Johnson & Johnson Corporate Citizenship Trust

Through its Project Life Spring initiative, Johnson & Johnson Corporate Citizenship Trust (J&J CCT) initially aimed to reduce infection and death caused by diarrhea in Kenya by establishing a sustainable and scalable business model, focusing on education and awareness and providing affordable access to clean water through innovative water filtration products through community health entrepreneurs. J&J CCT adapted this initial concept following a scoping visit to Kenya, specifically aimed at pressure testing the concept on the ground. While the team confirmed the need for access to clean water, they also found that the implementation of a single solution would not work throughout Kenya, but rather specific areas and communities faced different water challenges. Further, they concluded that there was strong business opportunity in various water solutions.

The Clean Water Entrepreneurship Project

The project objective is to elaborate on the entrepreneurial opportunities for addressing the severe lack of access to water among many rural and semi-urban vulnerable people in Kenya.

Overview

Within the pilot area, availability of and access to water, clean or otherwise, is very limited and poses the most significant water-related challenge to the target population. As such, the first step in addressing water issues is to seek alternative and innovative solutions to broaden access to water.
The project will aim to:

• Develop and conduct a baseline survey to identify domestic water availability
• Engage relevant partners, including government ministries, health workers and water specialists
• Identify water sources
• Develop access-oriented solutions to water availability
• Identify HiH EA members for specialized training in business opportunities of water enterprises
• Capacitate selected HiH EA members to create sustainable, solution-based water enterprises
• Monitor the success of the water enterprises, both financially and as a solution to access
• Determine the ability to scale-up and expand the project

While the project focus will not directly address clean water, clean water training will be provided, including education and awareness of the importance of filtrating water.