A Blueprint for Rights and Development in Kenya

A Blueprint for Rights and Development in Kenya

Written on 27 December 2025. Posted in News

BY JAMES TWALA FOR INDIGENOUS DEBATES

The Indigenous Navigator Initiative, together with Indigenous Livelihoods Enhancement Partners (ILEPA) has made significant progress in empowering communities in Narok, southern Kenya. The project seeks to systematically monitor the level of recognition and implementation of the Indigenous rights of Maasai pastoralists and Ogiek hunter-gatherers. The experiences, lessons learned and impacts of the initiative have been consolidated throughout the different stages. Community-led data collection and advocacy are undoubtedly the cornerstone of its success.

The Indigenous Navigator approach to data collection is unique. Unlike traditional research methods implemented by Western academia, which often extract information for the benefit of external actors, this project adopts a community-led participatory methodology. This ensures that the data are "by Indigenous Peoples and for Indigenous Peoples", generating a sense of ownership and respect for the survey process.

Many Indigenous communities have suffered from so-called "research fatigue", i.e., the feeling generated by external studies that extract information from the territories without leaving any tangible benefit behind. Instead, the Indigenous Navigator empowers communities, ensuring that their voices are heard and their needs prioritized in a way that respects their autonomy and their own development. Their worldview, priorities and needs are thus reflected in the surveys.

This article emphasizes the experiences and outcomes of conducting surveys through the Indigenous Navigator in Narok County, southern Kenya. It highlights how the process has resulted in advocacy actions, improved access to water and the construction and implementation of healthcare facilities, strengthening the Maasai and Ogiek peoples to defend their rights, define their development priorities and improve their economic and social well-being.

Data Collection and Empowerment

A key element of the Indigenous Navigator Initiative is its emphasis on community-led data collection. The Indigenous rights organizations that work closely with local communities play a key role in this process. One such organization is Indigenous Livelihoods Enhancement Partners (ILEPA), a non-profit, community-based non-governmental organization in Kenya that promotes human rights, social justice, environmental protection, climate change advocacy and grassroots development, with a special focus on supporting the Maasai community in Narok County.

The data collection process begins with the translation of the Indigenous Navigator-developed questionnaire into local languages by ILEPA, which ensures accessibility and understanding. The next step is to identify data collectors in consultation with the community. These individuals, drawn from within the community, are trained in the main points of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and in the proper administration of the survey.

Once the data is collected, it is presented in community assemblies for validation, ensuring that it reflects the needs and concerns of the population. This process encourages active participation and fosters a sense of ownership. The data collectors then review and comment on the information with the technical support of the ILEPA team. Quantitative data are then uploaded to the Indigenous Navigator online portal, while ILEPA conducts additional qualitative analyses in order to develop site-specific case studies. These findings are again shared with the community during assemblies, generating opportunities for feedback and discussion.

A Health Centre for Women in Labour

The initiative includes a small grants fund that enables participating communities to identify their most pressing issues based on the data collected and to design and implement their own solutions. The Keneti community was identified as most in need of support among the four that participated in the community survey process. With technical assistance from ILEPA, they developed a project to improve access to basic health services through the construction of a primary-level healthcare facility.

Through focus groups, key informant interviews and community discussions using the questionnaire, the different sectors of the population agreed that a lack of access to basic health services was the biggest problem facing them. They also agreed on the need to build a water reservoir in Enkutoto, to dredge the dam in Maji-moto for irrigation, to construct a maternity hospital in Maji-moto and another clinic in Ololoipang'i, and to document land claims in Maji-moto and Enkutoto.

From the data collected, it emerged that the nearest health facilities are located 10 to 12 kms outside of Keneti, which is further complicated by the poor state of the road infrastructure. Vulnerable groups such as women, people with disabilities and the elderly are disproportionately affected by this situation. In the absence of nearby health facilities, women in labour have to be transported by donkey, while disabled or elderly people are often unable to travel long distances.

