with a view to providing them with skilled professional and technical knowledge for specialized Sectors (such as Agriculture, Health, Fisheries, Education, etc.); while also preparing them for continuing at University Education later on. While it is acceptable that the County may not be self- sufficient in this regard, it is crucial that the County Government plans strategically for this sub-sector. Available records show that at the moment, the following are the tertiary institutions available in Homa-Bay County.
Table 4.1.5: Tertiary institutions in Homa-Bay County. District Homa-Bay Rachuonyo North
Rachuonyo South Ndhiwa Mbita Suba Source: Kenya Open Data (www.opendata.go.ke). Note: Records to be updated.
Institutions K.M.T.C Homa Bay Asumbi Teachers Training College St. Margrate Teachers T. College MawegoPolytechnique Rachuonyo Teachers Training College
5.1.2.7 University Education University Education is certainly the epitome of all the levels so far addressed. Universities are intended to be creators, custodians and propagators of academic and professional knowledge for all sectors. As a County, we ought to invest in University Education so as to accommodate our KCSE graduates who qualify for this level (and students from the rest of the country) while also supporting students from Homa-Bay County who are studying elsewhere in the country or abroad financially and in other ways. It would also be prudent to support programs that aim at ensuring that the County produces graduates/experts in key professional areas such as Medicine, Architecture, Law, Information Technology, Fisheries, Electrical and other forms of Engineering, Nursing, Education, and others. At present, there is only one university campus in Homa-Bay County; that is Maseno Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 25
University Homa Bay Town Learning Centre). There was also an announcement of the Mirogi University College - a constituent college of Maseno University, but which is not yet functional. 5.1.2.8 Adult Education Adult Education is generally relatively a neglected sub-sector in the country. Yet this is an aspect that can be harnessed to provide continued Education (sometimes referred to as Life Long Education (LLE) on all spheres of life ranging from family life, entrepreneurship skills, land use, environmental management and civic education on matters such as elections and the constitution. The County Government would definitely need to consider reviving the adult education centres that thrived in the 1980s and plan to establish more in strategic places in Homa-Bay County. Like many other subsectors discussed above, data on the status of Adult Education in Homa-Bay County is not available and needs to be sought so that there can be a meaningful plan for this sector. 5.1.3 Vision for the Education Sector
This sector highlights the vision for the Education sector in the next one to ten years. The critical question here is: what are our visions for the different sub sectors in Education?
5.1.3.1 Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE):
Overall vision: To have every eligible child attain ECDE.
1. That every child of age three to six years shall be enrolled at an ECDE centre, preferably a centre within every one-kilometre radius. 2. That centers be equipped with standard classrooms and relevant teaching/learning materials. 3. The centers need to be manned by teachers trained in ECDE in ratios proportionate to the number of children at Baby class, Nursery and Pre-Unit. 4. That there will be a vigorous campaign to ensure no children enrolled in ECDE centers drop out of school, through provisions for support in terms of basic needs. 5. That there will be deliberate campaigns to ensure 100% progression to Primary Schools. Primary Education Overall vision: A conducive environment for identification and nurturing of talents of the children in all spheres.
5.1.3.2
1. That there will be enough space for primary schooling for all the eligible children in the County all of whom will be enrolled in Primary School and retained through appropriate support services such as provision of clothing, food, health services etc. 2. That all primary schools shall be manned by trained teachers in the correct ratios and will be equipped with adequate textbooks and other relevant teaching/learning materials. 3. That there will be provisions for and active participation and identification/nurturing of talents in sports and other co-curricular activities, entrepreneurial/vocational projects, environmental management and ICT in all primary schools in the County.
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4. That there will be provisions for all children to achieve computer literacy, basic entrepreneurship skills and practical tips on environmental management and conservation while at Primary School. 5. That all primary schools will be supported to have at least one income generation project and to develop an active alumni tracking system to fund some needs in School. 5.1.3.3 Secondary Education
Overall Vision: To make secondary education basic in Homa-Bay County.
1. That there will be adequate Secondary School spaces for all the Primary School graduates in Homa-Bay County with adequate standard classrooms and enough teaching and learning resources for all the students. 2. That relevant steps will be taken to ensure maximum retention at Secondary School level through relevant support programs such as bursaries, health services, security etc. 3. That each secondary school will facilitate active participation of all learners (and identification/nurturing of talents) in sports and co-curricular activities, entrepreneurial projects, environmental management initiatives and community outreach programs. 4. That all Secondary schools will be supported to have at least one income generation project to support some needs in School and to develop an active alumni tracking system, aimed at, among other things, assisting in developments in the schools. 5. That the County Government will vigorously campaign to support maximal progression from Secondary School to either University or Tertiary Education. 5.1.3.4 Vocational and Technical Education
Overall Vision: To provide opportunities for acquisition of vocational and technical skills for all eligible and interested learners in the County.
1. That there will be enough Vocational Training opportunities for all the primary school graduates who do not proceed to Secondary school and also secondary school graduates who fail to join either Tertiary or University Education. 2. That the Vocational and Technical Training centres should be distributed fairly across the County and be fairly equipped with the necessary teaching training resources. 3. That the Vocational and Technical Training shall be offered in diverse skill areas and at various levels such as Craft, Certificate, Diploma and even Higher National Diploma levels, structured to permit vertical progression of the learners from one level to another within their abilities. 4. That appropriate support will be extended to learners at Vocational and Technical Training centres such as bursaries, health Services, etc to ensure retention and progression. 5. That all points made about the earlier subsectors of education with regard to sports and cocurricular activities, entrepreneurial projects, environmental management, alumni tracking and community outreach programs shall apply to Vocational and Technical Training institutions. Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 27
5.1.3.5
Tertiary Education
Overall Vision: To have a tertiary education institution in every constituency to produce certificate and Diploma holders in all key sectors such as Education, Nursing and Agriculture, etc.
1. That the County Government will review the number and distribution of Teacher Training Colleges, Medical Training Centers, Agricultural Training Centers and other Tertiary institutions in Homa-Bay County with a view to improving intake and maximizing their uses. 2. That enrolment and retention in Tertiary institutions and progression to higher levels will be encouraged among both male and female learners, with affirmative action where necessary. 3. That participation of students in tertiary institutions in sports and other co-curricular activities shall be encouraged to nurture and develop some of the talents identified at the earlier levels of Education. 4. That all points made about the earlier sub-sectors of education with regard to entrepreneurial projects, environmental management, tracking of alumni, and community outreach programs shall apply to tertiary institutions. 5. The County Government will encourage appropriate affiliations of the existing Tertiary institutions to similar institutions and universities in Kenya and abroad. 5.1.3.6 University Education
Overall Vision: To enhance opportunities in University Education in Homa-Bay County and affirmatively ensure enrolment in specific professions of high demand.
1. That the County Government shall establish a University and University Colleges in HomaBay County. 2. That relevant Universities shall be encouraged to start campuses in different districts/constituencies in Homa-Bay County. 3. That an affirmative action shall be put in place to achieve at least a 100% increase in the number of eligible Homa-Bay County residents who join University Education. 4. That special attention will be paid towards ensuring that 10% of Homa-Bay residents eligible for University Education are enrolled for the very competitive Degree programs such as Medicine, Engineering, Public/Environmental Health, Dentistry, etc. 5. That some funds will be set aside at County and Constituency levels to offer Bursaries and loans to needy but highly eligible students. 5.1.3.7 Adult Education
Overall Vision: To revive Adult Education and expand it to include lifelong learning opportunities in strategic aspects of life.
1. That all Adult Education Centers established in the 1980s shall be identified, revived and redistributed appropriately. 2. That the County shall constitute a team to design an Adult Education curriculum that will serve the unique educational needs of the County at this level. 3. That appropriate linkages will be established with relevant organizations to support Adult Education Programs on various aspects of Adult occupational/practitioner life. Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 28
4. That relevant recreation facilities shall be provided in the Adult Education Centers to encourage enrolment and retention. 5. That relevant rehabilitation and Counseling programs shall be started alongside the Adult Education Centers or other appropriate locations to cater for such needs.
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5.1.4
SWOT Analysis of the Education sector

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES The lack of trained teachers, relevant resources, and support programmes OPPORTUNITIES THREATS The possible exploitation of parents and children by entrepreneurs with inappropriate knowledge, skills and values in ECDE.
ECDE
There is existing infrastructure mainly attached to primary schools and churches.
Primary Education
There are many qualified personnel at present with certificates, Diplomas and even Degrees in ECDE to spearhead the sector. There are private ECDE centres to supplement. Most public primary schools Most have very old and poorly There are many trained are well established with maintained facilities and are teachers who are currently adequate room for largely understaffed. not employed who could be development and expansion. recruited.
Secondary Education
Communities have initiated a lot of Secondary Schools and earmarked places for construction of more. County governments can ride on this good will to develop and expand the subsector.
Most of the Community initiated schools have very minimal resources and are seriously understaffed.
There are many citizens of Homa-Bay County who are willing to contribute to the Development of these schools and even support some students in schools. Most primary schools have enough room for building of secondary schools.
The lack of proper maintenance,. Grabbing of primary school land; clanism , child labour, poverty and several domestic circumstances. Many mushrooming private schools all over the County that do not meet the minimal standards. Most community schools are considered to belong to particular clans. Many mushrooming private schools all over the County that do not meet the minimal standards.
Vocational/
There are many vocational institutions in the County Technical Ed. currently called youth polytechnics that can be developed into more vibrant vocational/technical institutions. Tertiary Education There are a number of tertiary institutions in HomaBay County already which can be persuaded to expand room for enrolment with special reservations for citizens of Homa-Bay County. There are very many citizens of Homa-Bay County who are highly qualified/placed university lecturers and administrators in Kenya and abroad. These professionals would give the guidance required and may be persuaded to spearhead the establishment of a university in the County. There are existing many designated adult education centres in Homa-Bay County and some citizens were trained as Adult Education teachers.
There is a general negative There is a lot of demand for attitude towards skilled manpower in both vocational/technical the public and private sector education. that the youth should be sensitised about.
Apprenticeship training is cheaper and quicker; hence more appealing, yet the quality of manpower is far less than vocational/ technical training with no opportunities for progression.
The existing tertiary institutions are few and not evenly distributed throughout the County. They are also national with no special provisions for Homa-Bay County residents. There is neither a University nor university college currently in Homa-Bay County. Also, although there are no reliable figures, it is estimated that Homa-Bay County has comparatively very few students enrolling in University Education, especially in key professional areas. Many of the previously existing adult education centres were on private premises hence this sector may be re-constructed from scratch.
University Education
There are a lot of very qualified students eligible for tertiary education in the County. Every constituency would be able to provide land for establishment of a tertiary institution as these are very popular. Maseno University, JaramogiOgingaOdinga University and Rongo University College already have campuses in Homa-Bay County that would provide starting points for initiating and expanding University Education in Homa-Bay County.
Many private Colleges in the County and elsewhere without accreditation nor requisite facilities that are currently purporting to offer tertiary education. Some of these give certificates that are not recognised nationally or internationally. University Education is agreeably expensive; hence unaffordable to the ordinary citizen of Homa-Bay County.
Adult Education
Adult education could be started within existing public institutions such as primary schools, secondary schools or vocational/ technical institutions.
There is poor attitude and apathy generally towards adult and continuing education that will have to be confronted.
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5.1.5
Strategic Interventions.
SHORT TERM YEAR 1 2 MEDIUM TERM YEARS 3 4 To establish a well-resourced ECDE centre within every 1 kilometre radius of in rural areas and every half- a kilometre radius in urban areas (MT). LONG TERM 5 - 10 YEARS Initiate an active support programme intended to enhance retention and progression. This will involve strategic provision of food, clothing, learning materials and shelter where necessary (LT).
ECDE
Establish a well-resourced (and complete 1-2-3) ECDE centre attached to every primary school (ST).
Primary Education
An active team in every Ward (Ward Education Board WED - with agents in every village) to ensure every eligible child attends primary school (ST). The WED to promote participation in sports and other co - curricular activities, identify and nurture talent in various spheres (ST). WED to review performance in KCPE and suggest improvements to the District Education Board; then the County Education Board (ST). Every primary school shall have standard rubbish disposal area / process and a nature corner where trees shall be planted. Every child one tree/ seedling policy (ST). Establish a team (possibly CEB or other suitable body) to institute active identification of talents consider establishment of/ re-energising the County Talent Academies (ST) andadvice on entrepreneurial activities per school. Immediately embark on refurbishing the existing Vocational and Technical education Centres in the County (ST).
One- child- one-text book policy in all the 5 subject areas (basic texts) Maths, Kiswahili, English, Science and Social studies and religion. One-book-two children for supplementary texts (MT). Provide at least eight standard classrooms and at least eight trained teachers and in every single stream public primary school in the County sourced from/ employed by TSC and/ or PTA/ County government (MT).
Supply electricity / power in all public primary schools and ensure computer literacy of every primary school graduate (LT).
Secondary Education
Vocational/ Technical Education Tertiary Education University Education
Establish a body to review and advice on establishment/ distribution of tertiary colleges (ST). Immediately form a team to deliberate on establishing a university college (initially) (ST). Consider encouraging one or more universities to establish campuses in the districts in HB County (ST).
Establish a secondary school for every three primary schools to cater for all the eligible students in the County. Active follow up of and data on dropouts so that the County education committee could make suggestions on how to improve retention (MT). Establish a vocational and technical training centre in every constituency working in collaboration with Mawego TTI. Mawego to launch variety of skills and advice on/ every progression (MT). Institute affiliation of all the existing tertiary institutions with local and international universities (MT). Support enrolment of HB residents in specific competitive degree programmes e.g. Medicine, Engineering, Architecture, Dentistry, Environmental Health and others (MT). Establish an active loan/ bursary system and a team to disseminate to needy students across the country (MT). Institute a structured lifelong learning programmes for different sets of practitioners in the County. This can be handled by the same team mentioned above (MT).
Establish basic standards for all secondary schools in terms of classroom sizes, number of learners per class, basic facilities e.g. labs, libraries etc. (LT).
Establish a vocational and technical training centre in every ward and establish a fund to support needy learners in this sector (LT). Establish one tertiary constituency (LT) college per
Establish a full pledged public university in Homa-Bay County (LT).
Adult Education
A team to identify and revive adult education centres discuss curriculum, work on linkages and other issues (ST).
Attach an Adult Education Unit to Every Primary School to cater for bridging, continuing and lifelong learning needs (LT).
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5.1.6 Research and Technology Research is the source of empirical knowledge upon which policy decisions and improvements of practices need to be based. Research supports innovation and upgrade of technology, prerequisites for advancement of society. Apparently research has not been clearly institutionalized in the County. This is probably because research is normally associated with Universities or established research centres such as KEMRI, which are not currently existing in Homa-Bay County. Albeit some NGOs may have carried out research on specific issues in Homa-Bay County. The way forward for this subsector by way of planning would be to establish a team charged with research and documentation within the first six months charged with the following: 1. Soliciting, collating and conserving the existing research findings on different issues carried out in Homa-Bay County by NGOs and other bodies. 2. Establishing a vibrant research and documentation centre that will provide a platform for identifying the research agenda, and coordinate and sharing of research activities, outputs and outcomes in the County. 3. Identifying and supporting institutional and private research activities and partnerships in the County. 4. Receiving and processing applications by individuals and institutions to undertake research in Homa-Bay County. 5. Should develop strategies that would promote research and support implementation of research findings in the County. In terms of Technology, it is crucial that the County invests on the identification, creating or acquisition of appropriate technologies for different purposes in different sectors in the County. Particular emphasis should be given to Information, Communication and Technology (ICT). ICT is definitely a key aspect of development in each sector. The starting point would be to aim at an eventual integration of ICT into every sector. This would mean a massive campaign to achieve computer literacy in the County. The starting point would be to make ICT part of the school programs right from ECDE. In particular, the County should aim at having every child leaving primary school gain basic computer literacy. This should be consolidated at secondary school level where ICT should be made a compulsory subject at least in the first two classes. 5.1.7 Conclusions That Education is an extremely important sector that must be given priority cannot be gainsaid. The Situation Analysis presented in this plan paints a grim picture that can be summarized as the lack of exploitation of the lack of adequate educational opportunities in the County at all levels ranging from ECDE to Universities and Adult Education. Nevertheless, the sector can be improved with clear visions such as the ones identified above and practical strategic interventions that are broken down in the discussion of this sector. Clearly, with a serious commitment, involvement of all the stakeholders and collaboration of some development partners, the County Government can turn around the Education Sector within the next five years and lay foundations for even more massive development and consolidation of the gains in the subsequent years.
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5.2 Health services

