Kenya Mobile Internet Access Initiative
The Project - Provide affordable internet-enabled devices and data plans for small-scale fishing communities in coastal regions of Kisumu and Mombasa, with purpose driven app suite.
Objective - Closing the “Usage Gap” for Small-scale Fishers in Kenya
The “Why”
While 96% of the global population currently has mobile broadband coverage, 39% of that global population is not yet using mobile internet, creating the "usage gap". A primary driver of that gap is the affordability of internet-enabled handsets and associated data plans.
Africa will be the home of 1 in 3 young people globally by 2050, making it a key global investment region for manufacturing and technical labor in the coming decades. Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from one of the highest usage gaps globally.
Kenya’s small-scale fishers are underperforming economically due to challenges from climate change, larger competitors, and lack of access to capital for investing in their business, making them a good target group for measuring the economic benefit of closing the usage gap in rural Africa, advancing SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 10 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.
Our Methodology
The project has been organized into two phases, beginning with an extensive research and stakeholder survey process, including the fishers and other community business partners and incorporating focus groups and validation workshops, and ending with development and monitoring of relevant metrics, so that the resulting economic impact can be assessed:
Additional project details, including detailed budget, schedule, sample report output, and research team profiles can be found in the overview here.
Our Ask from you…
Help us make real strides in battling the digital divide that limits the potential of these fishing communities, and creating a model that can be replicated in other smallholder agricultural communities across Sub-Saharan Africa, and beyond.
Your donation is critical to our success, and your generous gift will help us with the significant individual expenses below.
Building sustainable livelihoods by bridging the Digital Divide.
Derrick Odidi, Founder of Global Affairs Development Union, describes the project here.
Donations by check should be made payable to International Human Rights Consortium, with memo to Kenya Mobile Internet Access Initiative, and mailed to:
International Human Rights Consortium
3540 Clemmons Road, Suite 133
Clemmons, NC 27012