by Harold Ayodo

Maseno University students have won an international award for their efforts to economically empower the community around them.

The 15 students recently won a trophy, certificates and medals after reaching the semi-finals of the Students in Free Enterprises competition in Germany.

Their winning poultry rearing project dubbed kukuprenuer was among 46 other entries from by universities from around the world.

They made it to the last 16 after presenting their community outreach project to a panel of renowned business leaders.

MU-SIFE member Christiano Kwena says the competition was challenging.

"That we reached the semi-finals and beat students from the West and Far East means there is a lot of potential in Kenya," says Kwena.

On their way to the global stage, in a journey that took two years, Maseno beat entries from 13 local public and private universities to win the SIFE Kenya National Business Competition.

Others who participated in the competition include the University of Nairobi, United States International University – Africa and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture. Kenyatta, Moi, Egerton, Masinde Muliro, and Technology, Strathmore, St Paul’s, Catholic, Daystar and Kabarak universities also competed.

We were evaluated regularly to see whether our projects were making a difference in the communities where they were being implemented," says Alice Murage, an International Relations student.

The university SIFE president Stephen Lukaye says they felt compelled to find local solutions to change the lives of struggling.

"We developed ideas that could alleviate poverty," he says.

The students spent time out of lecture halls moving from one homestead training farmes market their produce.

This followed a survey, which revealed that failure to reach the market fans poverty in the area.

"We met women who moulded clay pots and reared chicken but did not access buyers," she says
Murage. She says most rural women do not consider farming a business.

"When we started some of the homes we were working with relied on a meal a day two but now the have surplus to sell."

"We thought it would require colossal amounts of money to achieve our feat before our patronProf Stephen Agong told us all we needed was brains," Lukaye says.

They were judged on six pillars: entrepreneurship, success skills and business ethics, market economics, environmental and team sustainability.

SIFE Kenya chapter has expanded from five universities in 2003 to 14 this year, with Maseno University being the youngest member.