The most prevalent diseases in the County district are Malaria, Respiratory disorders, skin diseases, ARI, diarrheal diseases and eye infections. Thus programs of Primary Health Care (PHC); and STI/STD including HIV/AIDS should be put in place. The main factors that promote the rapid spread of the HIV/AIDS in the County are widow inheritance, negative cultural believes, loose lifestyles among the fishermen, pre-marital sex and night disco dances. Up to 80% of the hospital beds are occupied by people with HIV and AIDs related ailments. The impact is majorly felt at the village levels where there is already an increasing number of orphans who are in and out of school; increasing number of female headed and child headed households and the high drop-out rates in schools among others. The health sector generally faces lack of funds. However, Medicines San Frontiers, and other NGOs have given support which have included the upgrade of the only referral hospital at Homa-Bay. They improved the sewerage, rehabilitated TB wards, mortuary, laundry and the Kitchen. The table below provides a summary of the health indicators at the County by 2002. Table 5.1. Health Indicators, 2002
Rachuonyo Hospitals Health centers Average distance to health center Dispensaries Clinics % household with access to health Crude Birth Rate (CBR) facility Crude Death Rate (CDR) Life Expectancy Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) Under 5 Mortality Rate Total Fertility Rate HIV Prevalence Rate Doctor/Patient Ratio Immunization coverage
Source Ministry of Health
Homa-Bay 1 20 15
Suba 2 9 7 3 21/1000 7.1/1000 53.1 110/1000 130/1000 4.98 34% 1:85,036
4 3 5km 60 16.54/1000 12.62/1000 47 years 87/1000 102/1000 4.4 30% 1:150,000
441/1000 168/1000 50 years 137/1000 213/1000 7.1 24% 1: 38,707 35%
5.2.1 Reproductive health Reproductive Health (RH) as defined by World Health Organization (WHO), as generally a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being in all matters related to the RH system, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. RH care system therefore is inclusive of all promotive, preventive and curative services that will be conducive to the well being of the individual in human reproduction and sexuality. Up to 24% of the of the female population in the County are aged between (15-49) are in the reproductive age and there is a great challenge to provide MCH/FP services to cater for the health needs of the expanding number of women of reproductive age. Different provisions of the reproductive health are lacking in the County. The main issues / problems related to the reproductive health are: Poor quality of care during ante and post natal care. Inadequate family planning services Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 33
High rates of HIV/AIDS infection Low male involvement in family planning services Low levels of awareness on RH rights Limited accessibility to quality and affordable RH services High infection rates of STDs/ HIV/ AIDS High prevalence rates of unwanted pregnancies. Harmful cultural practices e.g. widow inheritance Insufficient VCT centers inaccessibility/ lack of affordable drugs to HIV/AIDs 5.2.2 STI/HIV/AIDS This is one of the health problems that continue to affect a large population of Kenyans in their reproductive ages. The County the rate of infection of up to 30% and compares very poorly with the national average of 13.5%.The most affected age segment are those aged between 15-45 years who are considered to be sexually active. However the youth aged between14 to 25 are the most vulnerable. The high prevalence rate has impacted negatively on development activities. The agricultural sector is the most affected as those infected cannot actively participate in agricultural activities. Similarly the school system has experienced increasing dropout of students due to lack of fees and the children remaining at home to take care of their ailing parents. The teacher/pupil ratio is also high due to death of teachers from the infection. The County also has an increasing number of orphans, and widows. The culture beliefs and poverty in the community are some of the major factors that have contributed to the rise in infection rates in the County. The fight against HIV/AIDS needs to be intensified if the County has to win the war against poverty. 5.2.3 Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats of the Sector
5.2.3.1 The strengths 1. Personnel - Well-skilled and qualified personnel in addition to trained home based care staff 2. Facilities and equipment - existence of some basic that have wide coverage in local areas. This includes offices, contraceptives and family planning facilities. 3. Policy and structure that are conducive up to the grassroots level (DACC, DIV.ACC), general policies on health and HIV/ AIDS and clear roles and responsibilities of various players 4. Collaborations and networks With development partners, community based organizations, women groups, and community resources and resource persons. Well coordinated multisectoral participation. Offerings/tithe/donations from churches guided by principles of faith 5. Infrastructure - improving transport, communication and facilities for dissemination of information. This has led to high coverage/awareness levels in the community 5.2.3.2 The weaknesses 1. Specialized skills - shortage and low doctor to patient ratio. Inadequate technical staff 2. Inadequate equipment/supplies to rural facilities. Inadequate specialized clinical and health facilities e.g. theatres, emergency (casualty) department; laboratory equipments/ personnel; Lack of testing kits in local health facilities 3. Low staff morale 4. Referral system - Poor referral system due to inadequate logistics and facilities. Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 34
5. Funds - Inadequate financing of the sector 6. Inadequate transport :long average distance to medical facilities and inadequate supportive transport; Poor maintenance of vehicles 7. Lack of adequate information to the beneficiaries 8. Weaknesses in fostering collaborations - Not all are followers of Foreign based organization and biased in faith religion 9. Suboptimal management: Lack of audit and monitoring on utilization of funds; Bureaucracy in some levels of implementation of programs; Poor public relations. Corruption and misuse of government funds. 5.2.3.3 Opportunities 1. Devolved government system should be more sensitive to the needs and priorities at the grassroots. 2. Donor willingness to support 3. Available community volunteers i.e. CHWs & TBAs. 4. Available training opportunity 5. High expectation from the community 5.2.3.4 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Threats Staff attrition/retrenchment Recurrent disease outbreak Retrogressive cultural practices Negative attitude towards the program Unreliable transport and communication between main land and 16 islands Effect of HIV/AIDS on staff Entrenchment of emerging diseases Lack of confidentiality Mushrooming religious organizations High death rates among members in the community Conflict from other government offices e.g. MOH/DSDO, Education, agriculture
5.2.4 Strategic interventions: 1. Train and recruit more health personnel. If possible post a clinical officer to each dispensary 2. Improve housing conditions of health personnel and provide better terms including hardship allowance. 3. Train more health managers, facilitate formation of community units and provide support infrastructure and supplies. Try to establish one community unit in each sub location 4. Decentralization supply and procurement systems; improve emergency and referral systems (ambulances, land and water) and provide special units/clinics. Aim to secure five water ambulances and six land ambulances for the County 5. Increase and sustain funding of HIV programs. Intensify HIV/AIDS campaign; provision of ARVs. Establish guidance and counseling services/pastoral services; form youth clubs and groups to engage the youth; introduce Family life education activities in schools/out of school. Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 35
6. Launch and implement the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) strategies. Public education on nutrition and better living habits. Promote exercises including cycling. Sensitize the youth on the dangers of drug abuse; develop relevant youth programs to occupy their idle time; guide and counsel the youth on dangers of drug abuse. 7. Institute safety-nets / support systems for child headed families. Promote adoption / foster parenthood and establish community based care centers 8. Provide adequate information and education on responsible parenthood. Develop / distribute IEC materials on responsible parenthood; promote good family values and virtues; and encourage traditional family disciplinary structures 9. Reduce poverty and desperation among the elderly and people with disabilities. Start Home Care Programs for the elderly; initiate social security programs; put in place extended family support structures; sensitize those with disabilities and their families of their rights; provide facilities and friendly environment for people with disabilities; Provide equitable opportunities to people with disabilities in social, political, economic and cultural life; sensitize the law enforcement agents and media on how to handle people with disabilities 10. Reduced ante/post natal care problems; train health care providers; create awareness of the existence of ante/post natal care facilities and personnel; construct health care facilities; train the FP providers; and sensitize the community on the benefits and importance of the family planning programs 11. Improve family planning services: provide family planning services; encourage male participation in family planning; 12. Train reproductive health workers: train RH service providers on HIV/AIDS; develop and avail relevant reference materials to RH service providers; advocate for awareness on the effects of HIV/AIDS pandemic. 13. Reduce infection rate of STI/HIV/AIDS: establish voluntary counseling and testing centers; promote voluntary counseling and testing centers; promote safe sex practices. 14. Encourage behavioral change towards HIV/AIDS: create awareness and sensitize the public on STI/HIV/AIDS scourge; promote peer education programs; develop, produce and distribute IEC materials. 15. Establish support care for the affected and infected by STI/HIV/AIDS: train the health care providers on home based care services; provide basic medical/facilities/supplies; mobilize community resources to address HIV/AIDS pandemic. 16. Encourage private participation in health care and also Private Public Partnerships with the County government. 17. Stock subsidized drugs in the public health centers and in the private health facilities. 18. Encourage a health workers days where demonstrations and experiences are shared. 19. Improve the capacities of public and private practitioner to diagnose commonly occurring conditions and administration of drugs. Continuously train workers on various techniques like testing for diabetes, hypertension, and malaria. 20. Establish and strengthen linkages: engage constructively with NGOs and partners on the ground.
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5.3
Agriculture, Livestock and Land
5.3.1 Introduction Agriculture is the mainstay of the Kenyan Economy. It currently represents 24% of the Kenyas Gross Domestic Product and employs 18% of Kenyans. The vision 2030 divides agriculture into industrial crops (Tea, coffee, sugarcane, cotton, tobacco, sisal, barley, fruits), food crops (maize, cassava, wheat, rice, sorghum, millet, legumes), horticulture (vegetables, water melon flowers, nuts, spices) and livestock (poultry, goats, sheep, cattle, fish). The population of livestock in Homa-Bay County in 2009 is given in Table 7.3.1 below. There are approximately 150,000 farm families with an average of 2.2 acres farm per family. The Ministry of Agriculture staff to farmer ratio is 1:1100 to 1: 3200 and a total of 139 extension providers from both state and non-state organization. Owing to the importance of fish in the Homa-Bay County, it is treated as a separate sector in this strategic plan. Table 7.3.1 Population of animals in Homa Bay County in 2012 Indigenous Cattle Donkeys 3725 6,130 3358 8010 4243 Wax (M.Tons) Poultry Sheep Exotic cattle Goats 124000 86,350 37743 73355 40615
Homa-Bay 916 164,000 756220 1250 Ndhiwa 297 246,770 139,710 26,600 Mbita 193 41195 30694 291 Karachuonyo 183 77288 242036 0 Suba 93 42074 9200 497 Source Ministry of Agriculture, Homa-Bay County profile 2012.
Pigs
85000 108,540 9572 31924 9528
The current productivity of livestock in the County is summarized in the table 7.3.2 below: Poultry Meat (M.Tons) Milk (Litres )
Eggs (No.)
Beef (M.Tons)
Chevon (M.Tons)
Pork (M.Tons)
Mutton (M.Tons)
Homa-Bay 9,300,000 2,100,000 8.6MT 0.32MT 8.4MT 9.3MT 6.4MT 0.64MT 1.9MT Ndhiwa 21,795,765 904 48 9.7 58 3,000,000 50 2.4 272,000 Mbita 3,870,574 446.7 189.08 11.273 19.74 2,939,637 1473.5 22.9 60489 Karachuonyo 6,889,193 834 101 0 65.8 4,135,299 8.4 0.2 64.3 Suba 3,790,171 455,400 196235 19240 19652 3,237,566 36874 71.8 78623 Source Ministry of Agriculture, Homa-Bay County profile 2012. The plan underlines the main challenges as: a) low production and productivity; b) negligible value addition activities; c) limited market access and d) weak supportive agricultural institutions. 5.3.2 Situational analysis The main industrial crops in Homa-Bay County are sugarcane and cotton. Sugarcane is majorly grown in Ndhiwa and parts of Rangwe constituencies and so far 334,250 tons of cane worth KES 111,625,118.00 produced in the County annually. There is a potential for establishment of tea in the Kasipul, and Kabondo Kasipul constituencies. Purple tea offers better opportunity as it is highly Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 37
Honey (M.Tons)
District
valued for its health attributes and has potential for higher returns per hectare than the traditional tea. Cotton has been grown in the region for a long time without much success in the industry. Requisite experience exists and some supportive infrastructure, are already in place. The supportive infrastructure, include the stalled ginneries, textile industry and research station at the neighboring County, Kisumu. Other industrial crops grown in the region are pineapples in Kasipul, Kabondo Kasipul, and Rangwe constituencies. Potential for sorghum as an industrial crop and raw material for breweries could be exploited. The main food crops in the County are maize, rice, sorghum, potatoes, and legumes. In general the County still has food deficits and is a net importer of grains. The County has a climate and soils that highly favors horticulture and fruit production. Leafy vegetables, flowers, nuts and spices could be grown quite profitably in the region given the warm climate and availability of water (rivers, streams, lake, and high potentials of aquifers). Green house technology, supported strategically with irrigation technologies and technical support, financial and marketing services are but limitations that can be surmounted. The existence of the Kisumu International Airport provides exporting opportunities, and should be fully exploited. Currently, although the climate, soils are suitable for almost all crops, inadequate husbandry and dependence of erratic water source (rainfall) has led to suboptimal agricultural productivity. The County is unfortunately a net importer of dairy products, fruits and grains. The strategic options which are outlined in the next section takes cognizance of the available soil potentials, human resources base, the available technological options, infrastructure, the growing demand within the County as well as external market growth opportunities. For each commodity, a value chain approach will be adopted for rapid assessment of the situation, and to identify constraints, opportunities and possible interventions through a participatory and iterative process, in which all the key actors would be involved. As much as feasible, an innovation and engagement platform would be established for each or sets of related commodities and used to assess and develop each respective value chain. This way all the components of the entire value chain would be targeted. The main extension methods being employed by the agriculture department include demand driven extension with an emphasis on common interest group and farmer field school approach through the various program and projects funded either by the government or donors. Government funded programs are: a) National Agricultural and Livestock Extension Program {NALEP GoK} b) Njaa Marufuku Kenya {NMK} c) Traditional High Value Crops {THVC} d) Constituency Based Water Harvesting Program Donor funded Programs/Projects: a) National Agricultural and Livestock Extension Program {NALEP} b) South Nyanza Community Development Project {SNCDP} c) Kimira Oluch Smallholder Farm Improvement Project {KOSFIP} d) Adaptation to Climate Change and Insurance {ACCI} e) Nerica Rice and SHEP-UP Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 38
5.3.3 5.3.3.1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 5.3.3.2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 5.3.3.3 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for the sector Strengths Availability of fertile land Availability of water (lake, rivers, streams, aquifers) Established crops (pineapple, potatoes, sugarcane, groundnuts, sorghum) Existing local and international market Availability of labor (skilled and youthful workforce) Weaknesses Inadequate financial facilities Lack of farm machineries Limited extension support Low level knowledge, skills, and technology Non conforming cultures and poor attitude Inadequate outbound/downstream activities (lack of value addition, poor post harvest handling, and marketing failures) Poor Business management Diseases Breeds and species Low producing and late maturing breeds Inefficient land tenure Poor fertility of some farmlands Opportunities Warm climate and sunlight World connectivity (information and communication technology; linkages) Improved infrastructure (electricity and road network) Biotechnology Large idle land Devolved governance County land (reserved land) Private and non-governmental organizations willing to collaborate in agriculture development. Threats Competition from the other counties and imports Market failure (exploitation by middlemen; distortion in the markets) Substitutes High cost of inputs Drought Erratic rains Incompatible psycho social behaviors. Large families and irresponsible parenthood. Human wildlife conflicts
5.3.3.4 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
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5.3.4 Strategic Interventions Key strategies for improvement of the sector are: 1. Management of the climate vagaries by promotion of drought tolerant crops (Traditional High Value Crops); promotion of irrigation and water harvesting for crops and livestock production 2. Espouse appropriate technologies to improve productivity: set up greenhouses for horticultural crops; carry out a soil fertility improvement programs 3. Improvement of the breeds and species of animals and plants through: artificial insemination, introduction of better yielding and early maturing animals, introduction of faster growing poultry and where possible embryo transplant; use of certified seeds and clean planting materials and promotion of suitable crops like Nerica rice for the highlands 4. Improvement of post production (outbound/downstream) processes: encouraging cereal banking, establishing milk bulking plants, setting up slaughter houses and hides and skin processing firms; setting up a tanning plant; putting up fruits and vegetable processing firms; and setting up a County Marketing Information System at the Governors office. Agroprocessing and value addition in rice, Groundnuts, sunflower, sweet potato , cassava 5. Foster collaborations with bilateral partners from both the private and NGOs 6. Improve management through extension services and training. Carry out awareness campaigns to influence psycho-social behaviors. Below are crop-specific strategies. 5.3.4.1 Strategic interventions: Industrial Crops The industrial crops grown in Homa-Bay County include Sugarcane, cotton, coffee, tea, sunflower, and groundnuts. There is a potential to commercially grow purple tea, sorghum, sesame (simsim), grain amaranth, as industrial crops as well as timber trees, cut flowers, Aloe Vera. In addition, the obnoxious water hyacinth can be initially exploited as additional industrial crops in the County in the short term, as major control strategies are developed. 5.3.4.1.1 Sugarcane Sugarcane (Saccharum spp) is the best converter of suns energy in to a usable high energy concentrated form by living organisms. Sugarcane has been commercially promoted and taken up by many farmers for many years. However, the productivity (tons/ha) remains low due to many factors, one of which is, poor marketing (i.e. poor pricing systems; poor management of the processing firms); inappropriate technology (use of low yielding and late maturing varieties) among other things. Ideally a well managed sugarcane crop should be ready for 1st harvesting 16-18 months after planting and thereafter after every 12 months. Currently, most crops in the County are ready after 24 months, and thereafter after 16-18 months, and due to mismanagement, are either well before they are mature or too late post maturity, leading to low production, low profits and unnecessary locking of land. Besides, cane prices are not based on sucrose contents, but on raw tonnage, which does not encourage investments in quality production. However, sugar remains one of the most lucrative farmed and trading agricultural commodities in the world. Its use as alternative sources of bio-fuel. Addition of value and diversification into alcohol and other organic Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 40
industrial product manufacture, use of the bargasse to produce bio-gas and to generate electricity and bio-fertilizer, cattle feed blocks and blockboards are just but other ways of making use sugarcane. Transforming the current sugar cane farming and processing system into an efficient, multi-purpose industrial system, where farmers are encourage to enter into strategic partnerships with reputable firms through contributory purchase of shares is proposed. Strategic partnership with Brazilian organizations as part of a south-south technology transfer arrangement should be sought, given the huge success achieved in this area in Brazil. 5.3.4.1.2 Cotton Historically the County used to be a major cotton producer. Such efforts were however frustrated by a combination of poor management and marketing as well as use of poor (low producing and disease intolerant) varieties. Currently high yielding cotton varieties (e.g. the bt-cotton) are available coupled with the global drive to using bio-degradable fibres. The existing ginneries should be revived and disease free variety introduced. In liaison with Kibos Cotton Research station, and strategic irrigation system development, commercial cotton production can be revived. Growing more productive and disease resistant varieties and strategic irrigation, yields up to 4,000 kg/ha/yr yield are achievable. Other new opportunities for the cotton industry are the improved irrigation and road infrastructure and rural electrification that are all now in place, thus potentially enabling the development of the cotton value chains (local ginneries, textile industries and supporting of animal feed industries). A more developed cotton value chain would provide employment opportunities for the youth, women and the physically challenged. The County should look for strategic partnerships with foreign investors for joint development of the cotton industry. Links to intensive livestock production by providing cotton seed cake for the own-ration and commercial feed industry is critical, and should be facilitated and promoted. 5.3.4.1.3 Sunflower Sunflower is an oil crop with a great potential for expansion in a number of areas in Homa-Bay. Literally all areas in HBC, except the highlands are suited for sunflower growing. Mbita, Suba, Rachuonyo and Ndhiwa are particularly suited for the crop. Incentives for investors to develop local oil extraction and processing factory, including supporting small-scale extraction systems by the County would go a long way in promoting the crop. Links to animal feed manufacturing and commercial dairying should be made and supported. Local and expanded use of sunflower oil would also improve the general health of the community in the long run. The County should aggressively invest in facilitating immediate adoption and manufacture of sunflower products as a matter of priority. Revamped extension support, seed supply systems and investor scouting to support this effort should be immediately pursued. 5.3.4.1.4 Ground/pea nuts and chick peas Groundnut has been traditionally grown in the Ndhiwa, Mbita, Rangwe and Rachuonyo regions for a long time. However use of non-disease tolerant varieties and lack of appropriate machinery, seed production and delivery system have constrained commercial production. The yields are currently too low to justify the time needed and cost of production. Disease, notably the mosaic virus ( swao) and post harvest management have been major challenges of the groundnuts industry. New and Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 41
more disease tolerant varieties are now available, but production of certified seeds needs to be developed locally to promote their use by farmers. Development of decorticating machines and solar driers, especially those locally fabricated would go a long way in saving the labour, the associated drudgery as well as ensuring product quality assurances (i.e. low incidence of aflatoxin infestations). Rural based and franchised small peanut processing/packeging units should be promoted. On County-based Technology development center to train artisans on innovative fabrication and maintenance of agricultural and allied equipment and tools should be established, preferably at the current Mawego to support the above industries. Mawego.s development into an industrial training College can be specially negotiated through a direct bilateral links with friendly countries such and South Korea, Brazil, Sweden or Germany to adapt more labour/drudgery saving farm implements and processing units. Pea nut butter, oil and animal feeds and would be additional products. Chick pea can be grown in several areas of the County, for export to India and to other countries. Chick pea seed production and delivery and marketing systems should be initiated and promoted by the County, thus further creating job creation and income generation opportunities. 5.3.4.1.5 Purple tea and coffee Purple tea is a new variety of tea developed in Kenya. It has anthocyanin pigments that are similar to those found to be abundant tin red grapes and red wine. These pigments proffer to it health benefits like vision, anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-artherosclerotic. Purple tea also helps reduce 'bad' cholesterol levels in the body and is perfect for those who would like to slim down. Potential for establishment of this variety of high valued tea exist in Kasipul and Kabondo Kasipul, Upper Rangwe areas. There is a potential niche market that should be given priority. Although efforts aimed at reviving coffee production has been made in part of Kabondo, Kasipul, Rangwe, such efforts have not been aggressive enough. There development funds for western Kenya that remains to be tapped, hence a County-focus on coffee development, if closely linked to purple tea development is worth pursuing. Given that some of the targeted areas have erratic rainfall, for such efforts to work for the farmers, the crops need to be irrigated, at least during the months of late January to early March. Fortunately, the areas are well endowed in terms of rivers, swamps etc, even water harvested from the runoffs-owing to the generally hilly terrains. A couple of valley dams, pumping stations and hillside reservoir tanks followed by gravity based irrigation systems would support commercial purple tea and coffee production. An immediate establishment of coffee and purple tea nurseries is therefore recommended. A proposal on these 2 crops will be developed as project for donor funding and County support. 5.3.4.1.6 Commercial Sorghum and Amaranth Sorghum is a drought resistant crop that is also currently popularly grown in the County. It has been used for many years as the main cereal food before maize, but has not been commercialized. Sorghum is healthier than maize, but because of the high tannin content in the grain and a repulsive reddish color is not as popular with the current generation of consumers. New higher yielding, early maturing and appealing (i.e. white or light colored grains) varieties are now available, but they are so liked by birds, that commercial production is needed else, birds would eat most of the grains, leaving little harvests. Emerging use of sorghum for beer breweries, for power alcohol production and as fodder, and commercial animal feed ingredients offer additional opportunities and prospects for the County farmers, grain traders and industrialists to exploit. Innovative commercial production and Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 42
blending of more nutritious sorghum/maize/millet and amaranth mixed cooling flour should be promoted aggressively as one way of combating malnutrition among the rural families as well as managing the increasing incidences of diabetes among the local communities due to over reliance on maize based meals. Commercialization of sorghum production is one of the quick wins that the County should immediately pursue. In addition simsim and grain amaranths which are currently orphan crops, yet have worldwide acceptability for their nutritive values and health benefits. These 2 crops would be promoted; 1st by providing and supporting local quality seed production and delivery services as well as their marketing. The seeds of these 2 crops are the richest food in arginine, an essential amino acid that is important for varied body functions. The warm and sunny climate of Homa-Bay County is highly conducive for simsim and amaranth farming. Amaranth is particularly suited to even poorer sandy soils and is early maturing (i.e. ready in 2 months). These grains will be used to fortify sorghum and maize meals. 5.3.4.1.7 Tree farming, Silviculture and beekeeping Tree play multiple roles-they are used as sources of energy (domestic and industrial), building material, building and fencing posts, environmental restoration, fruits, medicinal, furniture, arts and craft, and varied other non-consumptive uses including apiary, nests for birds, camping sites and aesthetics. The level forest cover in most of HBC is inadequate and fast decreasing. A target of having at least 10% forest cover will be instituted and promoted. To do this, working in collaboration with the Forestry Department, divisional and local tree nurseries will be established, with youths trained in tree seedling production to ensure easy access and sustainability. The County government in liaison with Kenya forest service could set up tree nurseries as a prerequisite and provide professional advice to the farmers. In order to maintain the water catchments and help reduce surface water loss/erosion and help raise the water table down slope, tree farming will be promoted. Appropriate commercial tree species will be planted and promoted, but policies of maintaining at least 10% tree cover in all the agricultural lands would be developed and implemented. Initial support, and demonstration of this policy would be implemented for a start. Appropriate choice of species and species mix, including promotion of indigenous species to provide aesthetics medical, fruits and source of nectar for pollinators and for commercial honey production would be integrated with tree farming and promoted. Important trees with good prospects include: Eucalyptus (construction and poles); Gravelia (construction); Acacia (fuel); Cypress (timber and construction); Bamboo (fish cages; furniture; construction). Exploitation rules would be enacted and training on more efficient use of fuel wood, would be promoted through expanded local production energy saving jikos and training on their use. As a matter of priority, the County should immediately embark on tree nursery development and training on tree farming. To demonstrate their commitment to re-forestation plans the County should immediately engage willing NGOs and environment conservation supportive private firms and develop partnerships to immediately begin tree planting in all their reserve lands including the road reserves and hills. The responsibility of trees planted on the road reserves could be shared between the County government and individuals whose land neighbor such road reserves, so long as the appropriate species are planted. Likewise promotion of bamboo planning along the rivers and streams would be initiated. Woodlots, special indigenous tree nurseries and border trees would be facilitated by the County through provision of seedlings and extension services. To provide incentives, n the country can negotiate a carbon trading schemes, in which both private and County Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 43
public forests would be registered with carbon traders, as an incentive for afforestation and plantation farming, with the overall aim of achieving a 10% tree cover at County level by the year 2017. Community-based carbon trading organizations would therefore be supported to which individual County residents, especially the youth would contribute/buy and shares and therefore immediately benefits from such global environmental initiatives. 7.3.4.1.8 Linked to the tree farming will be honey production. Modern hives would be promoted and farmers trained on appropriate hive management, honey processing systems on registered group basis. Through production and marketing associations, honey producers would be supported to acquire and run appropriate refineries and packaging facilities and to market the honey. The youth can be targeted for this, for both domestic and export quality honey production. 5.3.4.1.8 Fruit Tree The fruit trees to be targeted for development and promotion includes improved mangoes, oranges, tangerine, lime, lemons, avocado, guava, oil palm for palm oil production); coco nuts and macadamia nuts varieties. The constraints to fruit tree production include, limited availability of suitable and quality planting materials, inadequate knowhow on tree husbandry, pests and diseases and poor market access). In close collaboration with the line ministry, relevant NGOs, local churches, mosques and commercial firms, focal nursery and grafting centers would be established at each location, where the locally suitable fruit (species and varieties) seedlings and saplings would produced and nursery operators trained to enable local production of quality planting materials. Farmers and youths would be trained on tree management/husbandry and interested/qualified youths assisted to acquire protective chemicals and spraying equipment (i.e. fungicides, fertilizers, pesticides, bactericides, boom sprayers, protective clothing and gears). The youth would then provide local services (spraying, strategic irrigation) on commercial basis. Through the local churches/mosques, promotional grated fruit trees seedlings would be distributed, with the aim of having at least one improved fruit tree growing in each home and at least 10 grafted fruit trees per primary school in the County by the end of year 3. Other fruits to be included in this program include pineapples. With time suitable exotic fruit species would be introduced from Asia and South America and programs aimed at developing i ndigenous fruit species such as ongang, nyabutatiang, nyachichiro, chua, olemb ochok etc. into commercial forms/varieties initiates. In addition, the rehabilitated and transformed habitats, where indigenous plant species such as Antidesma venosum, Garcinia hullensis, Vitex payos, Saba comorensis, Parinari curatellifolia , etc can again begin to thrive, would provide nectar for honey bees and commercial honey production, besides providing offseason food in form of indigenous fruits, which can be used to produce unique natural food flavours. Commercial fruit producers would be linked through the innovation platforms to develop and export their produce outside the County and country. Private entrepreneurs supported to start local processing plants for production of diverse products (juices, pulps, jams, concentrates, dried chips etc). Use of small, locally fabricated or imported machines would be promoted and used for instant expression of juices in local centers and town, with the overall goal/slogan being that in Homa Bay County any time is fresh fruit juice time, ask for fresh fruit juice and instead of coca cola . Bilateral collaboration would be sought with countries such as Brazil, South Korea, India and China to train local artisan on production and maintenance of such machines. Mawego would be a center
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where such training would be made. The fruit pulps would be used as livestock feeds for peri-urban livestock production systems. 5.3.4.1.9 Other tree/plant species Aloe Verra and other medicinal plants grow wildly in Homa-Bay County. The County should support establishment of farmed Aloe and filleting plants for the Aloe Vera. The Juice of Aloe Vera is highly valued and is used widely as a food additive as well as an additive to several body care toilet products. Hyacinth is currently considered a menace in Lake Victoria. It is suffocating the lake, hampering navigation and limiting fishing activities. The plant has proven to be very difficult to eradicate by physical, chemical and biological means. The plant is un-aesthetics and provides breeding ground for various disease agents, and dangerous reptiles. However, the hyacinth, could be initially commercially exploited to benefit the society. It quickly takes up nutrients from water; take up metal contaminants from water and harnesses the suns energy into easily degradable, high hemicelluloses and cellulose low lignin plant tissue and can be used to restore over-polluted waters and sections of the lakes and river estuaries. Water Hyacinth can be harvested and together with crop residues, pulverized and ensiled as feed for commercial beef, sheep and goat production. If saccarificated with sulphuric acid and with help of yeast, the plant can be used to produce industrial ethanol. The plant can also be used to produce biogas especially in the centers next to lakesides (e.g. the fishing villages and landing bays). Other uses of hyacinth that could be important in the County are vermiculture. Hyacinth could be used to feed red worms or earth worms which could serve as important protein sources for fish or poultry industry. The Hyacinth can also be used to make artefacts and for commercial extraction of dyes for the paint and fine arts industry. If smartly commercially exploited, through participatory process, in which the local communities are made to benefit, it can be sustainably managed. Bamboo The Bamboo is cultivated from bamboo culm cuttings and a few offsets. The climatic condition in Homa-Bay highly favors the growth of bamboo and there are already over 60 bamboo farmers in Homa-Bay who produce bamboo for domestic and commercial purposes. The income from bamboo farming is 5 times better than that of tobacco and this can be doubled with value addition activities like processing to products such as fish cages, baskets, mats, chairs, fruit holders et cetera. Bamboo has a potential to support the planned establishment of cages for fish farming in the lake. 5.3.4.2 Strategic interventions on food and fodder crops The important food crops grown in Homa-Bay County are maize, rice, sorghum, millet, potatoes, cassava and pulses (beans, green grams, cow peas, etc). With a population of approximately 1 million, the County requires about 90,000 tons of maize (or alternative) to be food secure. The average productivity of maize is 0.9 tons per hectare in the County and not less than 100,000 hectares should be put under maize in order to meet the above stable food needs. The total production of Maize was 67,965 tons in 2012, down from 88,143 tons in 2011. This reduction is mainly attributable to reduction in production of 7,371 and 13,693 tons of sugarcane in Homa-Bay and Ndhiwa districts, respectively, and may be explained by increase in production of sugarcane by 112,500 tons in Ndhiwa. Sugarcane culture is beginning to impact Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 45
negatively on food security of the County and appropriate measures are necessary to curb this. Besides low yields, post harvest losses are extremely high (> 30% to borers and aflatoxin attacks), with some of the grains being infested while still in the field. Poor husbandry practices (poor soil and water management practices, use of wrong varieties, wrong plant spacing/population, wrong planting time, inadequate fertilizer use and no disease and pest control and crop rotation). In fact, by addressing 2 or 3 of the above constraints, maize yield would more than triple. Gwasi area alone can produce enough maize for the County, with other areas contributing surpluses. Given not all the areas can profitably produce maize, other grains such sorghum, amaranth and millets should be promoted, in fact not every household must plant maize!. With strategic irrigation, 3 maize/sorghum crops can be produced in HBC each year, thus providing all the County needs and much more. It is suggested that strategic grain (maize, sorghum, millet and amaranth) driers and silos should be immediately put up in critical maize producing zones or in all the constituencies and in future in locations. Maize should then be dried centrally in a well managed manner in order to avoid losses and improve food safety (reduce aflatoxin infestation). Through a special shares program, farmers could use the stores as cereal banks for their produce and be allowed to sell their produce at their convenience. Cereal banks should be strengthened as it will allow for responsible post harvest management. Late planting is occasioned by use of old inefficient tillage methods; introduction of use of small hand held/pushed motorized machines and tractors for tillage and planting would greatly improve yields. Strategic use of chemicals and inter-row smother legume cropping would reduce drudgery and reduce losses from striga and substantially increase grain yields. The youth would be support through youth associations and special credit schemes to buy, trained on their use, and commercially hire out ploughing and crop protection services, thus bring such service to the people. By using tractors, valuable time would be saved and pasture/feed resources would be released for use by more productive dairy cows. Other youths would be organized, trained on how to mechanically maintain such machineries, while bulk supply of inputs (fertilizers, pesticides/fungicides etc), would help reduce input costs, and make grain farming more profitable. By the end of year 2, the County should be self-sufficient in cereal grains. Some of the youths would be trained on basic soil and water conservation practices to rest out such services to local farming communities, thus help save the agricultural soils from being eroded away. Potatoes and other tubers have a high potential to support food security status in the County. Kasipul, Kabondo Kasipul and Ndhiwa constituencies have a high potential for production of potatoes. Marketing of potatoes pose the greatest problem and the County should immediately support the farmer to form groups such as cooperatives, companies and otherwise. The County should support joint collections, sorting, grading, sales, marketing, and post sale storage facilities (cold ware houses) from the produce, from where sales on weight and quality basis would be made. Potato/cassava processing plants should be set up in Kadongo, Ringa/Ongoro and Ndhiwa to produce sweet potato/cassava chips, potato/cassava flour, starch, and extract juices for production of other organic chemicals. Through tuber innovation and promotion platform, appropriate marketing systems and links would be developed. No bulk road-side sales should be encouraged. 5.3.4.2.1 Pastures and fodder crops Improved pasture species and varieties such as Bracharia, Rhodes grass as well as appropriate Napier grass species need to be promoted. Cultivation of these grasses and their conservation (hay or Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 46
silage) need to be promoted among the dairy farmers as well s no dairy farmers, with the latter selling the same to the former. Safe storage and use of maize and sorghum stover for dairy cattle feeding need to be promoted. Fodder sorghum varieties should be introduced and grown together with leguminous forages and ensiled for use during dry periods when natural pastures become insufficient. Commercial fodder production and sale and use of pulveriser should be promoted. Where land holdings are large as parts of Ndhiwa, Mbita, Gwasi and even part of Karachuonyo and Kasipul, agricultural lands need to consolidated to benefit from economies of scale and to allow mechanizations. Neighbouring plots can be demarcated (beaconed) , all ploughed, planted, weeded and harvested together as large single pieces, and the produce shared on ration of owners land contribution basis. This way, timely planting, appropriate husbandry practice would be possible and high and sustained yield realized, as opposed to little single 05-1 acre oxen ploughed pieces, which should be left for more high valued, if need be irrigated crops. 5.3.4.3 Strategic intervention on Horticulture The Homa-Bay County has a warm and sunny climate that is highly ideal for horticulture. Flowers, fruits, vegetables and spices can be readily raised in the County. The limitations of the sector are capital, technical knowhow and land tenure. While the industry is a success story in Kenya being the second largest earner of foreign exchange, employer and contributor to food needs Homa-Bay County has ill exploited its potential. The County should take immediate steps to invite investment in this sector. The County should take advantage of the opportunities offered by the irrigation scheme, Kimira Oluch Small holder Farm Improvement Project (KOSFIP, 1474 Ha) supported by Africa Development Bank and grow the highly valued crops with potential to alleviate poverty in the County. Improvement should be made on the infrastructure already in place i.e in addition to the establishment of the irrigation channels reservoir of water in form of dams should be put in place to ensure reliable supply with water. The County should take advantage of the existing close linkage between Kenya, Europe and Middle East. Kenya also has requisite supportive infrastructure including international and local seed companies like Kenya seed, Panaar, Monsanto and Seminis. There is a considerable improvement of infrastructure that connects Homa-Bay County to Nairobi which being the main hub in East Africa has competitive airfreight costs with direct cargo flights to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London and Paris amongst others. Homa-Bay is approximately 400 KM (6 hours) to Nairobi. Basically, the private sector participation in the industry should ensure efficient management and stability; the County government should only serve a facilitative role. Fruits have an untapped potential in Homa-Bay. The pineapples production is already well established in Kabondo, Kabondo Kasipul, and Rangwe. However, the County should interest investors to set up factories that would add value to the products. The by-products (e.g pulps, can be used as socuces of soluble sugars in making of conserved cattle feeds in forms silage). Other fruits whose markets are well established in Kenya and have a potential for growth in the County are pawpaw, mangoes, avocadoes, passion fruits, Bananas, water melons, and arrow routes.
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5.3.4.4 5.3.4.4.1
Strategic intervention on livestock production Dairy Cattle
Nationally, huge (150%) dairy productivity increases will be needed in dairy cattle. Such increases would be realized through annual dairy cattle population growth rates of 2.48% (i.e. from 3,403,000 to 5,551,388), (Kenya Dairy Master Plan, 2012). If no drastic intervention is made, Homa Bay County with only xxx head of dairy cattle, would not be part o this national projection. In HBC, the average milk production per cow/day is dismally low (< 5 litters). Constrains include diseases, inadequate feeding and poor housing. The most critical diseases are the tick-borne diseases (East Coast Fever (ECF) and anaplasmosis). For ECF, a vaccine is now available, besides the normal tick control measures. Other disease include trypanosomosis, for which substantial control has been made, hence most of the constraints are surmountable and it is a shame that a County that is traditionally a consumer of dairy products is currently a net importer of dairy products. Potential for dairy production is HBC is relatively high as long as coordinated efforts are made to introduce the appropriate, cattle genetics, and necessary veterinary and breeding service are made available. Nutrition is critical and aggressive capacity development in dairy husbandry, fodder production and conservation, clean milk production and marketing should be immediately embarked by embracing a value chain approach. Homa-Bay Country, unlike other current commercial dairying counties in Kenya, is advantaged in many ways:- more and growing demand for milk and dairy products than existing local supply; warm weather, hence fodder and forage growth is faster; rainfall is generally high and moderately well distributed, water is largely available (the lake, many rivers and streams, run-offs) hence with moderate development of innovative irrigation infrastructure, pastures and crops would be provide adequate feeding materials to support commercial dairying at scale, as long as disease control measures are put in place and the right animals can be multiplied and made available to the farmers alongside the necessary input and market services. Training on use of the by-products of the cotton, sunflower (seed cakes), sugar cane (molasses), hay and silages and their promotion, would support and spur commercial dairy production and can be immediately embarked on. An aggressive and innovative disease control and cattle multiplication plans, that combines smart application of modern bio-technology and traditional technology support systems and promotion is proposed in order to quickly introduce, support and promote commercial dairying. In 3 years time, the population and production of milk would be tripled. A detailed write-up on an accelerated and innovative dairy development and promotion project, in which a combination of simple zero grazing units, semi-grazing based systems and more sophisticated zero-grazing systems to which value addition, inform of biogas plants etc. are included is provided as a separate document. This proposal will ride mainly on the existing huge indigenous cow populations, as recipients or dam breed in smart modern assisted reproductive technology (use of hormonal synchronization, artificial insemination, sexed semen from selected dairy breeds and in special cases, embryo transfers) mediated strategies. Homa Bay County cant afford to buy and be supplied with milk from the neighboring counties, and therefore dairy development project is one of the priority agricultural projects that needs fast-tracking.
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5.3.4.4.2 Beef Cattle production There are approximately 373,543 head of cattle, of which if 60% are mature breeding females, then at 80% fertility rate, every 14 months 179, 300 calves should be born and with a conservative survival rate of 70%, 62,745 steers should be available for fattening every year. With improved feeding and pasture management, carrying capacity would be increased (i.e. more beef cow can be produced), the cow fertility can be raised to > 85%, and survival rate improved to >85% and growth rate and mature weights improved significantly. In addition to the fact that HBC sits along a cattle trade corridor, that includes connection to the neighboring Tanzania, hence would be supplied from both Migori and neighboring Tanzania districts with cattle, the County should facilitate the establishment of a modern slaughter house, as well as leather processing plant. Strategic vaccination programs would have to be instituted and routinely administered. Release of oxen from ploughing, through use of tractors, would further improve beef production and quality. Fattening of steers using the agricultural by-products (seed cakes, molasses and forage sorghum, pulverized stovers and ensiled hyacinth) as supplements would further add value to the beef production. Strategic use of the local beef cows to carry crossbred calves, and use of selected breeding bulls, would further improve beef quality in future, although such plans would not have to kick in immediately. HBC can therefore provide the neighboring counties and cities such as Kisumu with chilled graded beef, chevon and mutton cuts and not live animals in not too far a distant future. 5.3.4.4.3 Sheep and Goat production Both small and large scale sheep and goat production can be undertaken in HBC. However improved husbandry practices will have to be adopted. Most of the flocks and herds are highly inbred because of breeding related animals generations after generation. This can be immediately broken by adopting breeding ram/buck selection and exchange programs and thereafter practicing buck/ram rotation and young buck/ram selection programs. Ram/buck breeding station and programs can be initiated, through community-based and private nucleus breeding programs. Improved housing, feeding vector and disease control (mass vaccination against PPR, lumpy skin disease, enterotoxaemia, and well programmed intestinal parasite control programs) would help improve flock/herd productivity. Strategic use of feed supplements for fattening/finish stock before slaughter can be explored and where profitable promoted. In this regard links to the oil seed and grain production value chains should be made/facilitated. Because currently almost every other home ahs adequate forage/ potential forage production to support at least 3 sheep/goats, as part of poverty reduction strategy, through investments in poultry, the poor households should supported to graduate from poultry into sheep/goat production, with the manure produced being used to promote improved kitchen gardens. A policy of at least 5 hence unit and 3 sheep/goat unit per household should be aimed at, a Countys poverty reduction strategy. This is both realistic and achievable. 5.3.4.4.4 Poultry production In HBC, there is a chicken in almost every household. However, the productivity of these chickens is currently very low. Almost 60% of the chicks hatched are lost to predators (mongoose, kites, eagles, hawks etc) and disease before they attain 4 months of age. Further reduction results from inbreeding. In addition, no goo housing and planned vaccination, feeding, watering systems are practiced. Neither are their good housing and laying facilities. Most hens are left to brood naturally, Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 49
thus substantially reducing their annual egg and flock meat production potential. Simple interventions by way of improved housing, supplemental feeding, vaccination and exchange and use of selected breeding cocks would more than double flock productivity, thereby significantly contribute to nutrition security and improved income, especially among the poor of the poor in the community. Focusing on poultry development requires less investment and would benefit the poorest in the society, thus should be receive priority attention. We proposed to target the youth, women and immune-compromised members of the society for training on appropriate poultry housing, feeding, brooding and marketing. The indigenous chicken value chain would be chopped into shorter components, including provision of small scale brooders (solar and electricity powered), availability of vaccines, so that many chicks can be hatched at any given planned time interval, thereby ensuring continuous supply of meat birds. Links to local County and outside supermarkets and input (feeds, equipment) suppliers would be made. Training in fabrication of housing, feeding etc equipments would be supported. Poultry offers great potential for transforming the lives of many poor people in the County, yet requires relatively low investment. Poultry feeds are locally and readily available in plenty. These include the lake shrimps (ochonga) and omena as well as termites. Development and promotion of poultry production should therefore receive priority attention. Graduation from improved production of indigenous poultry to commercial egg and broiler production, and sheep and goat and even dairy production is envisaged. Besides chicken farming, commercial quail farming should be promoted too, as it has a lucrative market. In the water systems that will be established for irrigation, commercial duck farming should be explored as part of an integrated, poultry, irrigation fish farming systems. The focus should be intensification and protection from unnecessary wastes/losses to disease and predators. 5.3.4.4.5 Pig production Owing to the dwindling land sizes, intensification of agriculture is the sure way to go, especially for areas when land holdings are already too small. The pig value chain will have to be developed almost from scratch. Commercial pig production would therefore have to be initially supported and promoted so that value could be added on the increased grain and oil seed crop production in the County. A few local breeding stock producers would be facilitated to produce piglets for further fattening by smallholders. These producers would then be linked to the local and national pork markets 5.3.4.5 Agricultural land and Water Management Most of the agricultural soils and water catchments are currently unprotected. A large majority of terrace-able farmland currently have no forms of soil and water conservation practices in force. As a result, soil erosion and fertility loss through constant washing away of agriculturally important topsoil and surface water occur at magnitudes that are environmentally threatening. For the proposed agricultural transformations and yield improvements and productivity increased to be sustainably realized, top priority should be given to soil and water conservation activities. Enforcement of existing laws and policies and enactment of other relevant ones at County level should be immediately embarked on, else the County will continue enriching the Egyptian and the Sudanese Nile floodplains. Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 50
The amount of runoff, arising from destruction of the water catchments, is so huge that if trapped would see the County through several years of drought. Reduced soil and water losses would help recharge the underground water systems and raise the water tables at the lower and drier land areas, thus make them more productive. Re-afforestation of all public hills and private hills and slopes, if linked to carbon trading will lead to multiple benefits in forms of direct and indirect income (timber and honey sales, carbon credits, reduced low land flooding, employments creation, increased availability water for agriculture, better soil and higher crops and fodders yields, improved rainfall and reduced ambient temperatures etc). This one area where positive ruthlessness should be practiced at all levels. A first intervention step should be full mapping of the agricultural land, to draw maps for the desired conservation structures as part of counter land-use plans.
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5.4 Trade, industry, cooperatives and tourism development

