Youth Leadership
leadership development; mentorship; teamwork; responsibility; volunteerism; and community service.
3. KEY DIET BORA PROJECTS
Projects turning ideas into action.
PROJECT 1: YOUTH VOICE PROJECT
Youth Leadership, Civic Education & Livelihood Empowerment
The Youth Voice Project represents Jamii Ajibika's commitment to ensuring that young people have both a voice in community affairs and practical pathways towards economic dignity.
The project emerged following Jamii Ajibika's engagement and capacity strengthening through the CASCADE journey and focuses on youth leadership, civic education, economic empowerment, poultry enterprise, nutrition-sensitive livelihoods and youth-led agribusiness.
The project particularly prioritizes vulnerable young women and young mothers.
What happens when young people are given both a voice and an economic pathway?
Civic Education
understanding governance; public participation; citizen responsibility; social accountability; budget participation; advocacy; and engagement with decision-makers.
Livelihood Empowerment
poultry enterprise; feed innovation; hatchery systems; value addition; marketing; financial literacy; enterprise planning; and savings and reinvestment.
Practical Enterprise Learning
Orientation → Leadership → Skills → Practical Demonstration → Enterprise Incubation → Market Development → Growth
What Youth Voice is building
The project is helping create youth-led poultry enterprises; practical enterprise skills; stronger youth leadership; improved financial literacy; collective economic systems; poultry value-chain knowledge; value addition opportunities; market-oriented thinking; community learning; and pathways towards dignified livelihoods.
The training curriculum covers enterprise mindset, leadership, financial literacy, climate-smart poultry management, hatchery systems, feed formulation, azolla production, value addition, marketing, business planning, record keeping and enterprise incubation.
PROJECT 2: CASCADE
Nutrition & Policy Advocacy
From Nutrition Advocacy to Community-Led Action
CASCADE has strengthened Jamii Ajibika's capacity to work at the intersection of nutrition, community engagement, youth participation and policy advocacy.
Through the CASCADE journey, Jamii Ajibika has engaged communities around maternal nutrition, child feeding, dietary diversity, household food security, nutrition rights, community nutrition dialogue and participation in nutrition and food-security policy processes.
Community Nutrition Dialogues
Engaging pregnant women; lactating mothers; caregivers; teenage mothers; youth groups; and community members.
Nutrition Education
Promoting conversations around maternal nutrition; child feeding; dietary diversity; household food security; and nutrition rights.
Policy Advocacy
Supporting nutrition policy engagement; nutrition memoranda; community advocacy; county budget public participation; youth mobilization; and citizen engagement.
HOUSEHOLD VOICES → COMMUNITY PRIORITIES → POLICY SPACES → PUBLIC ACTION.
CASCADE documentation records increased nutrition awareness, stronger community engagement and greater participation in policy processes.
PROJECT 3: DIET BORA YOUTH & COMMUNITY SMART AGRICULTURE INNOVATION & LEARNING HUB
Our Practical Learning and Demonstration Space
The Diet Bora Youth & Community Smart Agriculture Innovation & Learning Hub is designed to become a living classroom where young people and communities can learn by seeing, doing, testing and improving.
It brings the Diet Bora philosophy to life.
Instead of simply telling a participant: "This is how poultry farming works." We show them.
Instead of only discussing feed costs: We experiment with alternative feed resources and feed-production approaches.
Instead of only talking about climate-smart agriculture: We demonstrate it.
The Hub's Core Demonstrations
Poultry Value Chain
poultry production; brooding; chick management; layers and meat production; hatchery systems; poultry management; feed systems; waste management; value addition; marketing; and enterprise development.
Cricket Demonstration
Exploring cricket production as an alternative protein and feed innovation opportunity.
Azolla Demonstration
Demonstrating azolla production and its potential contribution to sustainable feed systems.
Feed Innovation
Exploring locally available resources and practical approaches to reduce feed costs and improve enterprise viability.
The Programs Framework specifically identifies poultry, cricket and azolla as key components of the Diet Bora climate-smart agribusiness model.
The Hub is more than a farm
A Demonstration Site
Where people can see practical solutions.
A Training Centre
Where participants gain practical skills.
An Innovation Laboratory
Where ideas can be tested and improved.
An Enterprise Incubator
Where emerging entrepreneurs receive guidance.
A Peer Learning Space
Where communities learn from one another.
A Community Resource Centre
Where practical knowledge and tools can be shared.
A Replication Platform
Where successful models can be transferred to households and other communities.
This model is consistent with the organization's framework, which defines the Demo Hub as a practical learning, demonstration, incubation and peer-learning centre.
SEE → LEARN → PRACTICE → TEST → PRODUCE → SELL → REINVEST → REPLICATE
This is central to Jamii Ajibika's practical approach.
We want a young person who visits the Hub not merely to leave with information, but to leave asking:
"What can I start?"
PROJECT 4: DIET BORA COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE
Building Sustainability Through Community-Owned Economic Opportunities
The Diet Bora Community Enterprise is the sustainability and economic empowerment dimension of the Diet Bora Program.
Our objective is to progressively create a system where community members are not only beneficiaries of training, but become producers, entrepreneurs, suppliers, service providers and investors in local food and agricultural value chains.
Why Community Enterprise?
A common challenge in development programming is what happens after a project ends.
Training can end. Funding can end. A donor project can close. But the community's needs remain.
Jamii Ajibika therefore seeks to build enterprise systems that can progressively generate value and income while continuing to serve community needs.
