Rehabilitation of rural roads to open up agricultural areas

Road rehabilitation is among the Kenyan Government’s priorities. Roads are considered an important factor of economic development: they facilitate the mobility of goods and people to markets and access to basic services. The rural road project is implemented by the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA). It includes six counties in central Kenya, an area with high agricultural potential.

The goal is to rehabilitate 674 km of tracks and 152 km of roads (following the technique of “low volume sealing,” LVS), which will extend durability because of this new technology in Kenya developed by the company Colas. The project plans to mobilize local resources and labour-intensive technologies, thus creating jobs, with 30% female participation rate. It also includes a training component for consultants and local businesses provided by the Kenya Institute of Management (KIM) and Kisii Training Centre (KTC).

The impact for the 3 million inhabitants concerned includes: better access of agricultural products (tea, coffee, vegetables) to the markets, and consequently an improved quality of life of the region’s farmers, an improved access to schools and medical centres and job creation with the training of 150 local companies in labour intensive techniques. The successes recorded in phases 1 and 2 led the government to request AFD for a third phase (in progress).