This sector combines all the bodies that promote business development and growth. 5.4.1 Trade and Industry
In recent years, Kenyans economic performance has been impressive. We have seen a strong performance in trade, in the tourism sector and in foreign direct investment. The growth of trade in the County has however not resonated well with the national growth. The devolved system offers opportunity to closely study determinants of growth of trade and industry that are specific to the County with a view to formulating strategies that will support the achievements of the national vision 2030 in consonance with growth in other parts of Kenya. The County can now streamline its factors of production such as skilled labor, infrastructure, or the natural resources like water, minerals, climate for purposes of wealth creation. Direct planning and involvement in creation of new factors that are specific to the County can be carried out within the County. The demand of the Countys products can be put into perspective and be better understood so that requisite actions are instituted. Interrelationships between the different industries within the County and with others in the country may support synergies or antagonisms. For instance a planned beef industry may augur well for a hides and skin industry while competing demand for land eg pasture versus food crop may strain growth of hides and skin industry. The conditions governing how firms form, run, compete, and manage also have a strong influence in the general trade in the County. The operations of the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry and employees unions may also strongly determine trade in the County. Understanding the dynamics of the determinants (so-called Porters Diamond) of trade in the County will assist the government of the County formulate policies that are conducive to trade growth, and creation of wealth and jobs. The County government could for instance establish local product standard or regulation that influence buyers needs; buy from or engage with industries or firms that that meet some set standards; make differential investments in education in some specific lines; or formulate policies that allow for healthy competition among firms.
5.4.1.1 Situational analysis Enlisted below are some of the ongoing trades in the County: Exported goods from the County: sugar, Fish, Gold and other minerals, hides and skins, Papyrus mats, pineapples, groundnuts, Bala salts, Jaggery, sand, building stones Potential exports: Cassava, Sorghum, millet, amaranths, honey, milk, horticultural products, processed fruits and vegetables, spices-green pepper, salts, meat and meat products, poultry and eggs, leather, floricultural products, beverages, cobble stones, terrazzo stones, murram, ballast, clay products, forest products/furniture Services in the County: Tourism, artisan, labor, public transport Potential services: Boat and ferry services, filming, music, events
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Exports are central to economic growth of any region. Exports are crucial to achieving balance of trade and balance of payment improvements. With a population and climate that is similar to that of Homa-Bay County, Mauritius offers an ideal benchmark for Homa-bay. The County should immediately upgrade the gains from its current exports namely Fish, labors, tourism, hides/skin, sugar, gold, mats, building materials, pineapple, groundnuts. Policies to encourage clusters of industries related to the upstream and downstream level of the value chain of the above named products should be formulated and implemented. For example, a sugar industry at Ndhiwa could pivot clusters of industries in energy (electric, power alcohol, biogas), solvent (alcohol), sugar, drugs, and animal feeds (bargasse and molasses). There is a dire need for investment in Homa-Bay in order to improve productivity in the above named trades and to create new productive capacities. Energy shortage is crippling and the current establishment of power grid is seriously undermined by low energy levels and frequent outages. As stated above, geothermal, solar and biomass offer opportunities for improving energy status of the County and an investment in this area is needed. Other investments that are expected to trigger growth in the County are those involved in value addition of the products of Homa-Bay County i.e. cold storages and fish processors, slaughter houses and tanneries, fruit processors, grain silos and millers, milling machines, stone cutting machines to name a few. 5.4.1.2 Strength Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis 5.4.1.2.1 Strengths 1. Existing industries in the County which have long term and traditional strengths like fish trade 2. Existing natural resources ranging from raw materials from building like bush stones to conducive climate for a number of crops 3. Trading centers and markets 5.4.1.2.2 Weaknesses 1. Absence or non competitive value addition to any of the products of the County 2. Inadequate infrastructure for value addition of the Countys product 3. Poorly managed marketing channels for the Countys products 4. Lack of risk capital 5. Low level competition and rivalry within the trading arena. 5.4.1.2.3 Opportunities 1. Devolved government system that has a potential to be more responsive to the needs of the industry through setting up enabling policies 2. The training facilities like Mawego technical, Satellite university colleges, among other that could hone trading skills of the County members 3. National initiative like the Youth Enterprise Development Fund 5.4.1.2.4 Threats 1. Poverty and disease that distract resources and initiatives to tackle the business front 2. Vagaries of climate change and it consequences including drought and famine in a number of areas in the County Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 53
3. Low level training and skills of participants in industry and businesses that make it difficult to entrench the required innovations in business activities. 5.4.1.3 Strategic intervention for the subsector The most reasonable and effective measure to spawn and stimulate industry in Homa-Bay County is to adopt a cluster policy. There are already some ongoing activities in the every sections of the County, albeit nascent, which could be built upon. The County government could institute policies that will build competitive clusters around these activities with an aim of setting up an industry per village i.e. each constituency should nurture clusters of industries. Some policy initiative the County government could apply are: 1. Borrowing by the government and channeling the scarce capital at a subsidized rate to chosen industry. 2. Facilitation of upgrade of some industries for example the government could support the stone masons at Oriang the purchase a stone cutting machine or support Beach Management Units organized into cooperatives to but coolers. 3. Management of information by provision of government statistics, information about the markets, technology and competition, the government serve an important role of signaling that may awaken firms and individual businesses to emerging trends and influence them to respond appropriately. 4. Government should invest, to create specialized factors, in university, technical training in all constituencies, laboratories, collaboration with existing research institutes eg ICIPE, and data banks. 5. Supporting competition and health rivalry among firms in the County. 5.4.2 Cooperatives and Incorporation Grouping to conduct business has advantages that are ill-exploited in HBC. Complementarities, transference, continuity after demise or exit from the business, ceding of parts or proportion of business, negotiating ownership, negotiating finances, fundraising, shielding family from business storms and constructive partnerships are a few of the many advantages of group approaches that should be nurtured by the County. Cooperatives are autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, education, training, information, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise according to Cooperatives act 2005. A cooperative is meant to embody the values of self-help, honesty, openness, self-responsibility, social responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, solidarity, mutual caring, efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability. They facilitate economies of scale, better bargaining power, investment in more advanced stages of the value chain including storage, processing, marketing and distribution of products and services, growth of relationships and reduction of transaction costs. As community institutions, they devolve decision making to the community level, build social capital, and nurture community spirit. The shared spirit of cooperation and empowerment often leads to engagement in larger projects such as reconstruction of schools or health facilities. The Cooperatives in Kenya are organized into producer and service cooperatives. The former promotes production through use of technology and shared resources and latter is responsible for procurement, Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 54
marketing, price negotiations and expansion, and tailored services to members such as loan disbursement, sale of consumer goods, and member education and training. Corporate provides a vessel that separates business enterprise from the owner(s) /shareholder(s) and provides a limited liability to the owners. It may provide a better means to raise funds through sale of stock, loans, debentures or otherwise and is probably the best entry point for investors into the Countys development. It equally facilitates exit from a business, transfer of ownership as well as continuity after demise or exit of a shareholder. Incorporated entities offer opportunities for the County to formulate effective policies on fees charged and tax advantages. They are often more credible with customers, employees, vendors and partners. In spite of a few disadvantages of incorporation which range from difficulties in formation to more stringent monitoring from the government, the County should foster formation and growth of companies by its residents in order to raise organized entrepreneurship. 5.4.2.1 Situational analysis Cooperatives have succeeded countrywide in the disbursement of finance and this success should be extended to other services. Kenya Women Finance Trust, ADOK TIMO, Ndhiwa CFS, Suba Teachers Sacco, Sindo CFSA, Lambwe Community Development Bank, Magunga CFSA, CEFA, and AEP (SILK) are some active examples in the County. The Cooperative College of Kenya, situated in Nairobi is continental leader at training in cooperatives management and advantage can be taken of this to train threshold personnel on cooperatives formation and management. So far there are ____ registered cooperative societies that operate in Homa-Bay County. Mode of trade in the County is dominated by self proprietorship businesses. The volume of businesses through self proprietorship per annum is____ and this is ___% total volume of business in the County. This type of business does not attract investment from outside the County and is often financed organically, by bank loan, by a SACCO, or through a merry go round funds. The total number of companies with addresses in the County are ______ and their volume of business is ___% the total volume of business in the County. The % volume of business of by companies registered outside the County is ___%. 5.4.2.2 SWOT analysis
5.4.2.2.1 Strength 1. Well established age old traditional businesses especially in fish, grains and grocery 2. Established women and youth groups 3. A good number of educated persons in the County. 4. Existence of institutions and NGOs that could support training, advocacy and advice on formation and management of cooperatives and corporate. 5.4.2.2.2 Weaknesses 1. Ownership and management of business by sole proprietor or family which constrains growth and investment 2. Low level of knowledge on entrepreneurship and business management 3. Inadequate financial institutions 4. Inadequate supportive frameworks at the local level. Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 55
5.4.2.2.3 Opportunities 1. Cooperative College of Kenya, based in Nairobi has a tested curriculum on cooperative management 2. The devolved government 3. Improving infrastructure (roads, telephone, electricity) 5.4.2.2.4 Threat 1. Resistance to change and tendencies for people to avoid formalities may constrain formation and development of cooperatives and companies. 2. Expenses at formation and ongoing expenses of cooperatives and companies. 5.4.2.3 Strategic interventions 1. The County to establish a desk that supports formation of cooperatives among the existing traders (fishers, fish mongers, farmers, stone masons, quarries, sandminers, and others). In general, while outside investment is good at initial stages for reasons of providing employment, bringing in foreign money, and giving benchmark, they may not be the most suitable long-term solution to a sustained wealth County that is able to grow from a factor driven economy to that of innovation driven economy. 2. The County should establish a desk that supports business ventures. The desk should offer subsidized training on formation of businesses and give advice 3. An updated inventory of on all the Countys registered businesses and cooperatives giving their sizes and performance should offer good information for potential investors (both local and from outside the County) 4. County should lay down stringent measures and monitoring to protect investments in private firms and the cooperatives. This will raise the confidence of investors and lead to more attractions of investment. 5.4.3 Tourism In the past, tourism efforts in the Homa-Bay County have been guided mainly by the national government and the nongovernmental organizations. While those efforts have been productive, the increase in tourism activities within the Homa-Bay County and the surrounding region demands a considerable reengineering of the sector. Consultation with the vital stakeholders is required and formations of business outfits (companies, cooperatives, partnerships) that address the sector is vital. The County should build on the various initiatives and a momentum already in progress. The future of this industry will depend on packaging the products, quality management of services and building new attractions including language centers, interpretive centers, museums, performing art centers, and cultural events. 5.4.3.1 Vision and Mission statements Vision-to become a premier tourism destination that offers superior combinations of products and compulsively complements other tourism products in the country. Mission - to capitalize on and preserve our natural, historical, cultural and recreational resources in a way that will increase tourism revenue
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5.4.3.2 Situation analysis The County possesses an array of tourism products with high potential to attract a number of both local and international visitors. A combination of these products if well packaged would be compelling to tourists: a) Geographic features: Mfangano and Rusinga islands; Homa and Gwasi hills b) National parks and museums: Ruma Park, Simbi Nyaima, Gor Mahia Shrine, Tom Mboya mausoleum. Ruma National Game Park (47 km2) is rich in abundance game animals of all species, and it is the home of the rare Roan Antelope, a very special species only found at the Simba Hill Game Reserve in Kwale district at the Coast and also in the famous Kruger National Game Pak in the Republic of South Africa. The park is also housing other wild animals species like elands, reed-bucks, water-bucks, bush-bucks, Rothschilds giraffes, tofi, the rare waiter antelopes which is only known in vernacular language as Nyambaja which resides on the summit of the nearby Ruri Hills and only occasionally come down to the plains in search of drinking waters during dead hours of the night. But only seen by the locals and visitors during the drought and dry spells of time when grass on the hill tops are burnt down by poachers c) Arts and artifacts: Music (Benga, Ohangla, Nyokal traditional dancers), antiques, crafts d) Local cuisine e) Culture, language, and history of the Luo and Suba f) Recreation and folk products g) Services : accommodation, gift shops, sporting supplies h) Events: sporting, cultural festival, agricultural expo centers, The following services and supportive key success factors already exist: Beautiful scenery-mountains, lakes, rapids, hills, rivers; Wildlife (rare species); Camping sites; Wayside overlooks; motivated leaders and citizens. However, there is a room for improvement in the following areas: Hospitality training for the industry; information and maps of the County routes and attractions; an operational tourism office with staff including well trained guides; well-marked sites; better roads; adequate utilities (water and sewer); volunteers; and hospitality facilities (Lodging and restaurants). A strategic and targeted audience should be addressed in order to realize a quick and sustained growth of the industry. The following are the priority target tourists: Youth groups; Historian/educators; Race fans; Campers; Mountain cyclists; Music lovers and scholars; Crafters; Nature lovers; Scenic drivers; Vacationers; Group meetings/retreats/corporations; Weddings; Garden clubs; Re-union/relatives gatherings; Agri-tourism; Cruise shippers; Outdoor recreationhikers, hunters, fishermen, horseback riders, bird watchers, hand gliders, water sports. 5.4.3.3 SWOT analysis
5.4.3.3.1 Strength a) Natural resources b) Rich cultural heritage c) Fantastic scenery d) Wildlife e) Motivated leaders f) Hospitable/friendly locals Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 57
g) Political growth and goodwill h) Regional growth i) Devolved system of government j) New leadership k) Internet access l) Fresh water m) Geography n) Access roads o) Sense of community p) Lake Victoria q) Proximity to Kisumu international airport and status to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as a regional international hub. 5.4.3.3.2 Weaknesses a) Lack of funding b) Territorial divisions c) Resistance to change d) Lack of zoning e) Advertising f) Lack of proper planning g) Poor communication with tourists-language barrier h) No follow ups on past strategic plans i) Disorganized public transport j) Lack of trained customer service personnel/untrained labor force k) Poor hospitality attitude l) Roads and other infrastructure m) Public facilities n) Lack of interest/involvement 5.4.3.3.3 Opportunities a) Lakes/rivers b) Grant sources c) Regional partnerships d) Marketing opportunities e) Support/corporation with local businesses f) Colleges and universities g) Communication infrastructure h) Increased internet access i) Devolved government 5.4.3.3.4 Threats a) Neighboring counties (Kisumu)have better have better accommodation , marketing and retail facilities. b) Well established tourism attractions in the neighboring counties-Migori etc c) Few incentives for investment in tourism Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 58
d) e) f) g) h)
View that tourism isnt an industry Environmental radicals Weather uncertainties Bad roads leading into the County Topography
5.4.3.4 Strategic interventions a) Recognize increased momentum of tourism growth in the County, develop a strong tourism program with clear objectives and well defined roles for a tourism committee to increase the economic impact of tourism in Homa-Bay. b) Implement training educational and communication program for all stakeholders in tourism industry. c) Improve hospitality facilities - Increase the capability to properly host visitors to the community. d) Sensitize community on tourism in order to increase receptivity and involvement. e) Broaden the base of Tourism service providers. f) Development and institute an effective tourism marketing plan including a marketing information desk. g) Provide visitor services that will enhance the visitors experience in the County. h) Create services and plans that would enable new product development and enhancement of the existing products. i) Improve supportive infrastructure j) Create zoning/land-use planning for future tourism developments k) Inventory of tourism assets in the County Attractions-lake Victoria, Tom Mboya Mausoleum, Ruma national park, Winam gulf, Simbi nyaima, Mt Huma, Gwasi Hills, Kanjira archeological site, Rusinga and Mfangano islands, Gor Mahai Shrine, Takawiri island, Nyamgodho wuod Ombare at Nyandiwa, Thim lich Ohinga, Kanam Prehistoric site, ... Restaurants- Homa-Bay Tourist Hotel, Hippo Buck, Twin Towers, Ndhiwa Resort, Big Five, .. Accommodation -campsites, cabins, hotels/motels, real estates, vocation retails, bed and breakfast inns, homestays Events and festivals- harvest, xmas tide, lake weddings, sunset cruises, dining, day trips on the lake, sport fishing/hunting, waterslides/roller coaster, beach swimming, hot spring visits, waterfalls visits, touring special geographic features -lake simbi, islands, hills Possibilities and a wish list a) River/lake adventures( boat cruises/tours)-airboats, motorboats, sailboats, dhows b) Sky diving, hot balloons, hand gliding c) Cable car transportation between the Gwassi hills d) Boat restaurants e) Holiday islands f) Unique rural way of life g) Nature/wildlife viewing h) Water sports-boat rowing, canoeing, kayak, peddle boards i) Games of Ajua j) Bike/hike trails, bicycle tracks, rock climbing, Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 59
k) l) m) n) o) p) q) r) s) t) u) v) w) x) y) z) aa) bb) cc) dd) ee)
Golf course (on the island or in the park) Historic sites and museum Farm tours-agri tourism sites Breweries Amusement, water parks Auto racing Boat racing Spectator sports/activities-football, wrestling, athletics, bodaboda State parks and forests Recreation-family indoor and outdoor recreational activities Performing arts/culture-theatres Hunting and fishing expeditions Art galleries/ giftshops Horseback riding Caving Guided tours Local art ,culture and history center Hunting/fishing lodges Tent camping Cabins/lodges Interpretive visitor centers
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5.5 Infrastructure: Physical planning, transport, public works, energy and utilities
5.5.1 Introduction The County should put serious consideration in her deployment of resources for the development and management of the infrastructure services (Roads, transport, telecommunication, energy, water, sewerage, sanitation, utilities and meteorological services). Infrastructure is a core support in value addition activities to the economic activities that the County plans to undertake and to improve on as it strives to improve the economic wellbeing of the County populace. Poor infrastructure is a major constraint to doing business. Infrastructure is a necessity in improving the livelihoods and security of people living in the rural section of the County 5.5.2 Vision and Mission statements Vision to provide cost effective world class infrastructure facilities and services in support social and economic transformation in HBC Mission - To optimize the infrastructure services aimed at maximizing output of the economic activities in the rural and urban areas in HBC. 5.5.3 Situational analysis Energy is one of the enablers of the three pillars of vision 2030 and the level and intensity of the commercial energy use will be one of the key indicators of the degree of economic growth in the County. The Countys competitiveness is low given the high unit cost of electricity energy and its erratic nature. At USD 0.15 per KW/h this electricity compares poorly with 0.075, 0.070, 0.064, and 0.040 KW/h for Mexico, China, Colombia, and South Africa, respectively. The production losses due to the outages are also considerable. At the national level 68%, 22%, 9% and <1% of energy is drawn from biomass, electricity, fossil fuel and other sources, respectively. The national average consumption of electricity is 121 kilowatt hours per capita as opposed to 4595 KWh per capita for South Africa. The different sources of energy for the households in the County are illustrated in the table 7.7.1 below. Table 7.7.1. Urban and Rural Households by main type of lighting fuel and Districts no Total households 37 25 35 51 35 43 13891 4915 13465 65649 40405 67930 206,255 Page 61 Fuel Wood Electricity Gas lamp
Pressure lamps
Tin lamp
Lantern
District
Homa-Bay Suba Rachuonyo Homa-Bay Suba Rachuonyo HOMA-BAY
Urban Urban Urban Rural Rural Rural
2230 636 1607 1094 218 1065
140 45 82 268 155 290
3886 2053 4465 9449 8990 14945 43726 (21.2%)
7399 2063 7009 53783 30128 50058
67 25 59 331 137 448
27 3 28 290 287 188
105 65 180 383 455 893
6806 1031 (3.3%) (0.5%)
150360 1031 825 (72.9%) (0.5%) (0.4%)
2063 206 (1%) (0.1%)
Source: Census 2009
Other
Solar
At 3.3% access to electricity Homa-Bay County lags the national average. Water is required for sustenance of life and economic activities including agriculture, livestock, fisheries, manufacturing, energy and tourism. The County has an inadequate access to safe water even though it has a large endowment of water given the rivers and the Lake Victoria. The distribution of the resource is hindered by lack of infrastructure. Table 7.7.2 shows the different sources of water for the HomaBay County residents. Table 7.7.2 Households main source of water and district. Jabia/rain/ harvested Pond/dam Piped into dwelling Spring Well/bore hole
Stream
District
Water vendor
piped
other
Homa-Bay 11,130 Suba 2,329 Karachuonyo 10,830 Source KNBS 2009 census
2,211 29,384 28,430 26,246 6,270 7,939 6,457 29,042 30,246
1,033 199 393
5,100 1,489 3,380
503 1,644 105 79,540 283 563 2 45,320 567 473 7 81,395
Dams, supply channels, water piping, domestic water storage and water cleansing facilities are poorly developed at the County. The County should aim to achieve a 1000 m3 per annum per capita supply of clean water in order to achieve the world standard. The haphazard growth of Homa-Bay town has lead to inadequate water supply, poor sewerage reticulation and incomplete treatment of sewerage. Pollution of the lake has worsened and is associated with nonpoint sources of agrochemicals, direct draining of the sewerage into the lake, lakeside carwashing, and release of effluent by industries into the lake. Homa-Bay town is supplied with 3500 m3 of water per day as opposed to a required minimum of 15000m3/day. The sewerage system of Homa-Bay town only serves 10% of the population and it is inadequately treated before the final emission. The storm water drainage system could be improved. The municipal does not have adequate equipment and site to handle and dispose safely the solid waste. These characteristics are worse for other urban centers in the County. Table 7.7.3 illustrate the main means of human waste disposal in the County by 2009. Cess pool Pit latrines District Bucket VIP pit Main sewer septic tank other Total Bush
Homa-Bay Suba Karachuonyo
1,649 105 115
156 44 154
42 30 39
2,375 38,865 63 658 18,826 38 2,176 60,860 70
36,145 245 79,540 25,604 15 45,320 17,760 221 81,395
The HBC County has a road network comprising a bitumen Surface (165.8 Km), Gravel Surface (250.3 Km), and Earth Surface (693.2 Km). Four point 8 percent of the roads are paved while 42.9% are in fair to good quality status. The construction of the roads is expensive and innovative methods are required to support the roads network. A strategy that focuses on optimal use of labor and local resources with support of appropriate tools and equipment could alleviate the problem as well create employment and wealth in accordance to the Roads 2000 strategy. Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 62
total
Lake
The absence of or poor planning of the urban and rural for Homa-Bay County has led to haphazard development which has led to a decay of the natural and human environment. This has lead to proliferation of slum and difficulties in provision of important services and utilities such as road, water supply, electricity sewage reticulation, and solid waste collection. The local communities and the private sector have been ill involved any previous plans. In addition, a large number of the residents of Homa-Bay live in substandard residential areas. Tables 7.7.3, 7.7.4 and 7.7.5 give the materials used in housing in the County. This situation is worse in the urbanizing areas and a need for urgent planning cannot be gainsaid. Table 7.7.3. Household by main type of roofing material for the main dwelling unit and district Cement District
wood
other
earth
HomaBy 17,119 275 Suba 11,752 83 Karachuonyo 21,460 283 Source KNBS Census 2009
253 152 258
61,634 144 33,206 112 59,177 200
79,425 45,305 81,378
Table 7.7.4. Households by main type of wall material for the main dwelling unit Mud/cement Grass reeds Corrugated iron sheet Brick/block mud/wood wood only
District
Stone
total
Tile
other other 22 6 16
Homa-Bay 1439 Suba 1873 Karachuonyo 2019 Source KNBS Census 2009
5625 3274 8777
52769 12870 163 26733 7064 101 55637 13963 312
5187 250 173 949 79425 5876 78 82 224 45305 470 31 24 145 81378
Table 7.7.5. Household by main type of roofing material for the main dwelling unit and district Corrugated iron sheet mud/dung Concrete Asbestos Asbestos sheets
Makuti
grass
Homa-Bay 61,371 481 1156 40 Suba 35,072 210 678 24 Karachuonyo 73,094 453 1455 67 Source KNBS Census 2009
1156 16010 678 9055 1455 6116
127 67 65
193 178 75
25 15 38
79425 45305 81378
A major contributor to poor housing in the County is the under-investment in the sector by private and public developers, outdated legal and regulatory framework, which affects the amount of serviced land available to private and public sector developer, and poor governance. The housing sector is one of the principle levers for creating jobs among the youth, driving economic growth and tapping opportunities in the linkages with other sectors. It could trigger a growth in the manufacturing of building materials, transport, marketing and infrastructure development. Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 63
total
Tiles
tin
Total
Tin
An unplanned rural area is a constraint to agricultural development making it difficult to establish any necessary support infrastructure and mechanization processes. 5.5.4 5.5.4.1 1. 2. Strength Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats analysis
Strengths Energy -: Plenty of Biomass (Hyacinth) Availability of labor Water -: initiative of the Kimira-Oluch irrigation scheme Existing regulatory framework and regulation on abstraction of water (Water act 2002) Existence of collaborating institutions including NGOs, Churches who are keen to complement the efforts of the government 3. Roads -: - Existence of a curriculum of labor based roads construction and maintenance at a nearby Kisii - Enhanced need for transport via water the roads 4. Planning -: - Existence of Mawego Technical Institute - Availability of labor - Existence of a sound regulatory framework for the housing industry.
5.5.4.2 Weaknesses 1. Energy - Lack of technology to harness the various energy source (solar, mini-hydroelectric power station, Windmills, Geothermal) - Resistance to change the traditional sources of energy. - Inadequate feasibility study of the various energy sources - Low technological know-how - Inadequate power grid. 2. Water -: - Lack of Technology and know-how to exploit the groundwater resource - Lack of capital to set up infrastructure (dams and tanks) to harness water. - Poor understanding of waste management 3. Roads -: - Lack of adequate financing 4. Physical planning, Housing and Utilities - Lack of rural plan - Poor Housing - Lack of adequate financing facility for the construction industry - Lack of serviced land for construction of homes 5.5.4.3 Opportunities 1. Energy -: Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 64
2. -
Long durations of intense sunlight Sugarcane biomass for energy production Water : Several rivers from the neighborhood counties Adequate amount of water flowing from the neighboring high rainfall counties Large quantities of water in the aquifers which are reliably recharged by the neighboring Mau water towers. - Several roof tops that could be used to harvest water 3. Transport and Roads -: Current national governments initiatives to improve roads - The well-know old sailing routes with some existing infrastructure including piers 4. Physical planning, housing and utilities - Existence of raw materials for construction (sand, clay, bush stones, and limestone) 5.5.4.4 1. 2. Threats Energy -: Competition from alternative source of energy Poor regulatory and legislative framework to harness energy Water -: Flooding events which require more raised banks of the rivers. Inefficient land tenure and resistance of community member to leave room for laying infrastructure. - Degradation of the upstream catchment by unsustainable farming activities 3. Transport and roads -: - Resistance of the government accept less traditional ways of management of the roads - Invasive lake weeds (water hyacinth and hippo grass) blocking the navigation routes on the lake - The Mbita causeway that restricts transport around the island 4. Physical planning, housing and utilities -: - Sprawling slums in the urban centers Strategic interventions
5.5.5
5.5.5.1 Energy sector 1. Transfer of technology - The potentials to improve efficiency of the currently used energy sources exist and require technology transfer on well known measures and further research into better options. Biomass (wood, bargasse, charcoal, biogas) are the most used sources of energy. Improved stoves could alleviate health and efficiency problem associated with use these sources. 2. Solar offers a quick solution for street lighting, household lighting and powering of low energy implement like computers whose impact in the economic well being can be very great. Solar can be harnessed further to support industrial processes like drying of grains, heating horticultural firms and large scale heating of water. Prospects of generation of energy the numerous household rooftops through solar photovoltaic panels and selling to Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 65
the national grid as a source of income, but this requires a conducive policy frameworks and a sound financial facility. There are also massive potentials for generation of electricity through Solar Thermal plants. A plant in Homa-Hills area where a pre-heated water through geothermal energy is available may have a great synergistic advantage. 3. Non-motorized energy like oxen and donkeys have served the communities in HBC for a long time and their roles cannot be overstated. Programs to improve mechanical advantaged, to support the health and to improve welfare of the animals in addition to measures to lower accidents associated with animal power will be put in place. 4. Geothermal potential at the Homa-Hills has been confirmed. The energy could be used to generate electricity. The heat from the Geothermal plants can further be harnessed and used to heat swimming pools, Horticultures greenhouses, drying processes in a number of industries and the effluent (fumaroles) used in aquaculture, for livestock or for irrigation. Thus the geothermal potential equates to an potential for an array of industrial activities in a area where poverty exceeds 70% (UN standards). 5. The sugarcane factory at Ndhiwa can also provide energy that could drive a number of industries. The direct heat from combustion of bargasse could drive a range of industries from textile, to food processing to leather. The bargass could be used to co-generate power and molasses is a potential source of Bioethanol (power alcohol). In additions, the sugar factory has a large potential for biogas production. 6. Wind energy could be harnessed to pump water and support the urban center by the lake shore as well as irrigation and aquaculture along the shores of the lake. 7. Damming of the rivers, Oluch, Kimira, Awach, Ongeng and other could alleviate the flooding problems, reliably supply water for irrigation, agriculture, industries and domestic use as well as support mini hydro electric power stations 8. Improvement of the power grid to reach service sector like schools, markets and households. At least the targeted national average of 12% should be achieved in the short term (2 years). 5.5.5.2 Water and sanitation sector 1. Develop a master plan for water in the County: Explore more sustainable water technologies. Enhance the Kimira-Oluch irrigation and water supply project Dam at the upstream so as to achieve a better control of the water and enhance reliability of the project. The project will support 3000 households and has a potential to support some industries associated with value addition to the farmland products. The project covers 1,790 and 1,308 ha at Kimira and Oluch, respectively. The County aims to achieve a per capita storage capacity of 16 m3. 2. Increase the capacity to abstract surface and ground water 3. Improved catchment management in order to curtail degradation of the water sources. Poor land management mostly destruction of vegetation in the catchment through activities such as farming, encroachment and illegal logging of forests have resulted in increased runoff, Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 66
flash flooding, reduced infiltration, soil erosion and siltation in the dams and water reservoirs. 4. The County should aim to achieve 90% access to safe and clean water within 5 years. The water treatment works should be constructed or rehabilitated to improved quality of water supplied to the towns. The existing system of distribution should be rehabilitated immediately and on long term other cost effective technologies like wind power technology should be engaged to assist in pumping of water. 5. Develop innovative community based methods and technologies for water harvesting in the rural areas, specifically special attention should be paid on the roof catchment. 6. Promote the use of the VIP latrines and septic tanks in the rural areas to include schools adhering to the ration of 35:1 for boys and 25:1 for girls. 7. Entrench more efficient management of water. Educate on water usage and replacement wasteful technologies with more efficient technologies eg low volume cistern toilets. Water kiosks should be constructed at strategic points to alleviate the water problem. 8. Increase and build capacity on waste management. Create awareness and education on waste management. The sewerage coverage should be increased especially in the urban centers if the County aspires to match the standards associated with middle income countries. Enforce laws on waste disposal. In the short-term the County should aim to achieve 70% safe sanitation in the urban areas in 5 years. 9. Monitor the water resources- the County should continually monitor the regime of the water in the rivers, gauge the rainfall, and quantify abstractions. All the planning and distribution of the water and sanitation should be informed by reliable data. 10. Sensitize the public and mainstream waste management in performance contracts. Provide for strict enforcement of the environmental management act. 11. Enforce the regulation of the Water Resource Management Authority (WRMA). Encourage formation of water resource users associations by the communities in the County. 12. Specially focus on the gender. Water scarcity affects the women and girls more because of the tradition assignment of the responsibility to ensure adequate water in the households. 5.5.5.3 Roads and transport 1. Application of the labor-based approaches to construct and maintain roads. A training center in the neighborhood County, Kisii Training Center could support knowledge and technology on the best application of this strategy. 2. Increase maintainable roads network and all season roads in the County using labor based approaches. 3. Management of Hyacinth to facilitate travel by the lake. 4. Reintroduce the ferry transport between the ports: Homa-Bay, Homalime, Kendu-Bay, Karungu, Mbita, Kamito, Mfangano and Kisumu. Explore ways of reintroducing international water transports to Kampala, Mwanza, Bukoba and other ports. Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 67
5. Ensure increased uses of the locally available material to develop and maintain the roads 6. Use appropriate planning and operation system commensurate with the locally based resources and technology. 7. Observe occupation health and safety in the construction, maintenance and uses of the roads. Ensure adherence to the transport rule 8. Create road safety awareness 9. Enhance the capacity of private construction sector 10. Establish the community participation and goodwill. Mainstream and integrate, the gender and youth issues, HIV prevention; environmental and social issues, and labor issues. 11. Install mandatory training for all the service providers in the transport industry. 5.5.5.4 Physical planning, Housing and utilities sector 1. Prepare a land use plan and policy of the County. 2. Carry out urban and rural planning for the whole County, urgently. An innovative approach with the participation and ownership of the key stakeholders, including the private sector in the planning and implementation processes should be carried out. This type of planning will more flexible to unforeseen circumstances and be better linked to resources and budgeting processes. 3. Install physical and social infrastructure in the slum areas. Provide serviced lands to the housing developers as a policy 4. In liaison with Mawego Technical Institute, establish housing technology centers in each constituency in order to train on and promote decent housing made from the locally available and affordable materials. The County and technology centers should enhance efforts to design and implement low-cost housing models/prototypes/pre-approved building plans. 5. Establish an effective financing mechanism for housing in the County. 6. Improve existing housing infrastructure, develop more houses and encourage private investment. Strengthen to role of National Housing Corporation in the County. 7. Strictly implement legal and regulatory frameworks in order to prevent discordance. Fast track approvals of housing plans and reduce the time const of construction.
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5.6 Minerals, Environment and Natural Resources Management