The organization's constitutional framework recognizes income from CBO-led smart enterprise initiatives alongside grants, contributions and other lawful sources.
Create Livelihood Opportunities
Support community members to enter practical agricultural and nutrition-sensitive enterprises.
Build Individual Enterprise Capacity
Help individuals understand production; costing; pricing; marketing; record keeping; savings; reinvestment; and business growth.
Strengthen Group Enterprises
Support youth and community groups to develop collective enterprises.
Develop Local Value Chains
Connect production to: Inputs → Production → Processing → Value Addition → Marketing → Consumers.
Create a Reinvestment Culture
Where appropriate, enterprises should be able to: Earn → Save → Reinvest → Grow → Create More Opportunities.
Sustain Community Programming
A stronger enterprise base can contribute to the long-term sustainability of community initiatives and reduce overdependence on project-based funding.
Our Enterprise Philosophy
We do not want to create permanent beneficiaries. We want to build capable participants, producers and community entrepreneurs.
The ultimate objective is not simply: "How many people did we train?"
It is: "How many people were able to use what they learned to improve their livelihoods, contribute to their households and create opportunities for others?"
CASCADE — THE PROBLEM
Nutrition decisions are made every day at household level—but the systems influencing those decisions extend far beyond the household.
They include:
food prices;
household income;
agricultural production;
public health services;
county budgets;
policies;
access to information;
gender roles; and
community decision-making.
Therefore, nutrition improvement requires both:
Behaviour change at household level
and
Systems change through policy and citizen engagement.
Behaviour change at household level
and
Systems change through policy and citizen engagement.
CASCADE-supported work has included:
Community Nutrition Dialogues; Nutrition Education; Policy Advocacy.
Promoting conversations around: maternal nutrition; child feeding; dietary diversity; household food security; and nutrition rights.
The result is a bridge between: HOUSEHOLD VOICES → COMMUNITY PRIORITIES → POLICY SPACES → PUBLIC ACTION.
WHAT THE COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE SEEKS TO DO
Building Sustainability Through Community-Owned Economic Opportunities
1
Create Livelihood Opportunities
Support community members to enter practical agricultural and nutrition-sensitive enterprises.
2
Build Individual Enterprise Capacity
Help individuals understand: production; costing; pricing; marketing; record keeping; savings; reinvestment; and business growth.
3
Strengthen Group Enterprises
Support youth and community groups to develop collective enterprises.
4
Develop Local Value Chains
Connect production to: Inputs → Production → Processing → Value Addition → Marketing → Consumers
5
Create a Reinvestment Culture
Enterprise income should not simply be consumed.
Where appropriate, enterprises should be able to: Earn → Save → Reinvest → Grow → Create More Opportunities
6
Sustain Community Programming
A stronger enterprise base can contribute to the long-term sustainability of community initiatives and reduce overdependence on project-based funding.
Our work can be understood through one connected pathway:
LISTEN → ORGANIZE → EDUCATE → ADVOCATE → DEMONSTRATE → TRAIN → INCUBATE → CONNECT → DOCUMENT → REPLICATE
YOUTH VOICE — FULL PROJECT DETAIL
Youth Voice
Many young people are excluded twice:
Economically — because they lack productive opportunities.
Civically — because they have limited access to meaningful decision-making spaces.
For vulnerable young mothers, these challenges are compounded by limited resources, childcare responsibilities and restricted access to enterprise opportunities.
Youth Voice therefore asks: What happens when young people are given both a voice and an economic pathway?
Youth Voice combines:
Youth Leadership
leadership development; mentorship; teamwork; responsibility; volunteerism; and community service.
Civic Education
understanding governance; public participation; citizen responsibility; social accountability; budget participation; advocacy; and engagement with decision-makers.
Livelihood Empowerment
poultry enterprise; feed innovation; hatchery systems; value addition; marketing; financial literacy; enterprise planning; and savings and reinvestment.
Practical Enterprise Learning
Participants progress from:
Orientation → Leadership → Skills → Practical Demonstration → Enterprise Incubation → Market Development → Growth
The training model intentionally links:
SKILLS → ENTERPRISE → INCOME → SUSTAINABILITY.
WHAT YOUTH VOICE IS BUILDING
The project is helping create:
youth-led poultry enterprises;practical enterprise skills;stronger youth leadership;improved financial literacy;collective economic systems;poultry value-chain knowledge;value addition opportunities;market-oriented thinking;community learning;pathways towards dignified livelihoods.
THE HUB IS MORE THAN A FARM
It is designed as:
A Demonstration Site
A Training Centre
An Innovation Laboratory
An Enterprise Incubator
A Peer Learning Space
A Community Resource Centre
A Replication Platform
THE LEARNING MODEL
SEE → LEARN → PRACTICE → TEST → PRODUCE → SELL → REINVEST → REPLICATE
YOUTH VOICE — SOURCE DETAIL
The project emerged following Jamii Ajibika's engagement and capacity strengthening through the CASCADE journey and focuses on:
youth leadership;civic education;economic empowerment;poultry enterprise;nutrition-sensitive livelihoods; andyouth-led agribusiness.
The current project model targets 30 direct beneficiaries, approximately 85% young women and at-risk young mothers, with more than 300 indirect beneficiaries through mentorship, demonstrations and community outreach.
Through the CASCADE journey, Jamii Ajibika has engaged communities around:
maternal nutrition;child feeding;dietary diversity;household food security;nutrition rights;community nutrition dialogue; andparticipation in nutrition and food-security policy processes.
WHAT THE COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE SEEKS TO DO