As donor funding continues to dwindle, local organisations are increasingly turning to homegrown sustainability strategies to keep their programs running and impactful.
The shift reflects a move away from reliance on external aid toward community-driven approaches designed to ensure long-term survival.
Among the organisations leading this transformation is Anglican Development Services Western (ADS–W), which is implementing alternative models aimed at generating internal revenue while strengthening support for vulnerable communities across the region.
Addressing the media in Kakamega during the ADS Western community resource and training center thanksgiving, CEO Stephen Amusala said the organization plans to establish a community resource and training center in Isukha West Ward.
The center will provide sustainable training on diverse innovations aligned with ADS–W’s thematic areas and support income-generating projects to ensure organizational sustainability.
“We operate in Western counties where we intervene in areas such as food and nutrition, climate change and natural resource management, human rights, governance and peacebuilding, emergency response, and integrated health and social protection,” Amusala said.
He explained that the idea of the resource center was born from extensive consultations and discussions aimed at sustaining the impact of ADS–W’s projects after donor support ends.
“These interventions that we train at community level, we shall also have demonstrations and training. That is why we have decided to come up with a resource center,” he said.
On climate change mitigation, Amusala noted that the organization is helping the government achieve its target of planting 15 billion trees and equipping farmers with improved agricultural practices to increase yields across various value chains.
“As we do so, we make communities food secure and also increase their income, which allows families to educate their children and achieve overall prosperity,” he said.
The organization has also partnered with local communities and other groups to rehabilitate degraded areas in Kakamega Forest, where they have planted 50,000 trees to maintain the ecosystem.
Amusala acknowledged that ADS–W has historically relied heavily on donor funding, which is often short-term.
“Ordinarily, once donor funds are depleted, many projects either scale down or shut down completely,” he said.
However, with the resource center in place, training and capacity-building will continue beyond the donor period, ensuring that the knowledge and impact built with community members are sustained.
The center will also serve as an income-generating initiative. Currently, ADS–W engages in small-scale honey processing, but the new facility will scale up production.
“We have been processing honey, amaranth, and grains on a small scale. With this resource center, we plan to scale up agro-processing, which will contribute to our sustainability. In the future, even as donor funding shrinks, we will still be able to sustain our mission and impact the community,” he said.
