From seeds to responsible scaling: Kimatwa women SACCO’s climate-smart agriculture journey in Makindu, Makueni County

This field guide documents the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) journey of Kimatwa Women SACCO in Makindu, Makueni County, under the AICCRA initiative. It highlights how a women-led cooperative has successfully transitioned CSA from training to sustained farmer-led adoption, improving resilience, food security, and incomes in a semi-arid environment. Through a participatory “mother-baby” demonstration model, farmers test, adapt, and scale integrated practices—including water and soil management, improved seed varieties, climate information services, and mechanization. The SACCO structure enables access to finance, inputs, and knowledge, fostering collective action and local ownership. The case demonstrates that CSA scaling is most effective when bundled with institutional support, climate information, and inclusive leadership, resulting in a self-sustaining system that continues beyond external project support