These small grants are highly valuable because they are driven directly by Indigenous communities. The needs are identified from within, without external influence, ensuring that initiatives align with their most pressing concerns. Moreover, by involving the community in both data collection and project implementation, the initiative fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility, thus contributing to the sustainability of these actions.

Main Achievements and Positive Impacts

The Indigenous Navigator project has yielded a number of important achievements and positive impacts within the participating communities. These outcomes not only reflect the effectiveness of the initiative but also highlight the importance of community-driven development in improving the lives of Indigenous Peoples.

1. Availability of Indigenous data: the data revealed critical problems, such as the long distances (an average of 15 kms) that people must travel to access clinics, resulting in high maternal mortality rates. Water scarcity and sediment accumulation in the Maji-moto reservoir was also identified as a major challenge.

2. Improved access to health services: access to health care has improved significantly. The construction of a dispensary and maternity ward in Maji-moto and Ololoipang'i has reduced maternal deaths and improved healthcare services for mothers and children. The Maji-moto dispensary and maternity ward gained national attention when it was featured in the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation's Saving Mothers documentary. In addition, Narok County government assigned three health professionals to these clinics and pledged to ensure a continuous supply of basic medicines.

3. Land rights advocacy: the surveys revealed cases of illegal land allocations and land grabbing. These findings were cited in a landmark court ruling that secured the land rights of the Maji-moto community. The ruling has led to the recovery of public and community lands, to the benefit of both individual households and the wider community.

4. Food security: the rehabilitation of a reservoir in Maji-moto has significantly improved the food security of more than 500 agro-pastoral households, demonstrating the vital link between access to water and sustainable livelihoods.

5. Access to water: one of the most important projects has been the construction of a large reservoir in Enkutoto. This work has reduced the distance women have to travel to collect water from 15-20 kms to just 1-3 kms. The project has also helped reduce human-wildlife conflicts by ensuring a stable source of water for both.

6. Advocacy and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): the data collected has been referenced in Kenya CSOs' SDGs Forum Report and voluntary organizations' national reports. In 2020, ILEPA received the National SDGs Kenya Award for localizing these goals at the community level. In addition, the information has been used in advocacy efforts at both the local and national levels, influencing public policy decisions such as reducing water access distances in Narok County.

7. National recognition: ILEPA's work has received national recognition, including collaboration with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics to validate and incorporate community-generated data into official reports. Information from the Indigenous Navigator has also been cited in Kenya's Climate Action Plan and in REDD+ processes, highlighting its significance in shaping national development strategies. Internationally, ILEPA received the Equator Prize in 2024, in recognition of its efforts and interventions at the community level.

A Community-Driven Model for Sustainable Development

The long-term impact of the Indigenous Navigator Initiative is expected to be transformative for the communities involved. By empowering Indigenous Peoples to lead their own development, the project has laid the foundations for sustainable, rights-based progress. Communities are now better equipped to advocate for their needs and to monitor and influence policies at both the local and national levels.

For the Maji-moto community, the Indigenous Navigator has provided a model of sustainable, community-driven development. It has shown that when Indigenous Peoples have control over data collection and make their own decisions about their development, the outcomes are not only more relevant and effective but also more sustainable in the long term.

The experiences of the Maasai and Ogiek communities in Narok County offer a powerful example of how the Indigenous Navigator can serve both as a legal tool and as a catalyst for development: advancing land justice, as demonstrated by the Maji-moto court ruling on land rights; improving access to water, health and food security for Indigenous communities; influencing national policies on SDGs and climate action; and pushing for the recognition and use of Indigenous-generated data in official reporting.

As the Indigenous Navigator Initiative expands to 30 countries, Kenya's experience stands as a compelling model for rights-based monitoring. It demonstrates that when Indigenous communities lead the data generation process, the results are not only locally transformative but also globally scalable, offering hope for a future in which Indigenous Peoples' rights are respected and their development priorities are addressed.

James Twala belongs to the Maasai community and is Coordinator of the Indigenous Navigator Project at ILEPA.

Cover photo: ILEPA

Tags: Debates Indígenas