5.6.1 Introduction Aspired growth of the Countys economy may come with a collateral damage on the environment. The growth sectors in Homa-Bay are expected to be fisheries, intensified agriculture, livestock production, manufacturing, artisanal mining and the energy sector. These major growths which were also anticipated in the Kenyas vision 2030 may led to increase generation of solid, chemical and biological wastes. Planned cage fisheries may lead to increased loading of the lake with nutrients; intensification of agriculture may lead to agro-chemical contamination of soils and downstream catchment; and increased manufacture may lead to increased effluent discharge. The ongoing urbanization within the County may be escalated with economic growth. It is important for the County to outline a sound environmental management program in order to ensure sustainability. The County chooses to entrench a strict environmental regulation mechanism as a way of inducing efficiency in order to improve business competitiveness, in concordance with the Porter Hypothesis. Provision in the Environment Management and Coordination act (EMCA) and other related laws will be adhered to. 5.6.2 Vision and Mission statements Vision a County living in a clean, secure and sustainable environment Mission - To observe environmental regulations during production and intensify conservation of natural resources including hillside forests, the wetlands, the lake, and the wildlife sanctuary 5.6.3 Situational analysis Mining in Homa Bay County has been restricted to artisanal sand mining, building/bush stones quarries, ballast, brick making, Bala and modicum gold mining along River Kuja. Urgent research and development is needed to map out the best value addition processes that would enhance the benefits from these activities. There is a potential for commercial mining of gold (Rangwe and Awuoro mine at Kasipul), nickel, uranium, iron ore, copper, cement (Ruri Hills) and limestone (at Lambwe valley and Homa-Hills), vermiculite and apatite (Ruri and Homa hills) but studies are needed to clarify their feasibilities. Homa-bay County faces a number of challenges including: Destruction of the forests on reserved areas including hills Destruction of wetlands thorough farming, non sustainable harvest of wetland resources including papyrus, and sand Demand for farmland and forest product, Invasion of the Water hyacinth Suffocation of the aquatic ecosystem by the causeway at Mbita Lack of biodiversity inventory and protection thereof Climate change and desertification. The County like the rest of Kenya is adversely affected by the climate change phenomena which majorly exhibits itself as erratic rains and increased frequencies of flooding disasters. Page 69
Poor disaster management approaches which mostly entail response rather than disaster risk reduction
There is a great potential for the County to reap much benefit from its natural diversity including medicinal and industrial products from plants and animals. Research, innovation and product development processes are required in order for the County to enhance benefits from some of its natural resources. A need for in depth knowledge of land use in order to understand optimal level for sustainable exploitation of environmental resources at the County cannot be gainsaid. A comprehensive County-wide land use plan is urgently needed. Such plans would then lead to a more integrated and sustainable landuse plans. 5.6.4 Strength Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats analysis of the sector
5.6.4.1 Strengths of the sector 1. National park and gazette entities 2. Existence of mineral and natural resources 3. Long tradition of mining some minerals 4. Traditional knowledge of medicinal plants and traditional practices 5. Marketable species 5.6.4.2 Weaknesses of the sector 1. Absence of a research institution in the County 2. Inadequate level of knowledge 3. Inadequate Finance/funding 4. Poorly planned rural and urban settlements 5.6.4.3 Opportunities to the sector 1. Surrounding university and satellite stations of the universities 2. Legislation on the environmental, forestry, water and mining 3. World connectivity (information and communication technology 4. Biotechnology 5. Devolved governance 6. Mechanism for compensation of environmental services 5.6.4.4 Threats to the sector 1. Poverty leading to wanton exploitation of nature 2. Demand of the natural resources 3. Environmental degradation (invasive weeds; contamination; upstream soil erosion) 4. poorly planned urban growth 5. Traditions and culture Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 70
6. Frequent disasters (flood, drought) 5.6.5 Strategic interventions The following are possible intervention measures 1. Conservation: to increase the forest cover by 50%. To fully protect all wildlife ecosystems. This will sustain the anticipated high growth rate of the tourism sector. Rehabilitation of forests on the hills and encourage non consumptive used of the forests 2. Develop an environmentally friendly mining which ensures fair rewards to the participants, mostly the artisanal miners. The youth, the women, and other persons engaged in sand mining and quarry activities should urgently be organized into cooperatives and business entities with better negotiating powers. These entities should be registered, licensed and thereafter supported in all ways possible. Such grouping would facilitate training, credits, procurement of machinery, and support marketing of the products. 3. Pollution and waste management: reducing hazard related to an unhealthy environment. Develop solid waste management systems in Homa-Bay, Rodi, Ndhiwa, Oyugis, Mbita and Kendu-Bay being the major towns of the County. 4. Arid and Semi Arid Lands and high risk disaster zones substantially reduce losses due to flood; enhance climate change coping mechanisms, Plan for dams and dykes where necessary. Educate on disaster and institute risk prevention measures (dykes, dams etc). The Oluch-Kimira irrigation project is a key project that should be targeted for improvement. Additional Dams upstream of the project would add much value to the project. 5. Environmental planning and governance: integrate planning approaches and improve overall governance on the environment 6. Replace the Mbita Causeway so that the ecosystem around the Rusinga island could be restored 7. Fully implement the regulations and policies on forestry, water, mining and the environment. 8. Rehabilitate the degraded water catchments. 9. Integrate environmental planning in all programs in the County 10. Implement compensation of the environmental services eg carbon trading 11. Promote use of biotechnology in forest conservation. Use the right tree species and integrate scientific knowledge while carrying out afforestration. 12. Conserve the wetlands in order to conserve biodiversity and ecosystems of the neighboring water bodies. 13. Develop sustainable policy and regulations for joint use of the lake (fishing and fish culture) 14. Develop and enforce mechanisms targeting pollution and solid waste management regulations
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15. Monitor environmental quality continuously. Set up gauges in the rivers, collaboration with various institutions to set up weather stations. Collaboration with University of Eldoret to set up a seismic center at the Homa-hills. 16. Apply market oriented instruments to regulate the use of plastic bags 17. Research more on climate change and identify early warning signs of disasters associated with climate change 18. Upgrade capacities of the institution in the County to generate and synthesis information the environment for use in the development programs 19. Promote capacity of collective enforcement of environmental standards 20. Concerted efforts should be made to establish sustainable measures to manage the water hyacinth menace. Cognizance should be made of the great economic value. The plant could be used to manufacture bioethanol, biogas production, animal feed, furniture, humus or manure and many others to great advantage. The uses should be optimized as a way of sustainable management. Commercialization of these efforts through a public-private partnership is needed. 21. Steps should be taken to prevent rampant roadside erosion. Construct gabions and plant trees and grass. efficient infrastructure 22. Sensitize locals on available opportunities; develop efficient infrastructure for exploiting natural resources. Develop a working policy on natural resource and promote attitude change. 23. Sensitize the public and mainstream waste management in performance contracts. Provide strict enforcement of the environment management act.
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5.7 Fisheries and Aquatic Resources

