Progress report for
Launching the Go Blue Kenya programme
Achievement at a glance
The programme is implemented through 5 contribution agreements led my Member States agencies (GIZ, Camoes, AICS, and Expertise France), UN Habitat and UNEP (2020 - November 2024). GIZ, AICS and Expertise France concluded their activities in November 2024 and are preparing their reports. CAMOES and UN Habitat plus UNEP are still implementing their activities until June and March 2025 respectively. The EU will launch a post evaluation in the 1st quarter of 2025 to capture all the achievements realised by the programme.The programme was very well received by the government and local authorities, as it operated in a rather new economic sector. Since it also operated shortly after the pandemic, many stakeholders perceived it as an immediate COVID relief programme. The results set out in the programme description were obtained, but many will rely on the maintenance by the local government and dedication of funds to ensure sufficient follow-up.
Expertise France worked on maritime security and safety and operated largely at national level.
This part of the programme directly reinforced the search and rescue operations performed by local stakeholders. Beside policy work, it also delivered 5 high-quality search and rescue boats which have been currently embedded into the operational structure of the Kenya Maritime Authority, both in terms of assets as well as budgeted for maintenance and insurance. The Kenyan authorities (Coast Guard and Kenya Navy) organised a joint exercise with operation ATALANTA which was a first of its kind in Kenya. This was one of the highlights of the programme which embedded capacities from other EU sources. In addition, an app (USALAMA Baharini app) was developed. It captures incidents at sea and enhances search and rescue operations to save lives and contribute to maritime security.
Challenges faced in implementation
The programme faced several changes, which were driven by national elections halfway through implementation (2022) as well as the post-COVID recovery.Similarly, with a new Kenyan administration which came in late 2022, some of the agreed deliverables had to be reconsidered to ensure political buy in.
A recurrent challenge is linked to the title deeds for the agreed demonstration projects which needed to be confirmed and ensured by local authorities. Without these commitments, some projects had to be reallocated to ensure that sufficient ownership will remain with the programme.
Next Steps
Benedicte CaremierBeneficiaries
1: Skills Development and Matching: enhanced youth employability by equipping job seekers with practical skills aligned with the blue economy's demands. This component focused on strengthening the resilience and capacity of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector to ensure that young people gained relevant "blue skills," making them valuable assets in emerging blue economy sectors.
2. Aquaculture Value Chain Development: aimed to develop the aquaculture sector, fostering sustainable practices and value chain efficiency. By addressing bottlenecks in
production and promoting innovation within aquaculture, the programme supported environmentally sustainable growth in aquaculture, creating new income opportunities and boosting food security.
3. Support for Micro-, Small-, and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Recognising the MSMEs' critical role in driving coastal economic growth, this component provided targeted
support to enhance competitiveness as suppliers, service providers in blue economy value chains. The programme placed 2,964 people in jobs (1217, 41% women; 2525, 85% youth). Through the skills development/matching component, 4,453 people improved their employment situation in at least one of the categories: increased income by 10%, secured jobs (through upskilling) or improved working conditions. The target for improved employment situation was 3,000.
2,138 MSMEs, including fish farmers, were upskilled. 300 businesses expected to enhance their business capacities in one of the following categories: 10 % turnover increase, 10% staff increase or gained access to a value chain during implementation. Target achieved by February 2023 with over 2,253 businesses with enhanced business capacities.
Hence, in total the project reached over 6,000 beneficiaries.
Collaboration with 9 partner Vocational Training Centres (VTC) in the six target counties, including establishment of 6 Blue Economy TVET Centres of Excellence (CoEs), one in each of the 6 target countries, each specialised in at least one of the pre-selected blue economy value chains. The project has developed and validated 6
modularised Competency Based Education and training (CBET) curricula in the pre-selected blue economy value chains, including transferable skills training modules integrated in the training context. MSME labs have been integrated in the 6 CoEs to provide incubation and enterprise development services to enterprises in the blue economy. All partner VTCs have improved in quality, standards and infrastructure through receiving comprehensive capacity building and equipment like the Management Information System (MIS for data collection), a computer lab, an e-learning platform for digital TVE.
119 Beach Management Unit members across the 6 coastal counties received capacity building on outboard engine service, maintenance and entrepreneurship training.
Capacity building of 51 TVET institutions and of 156 Instructors and 57 VTC managers through Training of Trainers.
Development and validation of an advanced aquaculture TVET curriculum.
Digitalization of the CBET curricula and uploading on customized learning platforms in CoEs.
Aquaculture value chain developed by establishing 4 Tilapia fish nurseries and milkfish hatcheries as well as crab fattening station and aquaponic demonstration farm. The project addressed bottlenecks in accessing funding through a partnership with the Stanbic Bank Foundation to provide digital and financial literacy training, market linkages for MSMEs in the blue economy and zero interest loans: https://goblue.co.ke/.