How Inua Kijiji is empowering women and protecting wildlife in Kenya

By supporting women-led enterprises, building practical skills, and working within existing community structures, the initiative is helping families increase their incomes, strengthen resilience, and create stronger foundations for conservation.

Since launching in 2018, Inua Kijiji has grown from a small pilot into a thriving network across both landscapes. The initiative began with just three women's groups, two in Loita and one in Amboseli, bringing together 248 women and indirectly supporting around 1,240 household members.

Seven years later, the project now supports eight women's groups in Amboseli involving about 1,200 women, and five groups in Loita involving around 600 women. In total, Inua Kijiji now reaches an estimated 9,000 beneficiaries across the two landscapes.

Amboseli and Loita are in southern Kenya, along the Kenya-Tanzania border, forming part of a wider transboundary ecosystem that includes Amboseli National Park and stretches towards Mount Kilimanjaro. These landscapes are vital wildlife corridors, allowing animals such as elephants, lions, giraffes, cheetahs, zebras, and wildebeest to move between protected areas and community lands. This connectivity helps maintain healthy wildlife populations while reducing human-wildlife conflict.