5.7.1 Introduction The County has the longest freshwater shoreline in Kenya and a rich history of fish trade. So far capture fisheries has formed the bedrock of the fisheries trade and the types of fish caught are: Lates niloticus, Oreochromis niloticus, Haplochromis, Rastreneobola argentea, Clarias, Propterus, and Syndontis. Opportunities for other forms of fisheries have been identified to have a much higher potential than the current practice. Globally, aquaculture has grown from 3.5% to 50% in terms of contribution to total fisheries production from 1970 to date. These include culture of the fish in constructed ponds and cage farming. The government of Kenya recognized the potential for the fish farming and injected KES 1.12 and 2.866 billion in 2010 and 2011 respectively to implement the Fish Farming Enterprise Productivity Economic Stimulus Program (FFEPP) and Economic Recovery, Poverty Alleviation and Regional Development Program(ERPARDP). The latter program will also establish mini processing plants and cold storage facilities. The County would wish to identify HomaBay as the leading producer of fish given the varied competitive advantages it possesses. 5.7.2 Situational analysis Oreochromis nilotica (Ngege), Rastrineabola argentea (Omena), and Lates nilotica (Mbuta) have so far dominated the practice of fisheries in Homa-Bay. Capture fisheries contributes an estimated 104,000 tons of fish catches per annum worth about KES 15 billion while pond culture contributes approximately 150 tons of fresh fish worth about KES 7.5 million. Cage culture is non-existent. So far fresh fish is sold to fish traders and storage facilities lack at the landing sites. Fishers have been organized into Beach Management Units. More than 18,000 people find direct employment in fisheries as fishers (17,671), Fisheries staff (280), traders and others. Major problems facing fisheries can be categorized as legal, environmental, social and technological challenges. The major inbound primary activities in capture fisheries include construction of fishing vessels, manufacture of fishing nets, fishing rods, and fishing traps; securing of baits (earthworms, cereals, catfish). For Lates and large tilapia deep lake fishing involves use of sein net or use of baited hooks. Appropriated vessels, which are occasionally driven by engines are required. For Rastreneobola, deep lake and night time fishing is applied. Lamps and sein nets are required. Generally Kerosene lamps provide light that attracts the fish during the night. The landed fish are sold to traders at the BMUs. BMUs are constructed landing bays facilitated with a working bench and disposal pits. They are mostly roofed with corrugated Iron sheets and have cemented floors. The compounds are secured by a fence and they provide an opportunity for hygienic handling of fish. The Lates are mostly sorted, weighed and sold to traders with refrigerated lorries as fresh fish destined for fish processing plant in a distant locations from the beaches (mostly Nairobi and Thika). There are only two fish processing plants in the County and they are based in Homa-Bay and Mbita. Rastreneobola is sold to women folks who quickly dry it and sell it to traders as dried fish. Tilapia and other fish species are mostly sold as fresh fish to various local and outside traders. A small proportion of tilapia is dried or smoked before sales. Other species of fish are sold in the local markets. The most important aquaculture species so far are the Tilapia and Catfish. These are mostly harvested as fresh fish and sold to traders or used by family members as protein source. The major inbound activities in aquaculture are breeding and raising fingerlings; sexing; water quality Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 73
management; feed manufacture and/or procurement; culling; and harvesting. There is a massive potential to extend benefits from aquaculture. Nationally aquaculture contributes 1% of the total output and productivity of fish through land-based aquaculture or Surface Water- Based cage culture is approximately 6 metric tons/ha/year. To triple productivity of fish in the County, 18,000 ha and land and approximately the same size of cages is required by the County. The Lates is mostly destined to the foreign markets and is highly sensitive to directives from European Union Markets. Specifically, these markets are highly sensitive to the hygienic standards and the environmental quality of the fish habitats. Also the stability of the foreign exchanges has direct impacts on the income earned by the fisher folks. National political decision to support innovations in fisheries as way of stimulating income generating projects among the rural populaces has resulted in the growth of aquaculture. The total number of pond grew to about 2500 in the last five years and an annual income of KES 7.5 has been of realized. The favorable policy can be built on the new initiatives that should support the trade in various sections of the value chain. A large proportion of outbound primary activities in the capture and cultured fish trade are carried outside the boundaries of Homa-Bay County and benefits accruing from these activities are hardly realized by the County. The activities include processing (e.g. filleting and packaging), branding, sales, and marketing to the consumers. 5.7.3 Mission and Vision for the sector Vision- to be the leading County in fisheries and related trade Mission- to triple the fish production by espousing aquaculture (land and water-based), add value and vertically integrate the markets for the fish products. 5.7.4 SWOT Confrontational Matrix for the Sector Opportunities to extend benefits from fisheries exist and herein we provide a Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Confrontational matrix for Homa-Bay County. The SWOT confrontational matrix explains the internal and external features that could be tackled to realize gains from fisheries. The confrontations matrix gives a combination of internal features that could be applied to exploit external feature for gain and provides a basis for prioritizing strategic activities. 5.7.4.1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 5.7.4.2 1. 2. 3. 4. Strengths Long shoreline (Km) Potential for groundwater resources Knowledge and long tradition of fish trade Existing local market Marketable species (Rastreneobola argentea, Tilapia nilotica and Lates nilotica) Weaknesses Lack of supporting infrastructure (storage facilities, processing facilities) Inadequate financial facilities inadequate primary infrastructures (boreholes, dams etc) Inadequate marketability (Distance to markets and poor negotiating powers) Poor management (Business, fisheries and good practices) Page 74
5. Inadequate feeds 5.7.4.3 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 5.7.4.4 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Opportunities New Technologies (Pond culture and cage culture) New markets given the rising demand on fish and fish product World connectivity (information and communication technology Improved infrastructure (electricity and road network) Devolved governance Use of by products (chicken feed, crocodile feeds, jewelry, tanned skins) Threats Competition from the other counties practicing aquaculture Over exploitation (overdependence on fish; increased intensity of fishing) Environmental degradation (invasive weeds; contamination; upstream soil erosion) Market failure (exploitation by middlemen; distortion in the markets; Substitutes for fish and fish products
5.7.5 Strategic interventions The appropriate interventions are categorized as short term (<2years), mid-term (2-6 years) and longterm (> 6 years) The intervention will involve improvements on ongoing activities using existing and innovative measures and introduction of new activities 5.7.5.1 Short term interventions (Quick wins) 1. Ongoing activities Capture fisheries which applies to Karachuonyo, Rangwe, Homa-Bay Town, Mbita, and Suba. a. Improvement of refrigeration capacity at all the Beach Management Unit (BMUs). The BMUs should be redesigned, expanded to include value addition activities like inspection, weighing , sorting and short term storage of up to one week. b. Deep water fishing vessels should be furnished will cool boxes (or to be designed in such a way that Ice filled compartments are included) in order to allow for preservation of fish for up to 24 hours c. Vertical integration of the marketing channel fishers should be organized into cooperatives or corporate that trade in fish with a view to improving their negotiation powers. The fish could be packaged and sold to major outlets as products of specific cooperative or corporate entities. Examples of the major outlets are the hypermarkets like Nakumatt and Tuskys among others. Cooperatives could include members of various BMUs and threshold numbers of BMUs that can organize into a reasonable marketing force should be established immediately. Such entities will require a minimum processing plant and packaging facility and cold transportation vehicle. d. Initiative to process the dried Omena further should be encouraged by providing incentives to sort and package the fish in branded packets /bags. The following processes are possible: cleaning, sorting, decapitating, labeling, branding, packaging, addition of KBS quality mark and storage in cool rooms ready for dispatch to the outlets. In addition, the fish destined for animal feeds could also be ground, Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 75
packaged and made ready for mixing with other ingredients before sale. There should be a disincentive to sell unprocessed fish eg charges of higher levies etc. e. Explore possibilities of canning omena f. Other products like the lake Shrimps (Ochonga) destined as animal feeds should be similarly treated as Omena above. Facilities to test quality eg moisture contents etc should be provided. g. The Governors office should establish a Marketing Information System desk which should collect and collate information on the fish supplies (quantities) and market demands. h. The Governors office should establish a Marketing Information System desk which should collect and collate information on the fish supplies (quantities) and market demands. i. There should be continued and enhanced management of the wild fish with fisheries department in order to ensure sustainable fisheries. Should need arise quotas could be established but this could only be arrived at in collaboration with other political administrative units bordering the County. 2. Ongoing activities Pond aquaculture which applies all constituencies in the County a. There should be a deliberate effort to recruit more fish farmers and organized groups in similar manner as the BMUs above. The groups should esta blish cooperatives or be incorporated and similar facilities as that BMUs should be established for every entity (cooperative or fish trading corporate). b. Exploit the borehole potentials (Rangwe, Ndhiwa, and section of Karachounyo) where borehole water potential of >8m3 per minute has been proven and capture rain water in to the fish ponds. Establish dams along the rivers and use its water to refill aquaculture ponds. c. The Governor could organize training and awareness campaigns with a an aim of improving the number of farmers involved in aquaculture and training those already involved in good management practices. d. Establish or support establishment infrastructure to support the primary inbound activities in aquaculture. These including hatcheries that could reliably supply quality fingerlings, breeding facilities, feed manufacture industry, cold storage facilities, fish processing facilities and dedicated transport vehicles e. Provide incentive to entrepreneurs who would wish to acquire machinery (earthmovers or others) that would be used to sink boreholes and construct aquaculture ponds f. For the outbound primary activities do as capture fisheries above. Encourage value addition and organize the fish farmer into groups with better negotiating powers in the market. . 5.7.5.2 Mid term (2-5 years) measures 1. Cage culture of fish in the lake Victoria cage culture is a well established system of aquaculture in Europe and Eastern world. In view of the long freshwater shoreline and low tide nature of the lake, Homa-Bay County has a competitive advantage over other counties in Kenya with regards to establishment of cage culture system. Cage farming is relatively Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 76
2. 3.
4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
11.
12.
13.
cheaper than land based aquaculture. The material applied in cage culture are either available or could be easily be established at Lake Victoria basin. Bamboo is widely used in the eastern world. Bamboo can be easily established alongside other usable aquatic plants along the Lake Victoria shores at the Homa-Bay County. Cages can be used for all stages of the product flow from feeding to seed production to final production for consumption. Fish feeds would be an important limitation in this culture system. Threats of this practice include compromise in water quality. The primary drivers is influence by competition for water by multiple users, selection of and benchmark tolerance levels set of indicators, skills and organization of environmental groups in influencing these processes. There is a need for us to set baseline indices and indicators to facilitate and promote well-managed cage farm sites and management practices in County. Improve aquaculture extension services and outreach programs Strengthening of aquaculture development institutions and infrastructure. Create a stronger working relationship with Kenya Marine Fisheries Research Institute which has a satellite research station at Sangoro (Karachuonyo), within the County and possible diversify the activity of the Homa-Hills community center to include Aquaculture. The center has a special relationship with Norway, a country that is a world leader in fisheries development and the County should strive to twin with the Norwegian industry. Development of aquaculture policy, strategy, legal framework and master plan Setup up legal and regulatory framework that will allow for conflict free common use of the lake for the purposes of cage farming. Also strengthen the policy and legal framework for the aquaculture. Organize group of fishers and train them on the various aspects of cage farming. Prepare good management practice guides and set up a well - established bureaucratic structure. Establish a cage making industry support to industrialization process as well create employment opportunities for the youth. Cage farming would face a challenges of compromised environmental quality including the invasive plant (Hyacinth and hippo grass) Relevant issues about cage culture. Cage farming is driven by investment at an enterprise level; Management capacity; Production efficiency Support establishment of hatcheries and primary inbound activities. A production of 1000 tones may require around 5010 million fries per year. Strengthening the public and private sector fish seed production and supply chain Improve capacity to secure feeds through constructive engagement with commercial manufacturers or training the farmers on formulation of feeds. In general 100 tons of caged tilapia will require 150-200 tons of feed. Convert the menace of hyacinth into an opportunity. The hyacinth plants could be harvested and used to growth red worms or earthworms which could serve as excellent protein source for the cage aquaculture. Facilitate financing with agricultural and commercial banks. Alternatively, the County should design a workable public private partnership arrangement that would help kickstart this system of fish farming. An improved outbound primary activities in the value chain including, capacity to deliver product to the market in the shortest time possible are key success factors. Strengthen quality assurance process in the value chain in order to sustain marketability. Page 77
14. Face other challenges like wild animals menace and concerns with tourism access. 15. Leverages technology like mobile phone market indices to revolutionize market intelligence 16. Take into account unreliable feature of the export market and establish a proper local market at Nairobi, Kisumu, Nyeri, Mombasa and so on where fish eating is a growing phenomenon. 5.7.5.3 Long- term (5 -10 years) measures 1. Fish processing plants a. The County should establish four fish processing plants each at Karachuonyo, HomaBay Town, Mbita and Suba constituencies. Stakeholders and ownerships of firms should comprise the fishers and Public Private Partnerships arrangements should be attempted b. Incentives to facilitate growth and stability of the fish processing plant should be given the Governor of the County and there should be disincentives to move unprocessed or unbranded fish out of the County. 2. Fish Feed Manufacturing firms a. Availability and quality of feed is a key success factor to aquaculture b. Opportunities for use of use of hyacinth as a primary diet of redworm ( Eisenia fetida) and / earth worms (Annelida) could be exploited. c. By products of slaughter house, poultry farms, rice and maize mills (Brans) could form important ingredients in fish feeds. 3. Value addition to by products a. The processed fish by products include the frame, skins, heads and offal. These could form important feed for a number of animals including pigs and crocodiles. 4. Marketing information System a. Marketing failure arising from poor communication has been recognized as a major bottleneck in the fish industry. Within five years and thereafter there should be a well-coordinated marketing information system (MKIS) which should leverage heavily on the available technology including the internet, mobile telephony among others. 5. Training and research a. The County should establish training institutions that should address the proposed industry which will be expected to be growing. The institution will give training to practicing fishers on all aspects of fish farming and management of the wild fish. b. Appropriate research on various aspects of fisheries should be carried out. Breeding and genetic improvement should be put in place to allow for effective selection of appropriate fish species /breeds 6. Financial facility a. Tailoring financial facilities to local needs through micro-finances and other financial arrangements. 7. Environmental management a. Remove the Mbita Causeway which has been proven (scientifically) to cause decline in water quality thus compromising productivity of the lakes ecosystem.
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b. Institute a sustainable management of the aquatic weeds (hyacinth and Hippo grass). These weeds could be harvested and used as raw material for preparation of feed for cattle and annelid; raw material for energy production (biogas digester, briquettes); raw material for furniture and handicrafts. 8. Diversifying species base, and genetically improving aquaculture species Some additional notes on Cage culture Cage culture is an established and profitable aquaculture. It is relatively a complex culture system from technological, biological, ecological, economic and social perspectives. Financial success has been demonstrated in Europe Barriers to cage farming in Homa-Bay County 1. Disease 2. Financial and capacity inadequacies o High investment costs o Difficult access to credit o Need to train participants in the practice. Target extension to high potential clients. The government institutions educational, research, technical colleges, universities, polytechnics can also promote and increase service provision to the private sector o Sell licenses o Tailoring financial facilities to local needs through micro-finances involving NGOs and private finance institutions. 3. Raw materials o Difficult access to necessary materials for cage production 4. Feeds o Unavailability of cost effective feeds 5. The lack of guidance on good management practice for the sector 6. Legal and policy frameworks o Regulatory concerns o problem of use of areas considered to be public o Ownership of aquatic environments o Concern with tourism access o Concern of escaped species from the cages if species different from the native species are used in the cages. o Lack of aquaculture legislation and regulations o Counter the bad image of cage culture (environmental contamination, fish welfare) o Environmental Impact Assessment should be mandatory. In cases of transboundary water resources then a strategic environmental assessment should be done. 7. Conflicts with fishers o Preemptive campaigns are necessary o Siting and zoning is necessary. Site could be rented out by the County o Strict licensing is necessary o The cost of environmental monitoring and management should be recouped from licenses and site rental Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 79
Cage culture is risk and should not be encouraged for subsistence purposes. Explore possibilities of the out grower schemes, run by both feed companies and large production companies as has been practiced in other parts of the world.
o 8. Marketing o Challenges in marketing cage reared products o Need to leverage on technology like mobile phone market indices to revolutionize market intelligence o Take into account unreliable feature of the export market and establish a proper local market at Nairobi, Kisumu, Nyeri, Mombasa and so on where fish eating is a growing phenomenon 9. Hyacinth invasions 10. Wild animals menace
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5.8 Social, Youth and Gender Development and Cultural Services

