The UN has defined poverty as a state of lack of basic resources to enjoy a decent life. Kenya is a country of many contrasts, from its landscape to demographics, and more so it’s social and economic inequalities. Kenya is one of the most unequal countries in the sub-region. Access to basic quality services such as health care, education, clean water and sanitation, is often a luxury for many people. Large segments of the population, including the burgeoning urban poor, are highly vulnerable to climatic, economic and social shocks. As such, progress on the Millennium Development Goals, especially in regard to social security, is mixed. With high unemployment, the number of Kenyans living in poverty is rising. According to the UNICEF (2014), forty two percent of Kenya’s population of 44 million, live below the poverty line. Poverty is caused by a myriad of factors some of which are lack of education, epidemic diseases and environmental problems such as drought. In responding to the call to end extreme poverty, THS will engage in activities revolving around the fight against hunger, disease and ignorance using innovative, locally adapted mechanisms in a sustainable way.

Globally, one in nine people in the world today, while in Africa one in four are undernourished yet at least one third of all food produced worldwide is either lost or wasted each year. The vast majority of the world’s hungry people live in developing countries. Kenya is home to more than 44 million people, 80 percent of whom live in rural areas and rely almost entirely on seasonal rainfall to make their living from small-scale farming. According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey report (KDHS 2014), twenty-six percent of children under age 5 are stunted, 4 percent are wasted, and 11 percent are underweight. Nine percent of women age 15-49 are thin or undernourished. When the rains fail, crops fail— and people are left without a source of food or income. THS will strive to bridge this gap by stimulating the thinking of the local community to come up with locally adapted methods to combat hunger to ensure improved livelihoods for the locals by utilizing appropriate technologies, knowledge, skills and abilities. Broad based agricultural growth in developing countries like Kenya is a strong pre-requisite to attaining the targets of Goal 2 of the SDG as well as facilitating the attainment of other national targets as outlined in the country’s Medium-Term Plans III. The SDG Goal 2 focuses on addressing poor agricultural practices, food wastage and environment degradation to ensure no one goes hungry.

More than six million children still die before their fifth birthday each year and only half of women in developing regions receive the recommended amount of health care they need. Fewer teens are having children in most developing regions, but progress has slowed. When people are in good health, societies prosper. Kenya’s burden of disease has been mostly focused on communicable diseases. However, recent health trends show a large and fast increase in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as cancers and cardiovascular diseases. This is mainly attributed to life style changes of Kenyans. Over the years, there has been a significant progress in improving several health outcomes and utilization of health services in Kenya. The country’s Constitution offers its citizen the right to reproductive health care which includes right to access appropriate health care services. In rural areas, health services are provided by health centers and dispensing clinics, and because medicines are not available free, poor families often go without treatment when they are ill.

At the time of independence in 1963, the Government of Kenya identified ignorance (amongst disease, illiteracy and poverty) as the main problem to be addressed in post-independence era in order to achieve sustainable national development. The gap still exists to date. More than half of children that have not enrolled in school live in sub-Saharan Africa while 103 million youth worldwide lack basic literacy skills and more than 60 per cent of them are women. Access to education can help lift people out of poverty and provide better opportunities for everyone. Education remains the most critical component for economic development and social progression in any society. The Kenya Vision 2030 underscores the importance of education in ensuring relevant human and social capital for sustainable development in the country. The success of Kenya’s Vision 2030 and its economic progression is hinged on skill and quality of the country‘s manpower. The Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) sub-sector still experience a stunted growth but continues to produce the needed middle level human resource for the national economy. TVET in Kenya is delivered by both government and private providers, which include for-profit and non-profit, NGO and Church-based institutions. Traditionally bursaries support needy students who have excelled in national exams leaving out below average students who cannot support themselves.