Lake Region Economic Bloc

LREB and UN-FAO Convene in Kisumu, Kenya for a Progress Review for the TUNZA Project

The County Executive Committee Members for Agriculture in the LREB counties and the leadership of the UN- FAO Kenya chapter held the first Caucus Meeting for the Tunza Project on Tuesday 19th May 2026 in Kisumu, Acacia premier hotel.

The meeting deliberated on the project milestones, its governance structure and the work plan.

The Project, funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Government of Kenya, the Danish Government and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, seeks to transform six agricultural value chains towards low-carbon, climate-resilient pathways through locally led approaches.

Having gone through a successful inception phase and having had the first Project Steering Committee Meeting on 18th March 2026 at the Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel, Nairobi, this Caucus was convened for the County Leadership, the LREB Secretariat and the UN-FAO representatives to review and identify ways to effectively plan, implement, monitor, evaluate and report on the project progress.

The team resolved to improve communication of project progress, convening regional events for sharing knowledge and lessons learned and decentralizing work planning process to the county levels.

During the discussion, they highlighted the need to support institutions implementing, coordinating and monitoring the project.

In attendance were LREB CEO, Dr. Victor Nyagaya, Country Deputy Representative for FAO-Kenya, Williams Hamisi, Agriculture Chair Pillar ,Dr Symplisius Mukok, Agriculture CECMs from LREB, LREB Secretariat and FAO-Kenya representatives.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
The County Government of Bomet
County Government of Nyamira
County Government of Vihiga
County Government of Kakamega
Kericho County Government

H. E. Prof. Hillary Barchok, Governor of Bomet County undertook a team led by Dr. Victor Nyagaya, CEO, Lake Region Economic Bloc from 15th-16th May 2026 in Bomet.

Accompanying the CEO were Dr. Senorita Issac, the Founder of the Human Achiever Foundation and Mr Swallendra Jain of Impactech Solutions UAE .

The delegates discussed areas of collaboration to leverage satellite-based technology hosted by Impactech Solutions, which monitors and relay realtime report on climate parameters.

This is useful for monitoring abiotic parameters such as humidity, temperature, and pH, among others. Farmers can monitor these changes and make decisions on the needed farm inputs and the timeliness of crop planting and management.

The team site visits to some of the health facilities to assess the situation and identify more ways of collaboration in matters of human health as well.

In his remarks, the Governor observed that Bomet County, like any other LREB county, faces climate-related health hazards. He noted that Bomet will greatly benefit from structured strategies that the collaboration seeks to address on the climate-related hazards from human and environmental health spheres.

He also welcomed the opportunity to leverage on the partnerships which also proposes to in addition explore collaboration in clean-energy technologies at the household level, floodlight installations, health improvement, among others.

The LREB CEO on behalf of the team thanked the Governor for the warm reception . He acknowledged that Bomet County is in charge of the Climate Change Pillar in the bloc under the leadership of
H E Prof Hillary Barchok .

He reiterated that the collaboration's with the investors end goal is to improve access to climate information services, enhance adoption of satellite technologies in farming to enhance agricultural productivity and enhance climate-friendly technologies in the energy sector to promote human and environmental health in the LREB.
The County Government of Bomet
County Government of Nyamira
County Government of Kakamega
County Government of Vihiga
Kericho County Government
Migori County Government
County Government of Homa Bay-Department of Health Services
Photo Courtesy

Bomet County Holds Two Day Multisectoral Review Meeting on Early Childhood Development

Lake Region Economic Bloc(LREB) in partnership with KMET held a two day MST review meeting to strengthen coordination and planning for the implementation of the Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development (NCfECD) framework at Sierra Springs Hotel, Bomet

It brought together representatives from county departments to assess progress made in coordinated action on nurturing care, clarify departmental roles, and review the county work plan on NCfECD.

The meeting focused on evaluating achievements made during the previous quarter and laying strategies for the next phase of implementation.

Education Pillar lead, Easter Okello, emphasized on the importance of ensuring the core components of nurturing care for early childhood development are fully integrated across all relevant county departments.

Setting the stage for a budget mapping exercise scheduled for the current and next quarter, with a particular focus on ensuring that ECD interventions are adequately reflected in county planning and budgetary processes.

Technical representatives drawn from various departments including: Water, Environment and Climate, Health, Nutrition, Education, Monitoring and Evaluation, Communication, Trade, Agriculture, Lands, Roads, Physical Planning, and Gender participated in the meeting.

Strengthening Data-Driven Health Across the Lake Region

The Lake Region Economic Bloc in partnership with Afyanalytics on Friday, 20th February 2026, convened a co-creation workshop at Acacia Hotel, Kisumu County, bringing together Health Department technical leads from all 14 member counties. The engagement marks a significant step in strengthening data driven health systems across the region.

In his opening remarks, the CEO of LREB Dr. Victor Nyagaya, encouraged counties to fully embrace the program as a pathway to informed, evidence-based decision making. He emphasized that stronger use of data will enhance service delivery, promote cross county learning, and support early detection, prevention and prediction of disease outbreaks.

Afyanalytics CEO Mr. Ernest Jura reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to supporting counties in analyzing and interpreting health data to better understand trends and system performance.