5.8.1 Introduction In the period of 1999 to 2009, the population of Homa-Bay County grew by 55% from 620,489 to 963,794, while the number of households grew by 22% from 169,179 to 206,108 in the same period. A combined effect of urbanization, immigration, emigration, HIV/Aids has led to unbundling of the household structure reflected in these figures. Homa-Bay is also a highly unequal society and the dependency ratio is age dependency ratio is 100:107. 5.8.2 Vision and Mission statements Vision A Socially balanced County where integrated and equitable provision of services empowers all sectors of the society (children, youth, men and women, seniors, and disabled) to continually develop and live a fulfilling life. Mission To put in place programs that allow for progressive and equitable development all the members of the society, empower youth, women and disabled persons, create new factors for growth and enhance existing favorable factors through structured activities aimed at continual improvement of the livelihoods of the citizens of the County. 5.8.3 Strategic Objectives 1. To mainstream youth, gender, seniors persons, disabled persons and minorities affairs in County development in Homa Bay County structures, organs, programs and projects 2. To guide the preparation and implementation of social affairs responsive to County activities at different levels 3. To promote people centered development 4. To continually examine the rules and regulation governing the different aspects of the social welfare with a view to improving them or charting workable implementation strategies. Some of legislation that may be necessary or relevant are laws on aged persons, childcare act, prevention and treatment of drug and substance use, domestic violent act/rules among others. 5.8.4 Thematic areas The following thematic areas shall be addressed in the strategic plan:a. Employment b. Empowerment c. Education, Training and skills improvement d. Information Communication Technology e. Health f. Crime and Drugs g. The Environment h. Games & sports, recreation, cultural and community service. In each of these areas, the County government will implement a number of activities, projects and programs over the plan period. 5.8.5 Situational analysis The population of the youth (age 14-35) increased from 240,573 to 317,485 between 1999 and 2009. However the proportion of youth to the total population reduced from 39% to 33% in the same period. in Homa Bay County, the youths encounter several social, political, economic and community dynamics/challenges namely; lack of continuing opportunities for education and skills development, lack of access to affordable health notably HIV/AIDS, reproductive health including teenage/adolescent motherhood and fatherhood, drug and substance abuse and gender based Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 81
violence, unemployment and underemployment, lack of adequate skills for employment, lack of access to finance, credit and entrepreneurial opportunities. Quite still some youths are vulnerable to political manipulation, crime and prostitution. On the other hand, the education system raises expectations, leading school leavers to disdain agricultural work/ informal sector activities without providing the knowledge, skills, and disposition to seek livelihood through enterprise and selfemployment. Yet youth who are not from a wealthy background have little opportunity for wage employment in the formal sector. The great majority of youth have lost trust in the integrity of political, social institutions and leaders, resulting in alienation and, without other means of support, a high level of involvement in petty crime (drugs and prostitution), and, for some, militias and gangs. However, a few entrepreneurial youth had realized that they can build their lives through enterprises and could benefit a lot from leverage from government programs like the current national Youth Enterprise Development Fund. Many youth lack a stable community with leadership from adults that guides their own social, economic, cultural, and spiritual development. Youth are looking for such leadership and the County government should seek create this leadership. Skilling the youth is a task that cannot be gainsaid. The County will need to scale up programs that the engage the youth, train them and offer them employment. The persons above 60 years (seniors) were 51,010 in 2009, which is 5% of the total population of Homa-Bay County and this is expected to increase over time. A functions social security services including medical care is required for this group of citizens. Seven point three percent of the population (70,750) were found to have disabilities and require concerted efforts to attend to their needs. Homa-Bay, like most undeveloped parts of the world is still bedeviled with unfair gender treatment. The Kenyas new constitution promulgated in 2010 clearly entrenches gender equity and state legal limits of gender representations in all aspects of life. The County government should strengthen policies that ensure gender equity. Specifically, the County should proactively discourage negative cultural practices, offer equal employment opportunities, provide services that relieve women of age old traditional roles like fetching water, firewood, and affirmatively support the girl child education. The County cannot look aside on childrens myriad problems. One of the si gns of problem of children is the rise in the number of the street children. A program to study the causes of the problem and provision of solutions is needed. Law and regulations on childrens welfare need to be streamlined. A number of programs need to put in place to augment the free primary education for example sports and talent molding programs. Homa-Bay has a rich culture which contributes to a distinct sense of quality of lives of the residents. There are several festivals, celebrations, music, arts exhibition, dances, sports and cultural activities which enrich lives which could also be packaged and sold as a tourism commodity. The Countys cultural desk could entrench these activities by adding them to the calendar of events in the County, promoting and striving to improve them. Gender parity is pertinent in ensuring a responsible and empowered youth. Engendered development programs and policies create a level field for both young men and women to participate in County Development. This calls for targeted actions aimed at empowering both female youth and the male youth. Gender mainstreaming strategies are aimed at making young womens and young mens concerns and experience to be an integral dimension of design, implementation, Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 82
monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs in the County. This will facilitate all youth to benefit equally and ensure that gender inequity is not perpetrated 5.8.5.1 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for the sector 5.8.5.1.1 Strengths 1. Political will exhibited in the County establishment. 2. Bilateral and multilateral partners have been engaged in social development 3. The Church and community based organizations within the County have been engaged in various campaigns aimed at social development 4. Vast area within the County brings in new and varied experiences from different constituencies. 5. Established structures and organs of the County government generating ideas for growth. 6. Policy frameworks to guide broad implementation in socio-economic development 7. The numerical strength of the Youth They form a large percentage of the population. 8. Goodwill from County government and development Partners. 9. Dynamism and creative energy of the Youth who are likely to support strategies for youth development. 10. New dawn in County development matters creating room for innovation and creativity 11. Vast area endowed with unexploited resources at the disposal of the youth 5.8.5.1.2 Weaknesses 1. Weak policy framework cascaded from the national government. 2. Inadequate enforcement and supervision of some polices at the County level. 3. Insufficient budget allocations to identified priority areas. 4. Disparities in regional resource base and interest areas hence lob sided interventions. 5. Inadequate social mobilization to sustain community interest and involvement. 6. Lack of adequate reference data levels hence an insufficient picture of progress by gender disability and age in critical thematic areas of interest. 7. Lack of institutional / legal policy framework on youth affairs. 8. Limited resources -infrastructure and qualified personnel. 9. Lack of adequate data on existing youth organizations. 10. Inadequate training and development capacity within the County government. 11. Limited publicity and information on MOYA 12. Lack of a comprehensive social security program for the youth and minorities in the society. 5.8.5.1.3 Opportunities 1. Common culture that could be exploited further to gain integration; 2. Growth in knowledge and awareness of and commitments to Rights and obligations of the County government to its people; 3. Large market within and without the County that can lead to great economic opportunities, 4. Tapping unutilized resources within the County; 5. Engagement of services of young people in development; 6. Partner with private sector to promote internship program; 7. Tapping the expertise of the youth in the Diaspora; 8. Creation of a focal point to address youth issues; 9. Utilize sector wide approaches (SWAPs) to advance youth programs; 10. Existence of vibrant youth organizations which can form a basis of growth; 11. Opportunity to develop legal framework for youth development; Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 83
12. 13. 14. 15. 5.8.5.2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
General goodwill from the political class on youth development; Exploiting ICT technology website, forums to promote youth agenda; Globalization of youth issues Employment opportunities generated by the growth factors in County government Threats Harmful cultural and traditional practices that affect development and health; Weakening family values Rampant alcohol and growing substance abuse World economic crisis and its macro effects and ramifications (i.e. in budget allocations, employment opportunities); Young population yielding to high unemployment levels in the youth in the County; International Human rights agenda being hijacked by activists that are forcing certain agenda onto the County (i.e. homosexual agenda) and the insistence of foreign nations about legislation that must be introduced in Africa if the countries are to qualify as being respectful of human rights; High fertility rates that can easily escalate the dependency ratios in the County; Illiteracy and lack of understanding of issues hence some youth may reject prepared programs; Inadequate funding of activities may limit impact and scope of youth programs; Lack of political goodwill may limit the output and impact of youth programs; Political interference in youth programs may influence achievement of set objectives; Negative perceptions about the youth by the County leadership may limit its influence in the creation of an enabling environment for youth development; Change of funding priorities by partners and donors can impact negatively on achievement of set objectives; New and inexperienced leadership overseeing the youth sector at the County level; Impact of unemployment, HIV/AIDS and drug abuse that mostly affect the youth. Negative impact of brain drain among the youth.
7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
5.8.6 Strategic interventions The following are possible intervention measures; 1. Facilitate the development and dissemination of Homa bay County gender, youth, culture, and social Strategic plan that is socially, economically and development focused, aligned to Kenya Vision 2030 and includes a performance-monitoring plan with community participation. 2. Facilitate the successful implementation of Homa Bay County Strategic plan through institutional strengthening support of the community based organizations within the County Government. a. The County government should recognize the importance of youth and women participation in decision-making at all levels because this will lead to better policy formulation, implementation and evaluation. Youth inclusion strengthens their commitment to leadership, governance, understanding of human rights and democracy. 3. Facilitate the formulation, implementation, coordination, reviewing and monitoring of vulnerable persons, women and youth development policies.
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4. Promote the formation of environmental clubs for the youth, strengthen the involvement of the youth in environmental conservation programs and encourage the use of alternative sources of energy to protect forests from destruction. 5. Facilitate the advocacy and promotion of women, disabled and youth led initiatives; 6. Facilitate leadership, entrepreneurship and life skills training for the vulnerable members of the society, the youth, the disabled and women. 7. Create a docket of disabled persons, women, and youth development in the County government. 8. Establish a department of Youth Training. a. (i)To enhance education and training for the youth, strategies that will be applied include developing a curriculum for use in youth polytechnics, identifying, supporting and partnering efforts of communities, religious groups, and non-profit organizations, especially in technical, education and training. 9. Develop a comprehensive, coherent and harmonized County women, youth, and disabled persons policy that also provides a binding framework for effective implementation, monitoring and evaluation of youth programs and projects. 10. Establish youth resource centers and a structured mechanism that will promote and sustain youth culture, values, morals and ethics. Leisure, recreation, and community service are important activities in the life of youth as they contribute to their personal development. a. Establish talent search and identification and promotion of social skills and values such as teamwork, tolerance, physical skills and exploitation of natural talents. Recreation and community service can be used to build networks that could lead to job opportunities. b. Put up talent centers in all the constituencies where the youth can hone their skills be in football, arts, music, dancing, martial arts, rugby, hockey or otherwise. Create standards and initiate competition c. Focus on leisure and recreation needs of the youth by collaborating with stakeholders to include youth activities in their planning processes. d. Prioritize the issue of high levels of youth unemployment and underemployment, gender inequity, discrimination against the disabled and minorities in employment in County development programs e. The County government should address youth unemployment through youth entrepreneurial training, micro credit schemes, vocational training and career guidance service development, youth leadership training, and ICT skills training. f. Institute clear steps to promote education beyond primary schooling and to provide relevant education of sound quality that prepares young people for the world of work and for life; g. Institute policies and programs to promote and protect the physical, mental and spiritual health of young people, with a particular focus on HIV/AIDS. h. The County government should facilitate intervention policies and programs that include life skills-based HIV/AIDS information and education that would empower young people to make choices and decisions about their health; 11. Liaise with other stakeholders to develop accessible, available and affordable primary health care services of high quality, including sexual and reproductive health care. 12. Increase investment in youth development and empowerment including through the provision of sufficient and sustainable resources for technical and professional skills development and youth employment; 13. To take advantage of the benefits created by ICT, the County government should create opportunities for youth participation through use of ICT to access knowledge, employment opportunities, entertainment, meetings and poverty eradication strategies. Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 85
14. Strengthening family values through programs and campaign in various fora in the society i.e schools, churches, community based organization 15. Transforming social relations with a specific focus on gender and victim empowerment 16. Provide services for children and youth who are in conflict with the law 17. Organize support for the destitute 18. Protect and promote rights of the people with disabilities. Give tax rebates to entrepreneurs registered as disabled and affirmatively create business opportunities for them in the government businesses 19. Dismantle patriarchy by ensuring that the 2/3rd gender rule in the Kenyas constitution is entrenched in all affairs in the County. 20. Promote positive cultural practices and beliefs 21. Implement fully the Bill of rights spelt out in the Kenyas constitution 22. Promote and support participation of key bilateral and multilateral initiatives that make the most effective contribution to poverty reduction 23. Promote and hold regular festivals in music, arts exhibition, dances, sports and cultural activities which enrich lives. These could also be packaged and sold as a tourism commodity. The cultural activities impart to the residents a sense of pride and identity. 24. Improve the quality of life through culture. The expression of the HBC rich culture fulfills life and imparts a competitive advantage in attracting tourists. Celebrating their unique identity in stories, songs, theatre productions, public events and festivals helps in reminding them and informing others about their unique history, present and future. 25. Strengthening the County culture infrastructure. Establish an advisory committee, build a cultural archives located centrally in an area that is easy to visit, put up museums and art exhibition theatres 26. Establish a children museum 27. Create an alley in the streets of Homa-Bay where artifacts and arts can be sold or auctioned. 28. Carry out research and monitoring on the social problems in the society i.e. social crimes, child abuse, substance and drug abuse, domestic violence, 29. Engender the Strategic Plan a. Establish (Promote) gender equality, equity and women & girl-child empowerment as normative in Homa Bay County. b. Establish an enabling policy and legal framework in Homa bay County aimed at mainstream Gender in macro economic sector policy, programs and Budgeting; c. Proactively empower the girl child and provide business opportunities for women; d. Reduce Gender based violence within the County; e. Provide an enabling Policy and Legislative framework for Gender equality and equity. f. Facilitate gender mainstreaming in County development processes for gender equality and women empowerment. g. Facilitate increased budgetary allocation in the County and strengthen County capacities in gender mainstreaming h. Facilitate collection and utilization of sex/gender desegregated data in the County. i. Provide enabling mechanisms to address gender based violence in all situations. 30. Actions on Social Services a. Develop a legislative framework (laws, policies and guidelines) for community development within County. b. Identify institutional bottlenecks that infringe on the rights of the poor and marginalized to access social services and empower them to participate in community development. Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 86
c. Develop a capacity building programs for community development and engage more community development officers. d. Set up a monitoring and evaluation framework for community development. e. Strengthen strategic linkages with private sector, civil society organizations and Faith based organizations to deliver social services -
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5.9 Public Services, Human Resources, Security, and Linkages

