Welcome
Development Cooperation with Kenya
African laborers cutting pineapples on a production line. Production of pineapple juice at the beverage manufacturer Kevian Kenya Ltd., Thika, © Thomas Imo/photothek.net
Reducing poverty, overcoming hunger and disease, improving education, promoting democracy and peace, realizing human rights and equal opportunities, preserving our environment and resources - these are some of the objectives that can only be achieved jointly by the international community. Within the framework of its development cooperation, the German Federal Government contributes to these objectives and strives for achieving jointly the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Kenya is an important partner country of German development cooperation since 1961. A total of 1.7 billion Euros has been made available for bilateral Development Cooperation. During the government negotiations held in 2016 another 252,35 million Euros have been committed as new funding for the period 2017-2018.
German development cooperation is mainly implemented by the German implementing agencies KfW and GIZ. Please find an overview of the portfolio here:
The following priority areas of development cooperation have been agreed with the Kenyan government:
German development cooperation, western Kenya strengthens food security through improved productivity focusing on higher an more sustainable production an better access to market for farmers. The other focus lies on drought resilience and adaptation to climate change in Northern Kenya.
Factsheet Agriculture and Rural Development
In the health sector, the German government supports primarily the development of a health insurance system. The focus of the German support is on improving the access to quality health services for the poor and for disadvantaged Groups.
During the government negotiations in 2016, the Kenyan and the German delegations agreed to establish sustainable economic development through promotion of youth employment and TVET as a new priority area of cooperation. The objective is to boost youth employment by offering industry-oriented technical and vocational training in close cooperation with the private sector.
In the water and sanitation sector Kenyan-German development cooperation focuses on three areas: policy and regulation, improvement of urban water and sanitation services, and water resources Management.
In addition to the four aforementioned key areas, German development cooperation is also active in the following fields:
German development cooperation supports the Kenyan government in the area of Good Governance, specifically in fighting corruption.
The objective of Kenyan-German development cooperation in the energy sector is to achieve an environmentally-friendly, cost-effective and reliable energy supply in the country focusing on geothermal, solar, hydro and wind power. GDC is partnering with the private sector to promote renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures.
In addition, Germany implements various special initiatives as well as global, regional and sector programmes and projects. The German government also provides humanitarian aid and funds activities of political foundations, church and civil society organisations.
Apart from the Development Cooperation of the BMZ, other German ministries also support initiatives in Kenya.
Among the bilateral External Development Partners in Kenya Germany currently ranks at the 5th place: http://www.oecd.org/countries/kenya/aid-at-a-glance.htm
In close cooperation with DEG, AHK, KEPSA and many other partners German development cooperation in Kenya seeks to involve the private sector in the achievement of the SDGs. This is most important since the private sector provides 70% of the jobs and 80% of the GDP in Kenya being a Middle Income Country.
Besides bilateral cooperation the Federal Government of Germany also provides Official Development Assistance (ODA) via the EU and regional and international organisations such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the African Development Bank. All three levels - bilateral, European and multilateral cooperation – are important pillars of the German development cooperation.