He expressed appreciation for the opportunity to collaborate with the region, noting that the counties already possess strong local expertise that can be strengthened through strategic partnerships.

During the workshop, participants reviewed the overview of the LAP , examined county level situational analyses to identify data gaps, and shared county presentations.

Technical sessions focused on data pipelines, dashboard demonstrations, and mapping the data acquisition journey from health facilities to the analyst level. The teams also developed a pilot framework outlining roles and responsibilities, timelines, milestones, and the operational structure required for implementation.

This initiative forms part of a pilot program set to run over the next three months. The pilot will be implemented in at least 10 percent of health facilities in each county and will utilize historical baseline data to guide analysis, track improvements, and inform targeted interventions.

Through this collaboration, LREB and Afyanalytics are laying the foundation for a more responsive, data informed and resilient health system across the Lake Region.

LREB and Strathmore University Hold Validation Meeting on Model Childcare Policy.

Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB) in partnership with Strathmore University, convened a two-day validation meeting to deliberate on a proposed Model Childcare Policy for the region at Acacia Premier Hotel, Kisumu from 12th to 13th February 2026.

The meeting brought together stakeholders and partners from various LREB member counties to review research findings, validate data accuracy and integrate stakeholder perspectives ahead of drafting the Model Childcare Policy.

Representing Strathmore University, Mr. Allan Mukuki presented the key findings from the research. He guided stakeholders through a comprehensive review of the findings, discussions on identified gaps, emerging priorities and existing good practices within the region.

The Strathmore research team conducted an extensive desktop review of childcare systems across the 14 LREB counties.

The review examined the legal and policy landscape, county-level childcare practices and institutional frameworks shaping childcare provision for children aged 0–3 years.

LREB secretariat assured stakeholders of its continued support, highlighting its mandate to coordinate activities across the counties and emphasizing the importance of harmonized policy frameworks to strengthen child care systems for young children across the region.

The next phase will involve a second validation meeting with County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) to agree on and further refine a clear roadmap for drafting and adopting the Model Childcare Policy and establishing a regional childcare framework for LREB member counties.

Partners present included;Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST), Kisumu Medical and Education Trust KMET, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Uthabiti Africa, Investing in Children and Societies (ICS), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Kidogo Early Years, EIDU, Coalition of Violence Against Women (COVAW) and PATH.

LREB Convenes ECD Partners to Strengthen Early Childhood Development

Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB), with support from KMET, convened a quarterly Early Childhood Development (ECD) Partners Cluster Meeting at Sarova Imperial Hotel, Kisumu, on Wednesday, 11th February 2026.

The meeting brought together stakeholders implementing the Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development (NCfECD) framework to assess progress, strengthen coordination, and identify areas of alignment moving forward.

The Pillar Lead for Education, Easter Okello, emphasized the need for all Implementing Partners within LREB to utilize the LREB Secretariat as a lever to support coordination of interventions in the ECD space.

The objectives of the cluster meeting included:
The current areas of intervention and the scope/impact created so far since the inception of the project.
Key activities planned for 2026 aligned to ECD implementation.
Opportunities for synergy and collaboration with the LREB Secretariat in supporting Multi-Sectoral Team (MST) coordination, strengthening systems, and advancing the counties’ policy reform agenda.

Discussions focused on understanding the current status of partner interventions and exploring points of convergence to enhance collaboration.

The LREB Secretariat reviewed strategies aimed at improving outcomes for children across the region and identified areas where efforts can be better integrated for more impactful ECD programming.

Partners presented updates on milestones achieved since their engagement in the initiative and explored opportunities to leverage shared resources to scale impact.

A key highlight of the meeting was the call for a strategic shift toward outcome-based programming. Stakeholders emphasized the need to document impact, measure tangible child development outcomes, and develop shared tracking tools to effectively monitor progress.

Partners present included:
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST)
ChildFund Kenya
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Lwala Community Alliance
Uthabiti Africa
Investing in Children and Societies (ICS)
Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
Kidogo Early Years
EIDU
Coalition of Violence Against Women (COVAW)
PATH

The Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB) and Afyanalitics jointly collaborate to advance data-driven healthcare across its 14 member counties .

At a meeting held on Thursday, 8th January 2026 at Acacia Hotel in Kisumu. Deliberations
explored collaboration frameworks to strengthen health intelligence, service coordination and evidence-based planning.

Dr Victor Nyagaya, LREB Chief Executive Officer reiterated the relevance of health data in driving targeted evidence based interventions not only in healthcare, but also in other sectors.

LREB secretariat also gave highlights on its mandate, highlighting opportunities for regional coordination through shared data systems.

Afyanalitics CEO, Mr Ernest Jura detailed the firm’s role in providing secure analytics infrastructure, regional dashboards, data literacy training and actionable insights for counties.

The discussions emphasized strong data protection and sovereignty principles, ensuring county ownership, de-identified datasets and approved use of shared data.

The partnership is expected to harmonize data governance, enhance regional planning, improve service coordination and attract better-targeted investments.

The meeting concluded with agreement to formalize the collaboration through a Memorandum of Understanding to be signed in January 2026 and have way for a joint programme of work and related activities.

Other members from Afyanilitics included Advisory board, Iain Aitken, CSO, Curt Luird, Advocate, Janet Sang and Dr Priya Shah.