5.9.1 Introduction: Homa-Bay Countys public service will be citizen focused and results oriented - supportive of an expected rapidly growing society and a transforming economy. The gains of Kenyas public service reforms founded in 2004 will be consolidated and up-scaled. The Countys public service should aim at placing the satisfaction of the citizen at the heart of policy making and service delivery. There should be a strong link between planning, budgeting, program implementation and coordination. Results Based Management (RBM) will be institutionalized so as to transform leadership, and develop required competencies for the services at the County. The County also needs to account for its human resources showing what is available and what is needed to tackle its plans. The role of the public service (labor office) on this has been hazy yet this is key to supporting other strategic choices. In general, Kenyas production of human resources has been supply driven and does not adequately respond to the changing employment requirements. Productivity of the human resources is vital and the governors roles to create an environment that encourages a rising productivity cannot be gainsaid. The Countys wealth will be governed by productivity or the value created per day of work, the capital invested and the unit of the Countys physical and human resources employed. The Countys public service should positively influence human, physical, knowledge and capital resources; information; incentives; competitive pressure; and supporting firms (institutions, infrastructure, and pools of insight and skills). Security is crucial to achieving and sustaining the economic growth rate that is anticipated in this plan. Freedom from danger (i.e. protection from physical or direct violence) and freedom from fear (i.e. sense of safety and overall well-being) provide an enabling environment for individuals and businesses to thrive. It is a key incentive for attracting investment both from within and outside the County. Linkages are important for the development of Homa-Bay County. Linkages between the County to other counties, County to other international governments, County industries to other industries, and County business entities to other businesses are essential for understanding, defining and supporting constructive engagements for purposes of mutual benefits of the linked entities. Competitive production and marketing will depend on a well managed network that will allow for exchange of knowledge, transfer of technology, transmission of information, creation of incentives, provisions of support and stimulation of competition. 5.9.2 Mission and vision statements Vision Countys productivity that compares with the worlds best Mission - To tailor the counties human, physical, knowledge, technological and marketing resources in such a way that is has an ever improving productivity, is disciplined, competitive and addresses needs of the Countys residents. 5.9.3 Situational analysis Security is a key factor for providing an incentive for attracting and sustaining investment of both the local people and outsiders. Currently insecurity is a heavy burden on businesses with some firms paying up to 7% of their gross finances for security. In addition, countrywide, businesses pay up to 4% of sales on insurance against crime. The option of community policing is possible and has positively contributed to lowering crime rates in a number of areas in Kenya. The major sources of Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 88
insecurity in the County are availability of small arms and light weapons, political violence, resource conflicts. The County should strive to reduce the crime levels in tandem with the national goals. The public service lethargy and non responsive behavior has been a strong hindrance to economic growth and social welfare in the County. A closer supervision and set goals will serve to put this sector on its toes. There have been a lot of linkages that have resulted mostly from individual initiatives and some through formal arrangement. The County should inventory such initiative, nurture them and facilitate them to address socio-economic issues of the County. 5.9.4 5.9.4.1 1. 2. 3. 4. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for the Sector Strengths The existing staff who are well trained and have the requisite basic knowledge Experiences of the serving staff The good working relationships with the public. Existing supportive infrastructure i.e. the offices, vehicles, and furniture
5.9.4.2 Weaknesses 1. Culture rooted in poor understanding of the fundamental principle of the public service, namely, to serve rather than to dictate 2. The service delivery orientation of the public service has been process oriented rather than results oriented. The on-going national performance contracting initiative and the rapidresults approach will be up-scaled and deepened to support the realization of the performance target. 3. Inadequate number of staff and competencies 4. Lack of database to explain human resources needs and those present. 5. Low productivity of staff and a mismatch between the skills and job opportunities. 6. Inability of the public service to reward merit 7. Below threshold use of information technology in the public service sector. 8. Inadequate knowledge on public sector reforms 5.9.4.3 Opportunities 1. The devolved government that brings both political and administrative arms of the government closer to the people 2. The improving infrastructure. 3. The vision 2030 and resolutions within the vision document. 4. Youthful population in the County. 5.9.4.4 Threats 1. Unemployed youth. The explosion of joblessness which will put in a lot of pressure on the County administrations to absorb them. 2. HIV aid and its effects 3. Crime
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5.9.5 Strategic interventions 1. Changes in attitudes: the public servants will be required to serve rather than dictate. A mechanism for structured engagement of all the stakeholders in the determining the service delivery priorities will be devised. The citizens will be involved in determining policies and priorities. This will improve transparency and accountability. 2. Change the service delivery orientation to results rather than process. 3. Continually improve the capacity and capability of the public servants. The public servants will be inventoried; their skill will be improved through in service training. Identify areas where there are shortages of competencies and fill in the gaps. 4. Public service is notorious for rewarding seniority rather than merit. The County will put in place mechanisms to reward for performance and slap sanctions on mediocrity. Leveraging information technology. 5. The institutional capacity will be strengthened be leveraging information technology from the onset. The County will ensure that all the new records are digitized and progressively the old records are digitized in order to ensure improved efficiency and cost saving. 6. The national agenda to transform the public service sector will be executed at the County level. Measures will be designed to allow better sharing and dissemination of knowledge particularly about all the public service reforms. 7. The County will create a human resource database in order to track trends to supply and adjust them to demand. 8. The County will carry out productivity assessment of each sector and monitor productivity growth. 9. The County will identify talents within the education sector and strive to fast track it for key careers, specialization in short supply. 10. The County should also attract top Kenyan talents from the diaspora either virtually or through returns. The diaspora could support the consultancies or provide other requisite services. 11. The County could also harness the retirees with a view to getting their contributions in development. 12. Right from the onset the County will need to set up a vibrant linkages desk. A link to the industry, technical training institutions, the universities, research institutions, other counties and development partners is needed to foster mutual collaborations. The Countys headquarter should strive to twin with a Western and an Eastern City. 13. Ensure the national government a. improves the police to population ratio from 1:811 to 1:450; b. installs ICT infrastructure in all security agencies c. provides a framework for coordination among security stakeholders d. Collaborate with the judiciary in reducing the number of suspects held in remand homes as a result of delays in court.
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5.10 Finance and Economic Planning

