Kenya

• Our office: Nairobi
• Our areas of focus: Climate change and governance
• Our partners: UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation

About our work

In Kenya, BBC Media Action has a long history of supporting TV and radio broadcasters to produce engaging and informative programming on topics ranging from water, sanitation and hygiene to climate adaptation and good governance.

For nearly a decade, we have been running climate projects mentoring local radio journalists in how they report on weather and climate issues – in turn, helping farmers, fishermen and pastoralists adapt to the often devastating impacts of changing weather, and protect their lives and livelihoods. This work was initially funded by the UK Met Office, back-funded by the UK FCDO, and then by the EU’s Horizon 2020 initiative.

We are currently implementing a project called Bridges, funded by Norad, which supports communities in the western, northern and coastal regions of Kenya to adapt to climate change through strengthened communication across the weather and climate information services system. We are strengthening the capacity of 15 community radio stations to produce weather and climate radio content through mentoring and the provision of broadcast equipment. We are also partnering with WWF to provide people with information on sustainable food systems - those which minimally impact the environment the food is sourced from.

We also recently partnered with Sightsavers in the Global Labour Programme to raise awareness of disability rights and workers’ rights. We are supporting seven radio stations in Nairobi and Western Kenya to produce radio and social media content that addresses barriers and showcases success stories of people with disabilities in the workforce.

Our Young Africa Works in Kenya project - funded by MasterCard Foundation and in partnership with Colleges and Institutes Canada - sought to increase the participation of young Kenyans, particularly women, in training programmes focused on Kenya’s Big Four (food security, affordable housing, manufacturing and affordable healthcare) and the digital sectors. We also supported journalists in eight radio stations in urban and peri-urban areas to produce radio and social media content focused on the benefits of technical and vocational education and training.

Previously, our radio and TV discussion show Sema Kenya (Kenya Speaks) brought audiences face-to-face with public officials to debate the big issues of the day; and our youth radio show Kimasomaso ('To speak out boldly’) tackled sexual and reproductive health issues.