Highlighting Changemakers: Collins Manyasi

Briefly introduce yourself

I am Collins Manyasi, a young Kenyan researcher with a passion for rural community empowerment for sustainable development; interests in climate change, natural resources management and research/ indigenous knowledge. Founder of Rural-Urban Network for Sustainable Development (RuND-KENYA); a non-profit network entity with a simple goal to facilitate bottom-up process of rural-urban collaboration and provide a platform to bring key rural and urban stakeholders together to achieve SDGs. I am also serving (volunteer) as a Global Schools Advocate (Global Schools Program-SDSN) empowering schools and teachers in my community to educate learners on SDGs.

Celebrating with indigenous women- Girls empowerment program by NASARU WOMEN

Why did you choose to become a community activist?

Coming from a rural setup, I felt the mismatch between development policies and the reality on the ground. While in college, I happened to visit a rural setup in Baragoi-Kenya. I was touched by what I saw; rural women struggling to get water, children missing schools because of poverty. What I experienced changed my focus and steered my passion to empower rural communities and champion for their rights. Despite the many policies we have, I also realized policy integration between the national government and local rural development was weak. There needed to be a voice, and I wanted to be part of this voice from the rural community.

Engaging children on learning and environment conservation

What kind of community work are you involved in?

I support research related to indigenous knowledge and rural community development on areas such as: climate change, natural resources management, literacy, smart agriculture/farming for rural women, renewable energy technologies, digital skills for rural youth and mentorship programs to enhance literacy levels for girls.

Currently I serve as Strategic Program Coordinator (Climate Change Adaptation Program-Adaptation Fund)  at NASARU WOMEN, a vibrant women-led CBO  working with indigenous communities in Kajiado, Kenya.

What inspires your work?

Lives being changed for better is what inspires me. Seeing indigenous women adopt sustainable farming practices, women taking lead to champion for indigenous knowledge and becoming agents of change, girls rising up against FGM and youth taking lead to be part of national dialogues on development matters.

NASARU WOMEN-Joining forces to combat desertification 

Are there some success stories that you can share from your work?

A wonderful experience working at NASARU WOMEN- there have been strengthened rural partnerships among women groups and knowledge sharing. An example is a women’s group in Oloodokilani - Kajiado West. A small group of women have come up with an entrepreneurial, resilient and cooperative attitude for local development.  They make beads for sale and link up to practise smart kitchen gardens and use the proceeds to educate their children and support households.

Any key lessons that you’ve learnt throughout your community work?

If we can tap indigenous knowledge and strengthen rural-urban linkages, the rural community have all it takes to actively participate in development at a broader level. We have to invest in education, skills and life-long learning to support community work.

Distributing pads to girls after a mentorship program - strong voices from girls project by NASARU WOMEN. 

What are the main challenges that you encounter?

Inequality, human rights dilemma and limited access to safety nets for community groups.

How can other youth interested in being active in their communities start?

Youths must rise and move in the right direction. The opposite direction, which many presume to be in the rural, is actually a huge platform to make a global impact.  They should make connections, put their skills into use and consider volunteering as a starting point. Just give back with what you have, start small. Small steps have big impact.  They should identify unique opportunities available and offer to find solutions while working together with rural and local groups.

Knowledge exchange and sharing on FGM and girls for
 educate the girl program by Nasaru Women 

What do you think is the most important SDG and why?

SDG 13- Climate Action. I think climate change calls for everyone’s attention; if we don’t address it, then even the most pressing needs of poverty, hunger, health, and education cannot be addressed. Yes, we need good health, quality education, decent work; but how can we comfortably effect these changes in an environment that threatens the very existence of the people we want to help. Every county wants to improve agricultural output but how do rural farmers diversify and adopt unless we tackle climate change.

With NASARU Founder-Director (Juliana Rono) during a tree-planting  event in one of the local schools - World Environmental Day.

Any final remarks?

We need to speak about the policy barriers that hinder rural local development initiatives with one voice. With sustainable rural-urban linkages, we can facilitate networking and alliance-building to ensure local communities play an active role in participatory development processes.