5.10.1 Introduction The finance and economic planning sector is a key service unit of the County. This sector will be committed to providing stewardship and leadership in sound financial planning, budgeting and management in the County. It would assist the departments in the County achieve unqualified audit reports. In principle the different agencies of the government and the County would be allowed to create value for money as they get technical assistance and analyses of the finances. The sectors success will be reflected on the outcome of plans of the other sectors and their impacts on the livelihood of the people of Homa-Bay County. Therefore, the department must as a matter of necessity align its functions to that of the other sectors. 5.10.2 Vision and mission statements Vision: to be the leading County financial and economic planning unit that facilitates the Homa-Bays economic growth in a manner that attracts and retains business with and within the County. Mission: to provide competent financial management leadership that maximizes productivity of the different departments of the County and ensures efficient and optimal use of the limited resources. 5.10.3 Situational analysis The department of the finance and economic planning of the former district headquarters will be coalesced to work under this sector. These departments have been concerned with proper budgetary and expenditure management of government financial resources. The functions have been strategic in several ways, however, generally the main responsibility has been formulating financial and economic policies that facilitate socio-economic development. This department as a section of the ministry of finance has played a regulatory role on the financial sector which is central to the development of the County and on which all the other sectors depend for investment of resources. This sector will extend its function in the County as a manager of the revenues, expenditure and borrowing by the County government. It will facilitate mobilization of the resources to support the County government programs and activities. It will be required to coordinate all the necessary cooperation in development financing and technical assistance. The section will carry out the important function of the management of bilateral and multilateral supports to ensure that its intended target is achieved. The sector will provide and facilitate accounting, auditing, insurance, pensions, procurement, clearing and forwarding services, and divestiture services. 5.10.4 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for the Sector 5.10.4.1 Strengths 1. Well trained staff at the treasury department at the district headquarters 2. Structures for sound financial management are already in place. There has been functional district treasury and the County treasuries in the County just like elsewhere in Kenya. 3. There is a well-founded Countrys economic recovery framework which is a precursor of the vision 2030. The thrust of the vision 2030 can be extended to spur focused financial and economic planning in the County
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5.10.4.2 Weaknesses 1. Poverty in the County which is one of the worst in the Country. More than 50% of the people in the County live below the World Banks threshold for poverty. 2. The entrenched reactive and restrictive role of that the finance department has served rather than facilitative role envisaged in this plan. 3. Inadequate knowledge of finance and economic planning among other members of the other departments (non finance and economic planning) in the County. 4. Limited revenue sources in the County 5.10.4.3 Opportunities 1. The devolved system that is supposed to be more responsive to the needs of the County 2. Potential physical resources in the County that can be turned into wealth creation 3. Large number of youthful population in the County that could be tapped upon to grow the economy of the County 4. Conducive climate and availability of ample sunshine and water. 5.10.4.4 Threats 1. Disease prevalence in the County is quite high. HIV prevalence of up to 30% in some districts and below five years child mortality of above 200 per 1000 children born is a strong impediment for any economic growth. 2. Unemployment is very high and consequently productivity per person is quite low in the County. 3. Inadequate to lack of financing of the Countys projects. Risk loans are absent and there are no major investments in the County and hence a low potential for revenue collection. 5.10.5 Strategic objectives and interventions 1. Align the national strategic plans of the treasury to the County plans 2. Assist the departments within the County to achieve unqualified audit reports 3. Proactively deliver services to the other departments of the County. Give stewardships and leaderships on all matters of finance 4. Provide elementary training on financial and procurement processes to all department of the County. This is with a view to entrenching informed understanding of the financial management framework among all departments and stakeholders. 5. Provide advisory services on all financial matters to all the departments 6. Institute financial management capacity aimed at achieving efficiency and accountability. Ensure allocation efficiency and optimal utilization of resources. 7. Supporting research and developments that inform Countys fiscal policies, annual budgeting and enhances best practices approach. 8. Carry out best management of the relevant data and information relevant to fiscal planning. Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023 Page 92
9. Recruit qualified staff in the financial sector of the County 10. Attract and retain high performing individuals. 11. Promote effective capturing of revenue, expenditure, assets and liabilities. Actively account for the current and fixed assets of the County especially land 12. Make sure the strategic plan is a living document 13. Facilitate alternative funding solutions in order to support an environment of sustainable economic growth and social development. Negotiate, manage and supervise implementation of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and other financing solutions (make sure it supports job creation, and poverty alleviation strategies). 14. Ensure efficient and effective management of the Countys debts 15. Put in place mechanisms to manage risks in County arising from the assets, programs and operations. 16. Optimize liquidity requirement and maximize returns within acceptable level of risks. 17. Ensure continual improvement in efficiency of internal systems and processes. Espouse Information and Communication Technology (ICT) from the inception. 18. All in all, the finance and economic planning sector should be perceived by stakeholders as a credible partner to work with. It will strive to innovate means of communication that is timely and accurate on all aspects of its operations.
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6 Charts of Industrial Clusters (existing and potential)
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Action Plans and Key Performance Indicators

7.1 Action Plan for Education, Science and Technology
Objective
Specific Objective
Activities
Place (constituency, ward, etc)
Resources (time financial, human no. & qualifications) Time Human Finances
Key performance indicator
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7.2 Action Plan for Agriculture and Land

Objective Specific Objective Activities Place (constituency, ward, etc) Resources (time financial, human no. & qualifications) Time Human Finances Key performance indicator
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7.3 Action Plan for Health Services

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7.4 Action Plan for Agriculture and Land

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7.5 Action Plan for Trade, Industry, Cooperatives, and Tourism Development
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7.6 Action Plan for Infrastructure: Physical Planning, Transport, Public Works, Energy and Utilities
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7.7 Action Plan for Mineral, Natural Resources, Wildlife Conservation and Environment
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7.8 Action Plan for Fisheries and Other Aquatic Resources

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7.9 Action Plan for Social, Youth and Gender Development, and Cultural Services
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7.10 Action Plan for Public Services, Linkages, and Security

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7.11 Action Plan for Finance and Economic Planning

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7.12 Action Plan for Cross Cutting Issues
Objective
Specific Objective
Activities
Place (constituency, ward, etc)
Resources (time financial, human no. & qualifications) Time Human Finances
Key performance indicator
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Appendices
APPENDICES
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HOMA-BAY COUNTY

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

5.1.1 5.1.2 5.1.3 5.1.4 5.1.5 5.1.6 5.1.7 5.2

5.2.1 5.2.2 5.2.3 5.2.4 5.3

5.3.1 5.3.2 5.3.3 5.3.4 5.4

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

5.5.1 5.5.2 5.5.3 5.5.4 5.5.5 5.6

5.6.1 5.6.2 5.6.3 5.6.4 5.6.5 5.7

5.7.1 5.7.2 5.7.3 5.7.4 5.7.5 5.8

5.8.1 5.8.2 5.8.3 5.8.4 5.8.5 5.8.6 5.9

5.9.1 5.9.2 5.9.3 5.9.4 5.9.5 5.10

Finance and Economic Planning ....................................................................................... 91 Page 3

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

5.10.1 5.10.2 5.10.3 5.10.4 5.10.5 6 7

Appendices ............................................................................................................................ 107

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

1.2 Rationale for the Strategic Plan

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

County Strategic Objectives

[to be summarized from the objectives of the different sectors]

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Knowledge and Skills

Competitiveness and competition Equitability

Innovation and technology advancement

Integrity and conservation of cultural values Partnerships and linkages

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

THE DEVOLVED GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE

GOVERNOR - HOMABAY COUNTY GOVERNMENT

Intergovernmental Relations Forums

County Security Committee

County Assemblies Service Board

Boards of Cities/ Municipalities

County Public Service Board

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

A sector by sector explanation of strategic foundation is outline below.

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Overall Vision: To make secondary education basic in Homa-Bay County.

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

SWOT Analysis of the Education sector

There is existing infrastructure mainly attached to primary schools and churches.

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Vocational/ Technical Education Tertiary Education University Education

Establish a full pledged public university in Homa-Bay County (LT).

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

5.2 Health services

Suba 2 9 7 3 21/1000 7.1/1000 53.1 110/1000 130/1000 4.98 34% 1:85,036

4 3 5km 60 16.54/1000 12.62/1000 47 years 87/1000 102/1000 4.4 30% 1:150,000

441/1000 168/1000 50 years 137/1000 213/1000 7.1 24% 1: 38,707 35%

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Agriculture, Livestock and Land

85000 108,540 9572 31924 9528

5.3.3 5.3.3.1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 5.3.3.2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 5.3.3.3 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023

Strategic Plan for Homa-Bay County 2013-2023