01
Increased income and profitability
Whether women are earning more and building more financially sustainable enterprises.
Our impact
Creating meaningful and lasting change
At HerNext, impact is more than participation, activities or visibility. We measure success by the meaningful economic changes created in the lives, enterprises and livelihoods of the women we serve.
What impact means to us
From participation to progress
Our work begins with evidence. We listen to women, identify the barriers affecting their economic progress, design practical interventions with the right partners and measure whether those interventions create measurable and sustainable change.
Our ambition is not simply to reach more women. It is to improve economic outcomes.
Numbers matter, but numbers alone do not tell the whole story. The number of women attending a programme tells us about reach. What happens afterwards tells us about impact. These are the seven changes we look for.
02
Improved productivity
Whether farmers, producers and entrepreneurs are able to produce more efficiently, improve output or reduce unnecessary production costs.
03
Better market access
Whether women gain reliable buyers, enter new markets, secure contracts or improve the value they receive for their products and services.
04
Access to finance
Whether women become better positioned to access appropriate financing, investment or other productive capital.
05
Stronger enterprises
Whether participating businesses improve their operations, resilience, financial management and capacity for sustainable growth.
06
Sustainable livelihoods
Whether interventions contribute to stronger and more resilient sources of income for women and their households.
07
Skills and enterprise capability
Whether women gain practical skills, leadership and enterprise capabilities that open pathways to economic opportunity.
Our impact model
Evidence before intervention
- Listen
- Baseline
- Identify
- Design
- Partner
- Implement
- Measure
- Learn and scale
01
Listen
We begin with the women, enterprises and communities we seek to serve.
02
Establish the baseline
We collect information that helps us understand the current situation before an intervention begins.
03
Identify the barrier
We use evidence to determine what is preventing economic progress.
04
Design the intervention
We develop practical responses around demonstrated needs rather than assumptions.
05
Mobilise partners
We bring together organisations with the technical expertise, markets, financing, technology or other resources required.
06
Implement
We deliver targeted interventions with clear objectives and intended outcomes.
07
Measure change
We compare results against the baseline and assess what actually changed.
08
Learn and scale
We strengthen what works, learn from what does not and scale interventions that demonstrate sustainable impact.
Impact in action
Starting with evidence
HerNext Kiambu Chapter. HerNext's community-level approach begins by listening. Following the establishment of the chapter, women from different economic activities were engaged to understand their enterprises, livelihoods and most significant barriers to growth.
Individual follow-up and baseline data collection were subsequently undertaken with women engaged in livestock enterprises, including dairy, poultry and pig farming. The assessment identified animal feed affordability and access as a major recurring challenge affecting participating livestock farmers.
Rather than immediately prescribing a solution, HerNext is using these findings to inform the design of a targeted intervention and identify appropriate technical, commercial and development partners. The intervention will be designed to assess changes in production costs, productivity, profitability, market readiness and household livelihoods.
This is the HerNext approach in practice: listen first, understand the evidence, intervene strategically and measure what changes.
From data to action
What happens next
Once a challenge has been identified, HerNext seeks partners capable of addressing different parts of the problem.
In livestock, for example, collaboration may include animal nutrition and feed companies, veterinary and technical experts, financial institutions, agricultural research organisations, government and county institutions, development partners, processors and buyers.
HerNext's role is to organise, connect, coordinate and measure, building an ecosystem around the economic challenge rather than attempting to solve every problem alone.
How we measure impact
Accountability through evidence
Each HerNext programme establishes relevant baseline indicators before implementation and measures progress over time.
Enterprise
Revenue growth, profitability, business survival, jobs created or sustained.
Agriculture
Production levels, input and feed costs, yield and productivity, mortality rates, farmer income.
Markets
Number of reliable buyers, sales volumes, value of contracts, new markets accessed.
Finance
Women accessing finance, value of finance accessed, investment readiness.
Trade
Businesses entering new markets, buyer connections, export opportunities converted into actual business.
We are committed to reporting both what works and what we learn, using evidence to strengthen future interventions. No figure appears on this page until follow-up measurement supports it.
Stories of change
Behind every number is a woman
As HerNext interventions are implemented and evaluated, this space will document verified stories of women whose enterprises, incomes and livelihoods have changed through access to the right opportunities and partnerships.
Stories are published only with the permission of the women they describe, and supported wherever possible by verified baseline and follow-up information. Until then, this space stays deliberately empty.
Sustainable Development Goals
Contributing to global and African development priorities
Our interventions and partnerships align closely with five of the Sustainable Development Goals, while remaining committed to solutions that reflect Africa's own realities, priorities and ambitions.
SDG 5, Gender Equality
Supporting women's leadership, entrepreneurship and economic participation.
SDG 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth
Promoting enterprise development, innovation and inclusive economic growth.
SDG 9, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Encouraging industrial development, value addition and technological innovation.
SDG 13, Climate Action
Promoting environmentally responsible business practices and sustainable development.
SDG 17, Partnerships for the Goals
Strengthening collaboration between governments, development partners, businesses, academia and civil society.
Our commitment
Impact before visibility. Evidence before intervention. Sustainability before scale.
We believe visibility matters when it brings attention, resources and partnerships to meaningful work. But our ultimate measure of success is not how visible HerNext becomes. It is whether the women we work alongside are building stronger enterprises, accessing better markets, increasing their incomes and creating more sustainable livelihoods. That is the impact we seek to build.
HerNext perspective
Take the next step
Tell us what you are building
Whether you are a woman building an enterprise, an organisation seeking meaningful collaboration, or an investor, buyer, technical expert or development partner, we welcome the conversation. Registering your interest tells us what to build, and means you hear from us as initiatives open.