Center for Rural Empowerment and Agricultural Transformation for Sustainability (Creats International)

The Center for Rural Empowerment and Agricultural Transformation for Sustainability (Creats International) is a U.S. 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that started as a community-based organization in Kenya since 2015. Creats International dismantles social, cultural, and economic barriers holding marginalized communities, especially women and youth, from thriving. We build the capacities of communities to address their own challenges and link them to critical resources to unlock their economic potential and advocate for their rights. Overall, we provide agricultural inputs, smallholder farm mechanization, financial linkages, market linkages, small enterprise development, environmental conservation, and policy advocacy. To this end, we listen to the communities we serve and co-create solutions for agricultural transformation and access to healthcare and education. We provide the community with quality hybrid seeds, fertilizer, and extension services to bolster farm productivity and alleviate poverty and hunger. We enhance the capacities of farmers, extension agents, and communities to innovate and solve their problems. One unique project we have started is to train women extension paraprofessionals through a farmer-to-farmer approach. This project aims to augment inadequate government extension agents and improve women farmers’ access to gender-centric and culturally appropriate extension services.