Ford Foundation Has Been Working in Eastern Africa for Nearly 50 Years
Our longstanding commitment to improving lives in the region has evolved in response to changes in the political, economic and cultural landscape
27 July 2007 — For nearly 50 years, the Ford Foundation in Eastern Africa has been partnering with local organizations to improve lives, strengthen communities and address some of the most pressing issues in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Since 1962, the foundation has been working in Eastern Africa where our grant making played a key role in developing the civil service and higher education sectors in Kenya and Tanzania. Over the years, our longstanding commitment to improving lives in the region has evolved in response to changes in the political, economic and cultural landscape.
Today, Ford grantees in Eastern Africa are working to secure the safety and well-being of citizens; provide quality education; expand democratization and civic participation; strengthen institutions and the capacity of local philanthropies and nonprofits; advance creativity and freedom of expression; and build new partnerships for peace and social justice.
Opportunities Outweigh Challenges
Eastern Africa is one of the most diverse and multicultural regions in the world. Nearly 100 million people reside in the region where rich natural habitats and modern cities contrast with impoverished communities where residents are struggling to transform profound social and economic disadvantage into a worthwhile future.
"In response to these realities, we are supporting work that extends beyond geographic boundaries and encourages a synergistic approach to finding solutions," said Tade Aina, the Ford Foundation?s representative in Eastern Africa. "Challenges persist, but promising daily interactions with our partners, and more importantly the people of the region, keep us focused."
With Ford support, scientists and conservation researchers at the Shompole Group Ranch in the Kenyan South Rift Valley are collaborating with rural pastoralists, government officials and corporate law experts to address legal issues confronting marginalized communities. In Nairobi, human rights work is being pursued through the performing arts with the help of foundation grants. In another project, traditional healers in the Mpigi District in Uganda are working with doctors and other formally trained health service officials to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and address the medical and policy needs of communities with limited access conventional health services.
Fresh perspectives are emerging from these innovative approaches which provide just a few examples of the creative teamwork shaping the foundation?s initiatives in Eastern Africa. As these efforts continue to evolve, expanding individual opportunities and improving the well-being of communities in the region remains our priority.
Grant Making in Eastern Africa
The Ford Foundation office for Eastern Africa is located in Nairobi, Kenya. Since its inception the Eastern Africa office has provided nearly $255.7 million to hundreds of innovative organizations. Over the last 10 years, our grant making in the region has averaged approximately $15 million per year.
Key Ford Foundation grantees in the region include:
African Conservation Centre (ACC)
The Ford Foundation has supported the African Conservation Centre's mission to connect science, people and conservation for more than a decade. A new $200,000 grant is funding its efforts to build the technical and institutional capacities of communities for the conservation and management of wildlife and natural resources in the Kenyan South Rift Valley. The grant is also building the Nairobi-based ACC's capacity to consolidate and scale-up successful community development initiatives in the Eastern Africa region.
Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
For the past 15 years, the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has provided intellectual and moral leadership for the human rights movement in Kenya. KHRC focuses on human rights advocacy, scholarship, networking, public debate and the establishment of new institutions working in the areas of economic and social rights. A $300,000 grant is supporting new strategies for promoting human rights in the context of a system of multi-party electoral politics that still operates with a hollow notion of democracy.
Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF)
The Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF), a grant making public foundation, supports communities and other nonprofit entities in their efforts to raise endowment funds for the development and promotion of social justice. Based in Nairobi, KCDF makes innovative grants to community-based and nongovernmental organizations working with communities to address the challenges of poverty and to take charge of their own development. A six-year, $3 million grant is strengthening local philanthropies whose efforts are focused on asset building, poverty reduction and social justice.
PROMETRA Uganda (Promotion of Traditional Medicine)
PROMETRA is an international nongovernmental organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of African traditional medicine and indigenous sciences in an effort to improve health through mutual cooperation among health systems. It is headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, and has 22 chapters throughout Africa. A $250,000 grant is expanding its innovative training program to include more than 500 traditional healers and herbalists and helping to establish a treatment center where biomedical practitioners will collaborate with traditional healers.
Makerere University
Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, is one of the largest institutions of higher education in Eastern and Central Africa. It has 30,000 students and over the years has provided a quality education to the future leaders of the most important sectors of society and government in the region. Recent grants totaling nearly $500,000 have supported the faculty of law?s scholarly activities exploring gender, sexuality and the law in Uganda; the Makerere Institute of Social Research?s efforts to improve primary education by institutionalizing the mastery of English literacy; and developing a comprehensive Research, Policy Reform and Advocacy Program in the area of economic, social and cultural rights in Uganda.
Performing and Visual Arts Centre Limited (PVAC)
Commonly referred to as GoDown Arts Centre, this large remodeled warehouse is home to five arts organizations, visual arts and recording studios, rehearsal facilities and a public-access performance space. Located in Nairobi, it is one of the largest multi-disciplinary arts venues in the region and has raised the public profile of contemporary culture. A new $450,000 grant is supporting public programming, physical infrastructure and ongoing operations.
To learn more about our work in the region, read the Ford Foundation in Eastern Africa brochure.
Photo credits:
Vanessa Vick