2024 NGOs Awards Nomination: Best in Education

Vote for Haller in the ‘Best in Education’ category at the 2024 Kenyan NGOs Awards. 

Education plays a central role in all of Haller’s work. Any process of change must start with education, and we’re committed to developing and nurturing opportunities for life-long learning for smallholder communities across Africa. Our education initiatives broadly fall under two areas, farmer training and educational development, but we’re constantly looking for new ways to engage and support communities. 

Farmer Training

Our demonstration plot near Mombasa allows us to provide climate-smart training to smallholder farmers. Sessions cover sustainable farming techniques to conserve water, enrich soils, and improve nutrition, as well as more advanced lessons on aquaculture and beekeeping to help smallholders establish an additional source of income. 80% of the sessions’ attendees are women, who play a critical role in the Kenyan agricultural system. 

For those who can’t attend in person, we deliver a weekly integrated Health, Farmer Training and Education program for smallholder communities. These sessions enable farmers to learn in-situ, directly applying learnings to their smallholder plots.

Even further afield, the Haller Farmers App enables us to share 70 years of proven agricultural expertise with smallholder farmers across Africa. Designed to bridge the knowledge gap for those who lack access to regenerative agricultural resources, the app offers step-by-step guidance in English, French, and Swahili, supporting all literacy levels with audio and visual features.   

We also direct farmer training to the next generation of smallholders through our Youth Farming Initiative. Providing essential skills in farming, nutrition, and entrepreneurship, the program aims to address issues of youth unemployment and engage young people in sustainable initiatives. In 2023 we hosted quarterly open days at the demonstration plot, with over 100 children from 7 different schools attending each session. 

Our programs are focused on developing practical knowledge through hands-on learning. Through these initiatives, we’ve planted over 300 indigenous and fruit trees and released over 70,000 turtle hatchlings, fostering a sense of environmental stewardship and positively impacting graduation rates and academic engagement. 

Nguuni Education Centre 

The Nguuni Education Centre is nestled in the Nguuni Nature Sanctuary. A hub of learning and creativity for over 115,000 children from disadvantaged backgrounds. With many communities in Kenya lacking access to high-quality educational resources, the centre provides a lifeline for pupils and teachers. The centre is home to Kenya’s first free children’s library, with over 11,500 books available to children from 63 nearby schools. In addition, the centre houses an IT suite developed in collaboration with British Airways, providing access to vital digital training skills. A hub of learning and development, the centre runs environmental programs, outdoor film screenings, and youth clubs all year round. 

In 2023 the centre’s library served 3,945 readers, helping to drive improved educational outcomes as studies have demonstrated a connection between improved access to reading materials and improved literacy levels. Across the year there were 250 school visits, with the structured learning environment outside of the classroom producing higher engagement in education. 

For those children who can’t attend Nguuni, our integrated outreach programs also have an educational component. Reaching 436 primary school-aged children in Mombasa last year, the sessions provide an opportunity to participate in structured educational activities and foster improved academic outcomes. 

Education holds a key place across all of our initiatives. At Haller, we believe that sustainable development starts with learning, and we are committed to bringing education to all smallholder farmers across Africa. 

This commitment makes our nomination for the ‘Best in Education Award’ at the 2024 Kenyan NGOs Awards especially exciting. The annual awards are coordinated by the Public Benefit Organisations Regulatory Authority, Awesome Concepts Limited, and other partners. Designed to recognise and celebrate outstanding NGOs that have made significant contributions to sustainable development the scheme has distributed over $1.6Bn in funding to 10,000 active NGOs. 

The award would allow us to extend our impact and continue our mission to build self-sustaining communities and create pathways out of poverty through education. We appreciate all votes and shares.