Growing a Small Business in Kenya

By Shae Davidson

Evarline moved to Mukuru–a community that grew up around the factories on the southern edge of Nairobi–in 2015. She collected scrap metal and took odd jobs to make ends meet, but found herself struggling to support herself and her two children.

Evarline found financial stability and a new mission in life when she met Alice Wanjiru in 2023. As an agricultural officer at the Ruben Centre, Alice worked to promote urban farming as a way of combating malnutrition and nurturing sustainability. Alice helped Evarline create a garden using recycled barrels. Her horticultural skills quickly turned Evarline’s garden into a reliable source of income.

The Ruben Centre embraces the idea that presence, compassion, and liberation are intimately intertwined in community development and the process of uplifting families. From its first efforts to build classrooms in 1986 to its current range of programs that serve 4,000 people each day, the nonprofit works to empower residents to build a stronger community.

As Evarline’s skills continued to grow, she reached out to help others. She became part of a table banking group, helping mothers share resources to pay their children’s school fees and cover household expenses. Evarline also taught families in her upcountry home how to build and maintain barrel gardens, sharing the skills she has learned well beyond the home she has built for herself and her children in Mukuru.

BGR Board member Shae Davidson completed a Ph.D. in U.S. History at Ohio University, with research exploring the importance of inclusive community partnerships in building food systems. His past experience includes serving as a museum director, a humanities instructor, and a researcher. Shae currently works at a nonprofit that supports survivors of gender-based violence.