Building a supportive environment for cooperatives in Kenya through public policy making process training: CLEAR Program Learning Brief

The USAID Cooperatives Leadership Engagement, Advocacy and Research (CLEAR) program is implemented by Global Communities in Kenya to strengthen the cooperative business ecosystem. One of CLEAR’s three objectives is to improve the cooperative business-enabling environments through regulatory reform. To achieve this objective CLEAR has developed and implemented the Public Policy Making Process (PPMP), an executive level course for county governments and cooperative sector stakeholders.

This learning brief shares lessons learned generated from CLEAR’s capacity strengthening approach that aims to influence policy and legislative reforms to promote the growth and development of the cooperatives sector in Kenya. It highlights CLEAR’s collaboration with county governments to support them to better understand the cooperative policy environment and equip them with skills in policy agenda setting, formulation, and implementation. CLEAR established a training curriculum to strengthen counties’ capacity to produce robust policy frameworks critical for supporting the economic development of cooperatives in Kenya. The course was developed in partnership with Strathmore University Business School (SBS). This learning brief showcases data and lessons learned gathered through a county baseline survey, training needs assessments and evaluations conducted.