Creating shared value in the livestock sector (CASHA)

Creating Shared Value in the Livestock Sector with Young People in Kenya's ASALs (CASHA) aims to create climate-smart, resilient work opportunities through entrepreneurship across the poultry, livestock, fodder, and alternative value chains, with a specific focus on financially disadvantaged young women, displaced persons, and persons with disabilities. The project is being implemented in 15 arid and semi-arid land (ASAL) counties of Kenya, grouped into four clusters, over a five-year duration (2025-2030).

CASHA is funded by the Mastercard Foundation and led by a consortium of partners, including the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), SNV, KLMC, BOMA, ILRI, and E4Impact.

The CASHA programme addresses the chronic food and nutrition insecurity in Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). While these regions are the engine of the national livestock economy, they face systemic barriers that hinder sustainable growth and climate resilience.

The ASALs cover nearly 80% of Kenya’s landmass and support 70% of the national livestock herd. However, this vital sector is under constant threat: climate-induced shocks such as recurrent droughts and flash floods undermine livelihoods, exposing households to devastating socio-economic losses. Weak resilience mechanisms limited social protection systems, and chronic underinvestment has left the ASALs with the lowest development indicators.  

Inequalities deepen these vulnerabilities. Women, particularly adolescent girls, women with disabilities, refugees, and those from low socio-economic backgrounds, face multiple deprivations, with 65% living in poverty compared to 56% of men. Youth unemployment is equally stark—64% of unemployed Kenyans are young people, with 40% of them in the ASALs. In CASHA’s target clusters, 36% of young women and men are unemployed, despite over one million school leavers entering the labour market nationally each year.

Turning challenges into opportunities

The livestock sector—valued at $1.05 billion and growing at 3–5% annually—offers opportunities but is constrained by a 33 million metric ton deficit in fodder. This gap affects 1.8 million smallholders who lack access to affordable, quality feed, reducing productivity and heightening resource-based conflicts. Despite government and NGO interventions, pastoral livelihoods remain fragile.

The CASHA project recognizes that by solving the fodder gap and providing climate-smart entrepreneurship training, we can transform these challenges into a resilient livestock economy led by youth and women.

To tackle the systemic barriers in Kenya’s ASALs, the CASHA programme utilizes a market-led, systems-based intervention. By integrating climate resilience, gender-inclusive finance, and policy advocacy, we are building a sustainable foundation for pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities.

SNV leverages its global expertise in youth employment and inclusive market systems to lead the development of poultry and alternative value chains. Our strategy focuses on four key pillars:

Youth entrepreneurship and vocational skills training

On skills development and entrepreneurship, SNV will strengthen the capacity of TVETs, polytechnics, Village-Based Advisers (VBAs), and community-based organisations to deliver demand-driven, gender-responsive training. Youth and women-led enterprises will receive incubation, mentorship, start-up kits, and business development support to enhance self-employment and job creation.

Inclusive market systems development

In market systems development, SNV will apply its inclusive value chain approach to create market access pathways for poultry and alternative products. This includes supporting aggregation models, digital platforms, contract farming, and guaranteed market systems that enhance linkages between producers and private sector actors.

Financial inclusion and youth finance models

For financial inclusion, CASHA will strengthen Village Savings and Loan Associations and link them to formal financial institutions while working with partners like E4Impact to implement challenge funds. SNV’s youth finance models will expand opportunities for young men and women to invest in enterprises along the poultry and alternative value chains.  

Climate resilience and GESI integration

Cross-cutting interventions will integrate GESI and climate resilience, ensuring women’s leadership, addressing social norms, and promoting regenerative practices, digital weather services, and insurance schemes. Finally, through policy engagement, CASHA will enhance county-level institutional capacity, advocate for inclusive adaptation strategies, and embed sustainability and scalability into interventions, ensuring long-term transformative impact.

The CASHA programme is committed to delivering measurable, transformative change across Kenya’s livestock sector. Our primary goal is to foster dignified and fulfilling work for marginalized groups through climate-smart entrepreneurship.

Key employment and participation targets

By 2030, the project aims to reach 300,000 young people and create sustainable economic pathways in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs).

• Total reach: 300,000 young people engaged.

• Job creation: 200,000 dignified and fulfilling work opportunities.

• Gender focus: 70% of all work opportunities for young women.

• Inclusion of vulnerable groups: 10% of opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and 10% for IDPs and Refugees.

Value chain inclusivity goals

We prioritize women’s leadership across specific agricultural value chains to ensure equitable wealth distribution:

• Small livestock: 100% women participation targeted for poultry, goats, beekeeping, vegetables, and grains.

• Large ruminants and feed production: Up to 70% women's participation in animal feed and large livestock sectors.

• The CASHA Challenge Fund: 90% of participants and recipients will be young women entrepreneurs.

Why these outcomes matter

By focusing on a 90% female participation rate in our challenge funds and integrating refugees and IDPs, CASHA aims to go beyond just growing the economy and towards closing the inequality gap in Kenya's most climate-vulnerable regions.