Quality Childcare at Scale.
Building a system that works for children, families and communities.
THE CHILDCARE CRISIS
In Kenya, 3 of the 7 million children under five need childcare and lack access to quality options, while many more are in unsafe or unstimulating environments.
This is critical as 90% of brain development happens before age five. Lack of access to childcare also limits women’s ability to work.
OUR APPROACH
Working through existing providers
Kidogo’s model is grounded in the belief that childcare already exists in communities. Rather than building parallel systems, we work to improve the quality, safety and sustainability of care where families are already accessing services.
Why not build centres?
- Informal childcare providers already care for millions of children across Kenya and are often trusted members of their communities.
- Improving existing childcare providers is significantly more cost-effective than constructing and operating new centres.
- Building new centres creates dependency on external infrastructure and ongoing operational funding, limiting scalability.
- Working through existing providers allows improvements to reach children more quickly and across a wider geographic area.
- Strengthening existing childcare markets creates the conditions for sustainable sector-wide change rather than isolated pockets of excellence.
- By embedding childcare within existing community and government systems, improvements can continue long after direct program support ends.
OUR IMPACT
Evidence of Impact.
10YEARS
Over the past decade, Kidogo has grown into Kenya’s largest childcare network, combining direct delivery with systems change to transform how childcare is delivered and regulated nationally.
REACH
50,000 +
CHILDREN REACHED
Kidogo reaches over 50,000 children through a network of approximately 2,000 childcare providers.
NUTRITION
65%
REDUCTION IN OFF-TRACK DEVELOPMENT
Children in Kidogo-supported centres show significant improvement in meeting age-appropriate developmental milestones over the course of a year.
QUALITY
90% +
CENTRES MEETING STANDARDS
Over 90% of centres meet quality standards, with strong improvements in both child development and health outcomes.
OUR MODEL
Kenya's Largest Childcare Network.
Our model improves the quality of childcare by working through existing informal providers, primarily women, rather than building new centres.
The Mamapreneur Journey
Through a structured, competency-based journey. Mamapreneurs receive training, mentorship and ongoing quality assurance to deliver safe, nurturing and stimulating care.
Find
We identify women already running informal daycares in low-income communities and assess their readiness against a quality baseline before onboarding them into the programme.
Upskill
Mamapreneurs complete structured training covering early childhood development, health and nutrition, child safeguarding, and financial management with ongoing mentorship between sessions.
Sustain
Quality is assessed continuously. Mentors visit centres regularly, and Mamapreneurs are supported to run financially selfsustaining childcare businesses, quality is maintained, not just measured once.
CHILDCARE PILLARS
What Quality Childcare Means
Kidogo defines quality childcare across six specific pillars.
SAFE ENVIRONMENT
Centres meeting safety standards with adequate space, hygiene and child protection measures in place.
NURTURING CARE
Caregivers trained to provide warm, responsive and attentive care to every child in their centre.
STIMULATION & PLAY
Structured play-based activities that support cognitive, social and emotional development.
HEALTH & NUTRITION
Integration with Community Health Promoters and access to nutrition support within centres.
BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY
Mamapreneurs trained in financial management to sustain quality without external dependency.
FAMILY & COMMUNITY
Extending healthy practices from centres into the home through parent and community engagement.
OUR PARTNERSHIP MODEL
Shaping Kenya's Childcare System.
This model is designed to be cost-efficient, scalable and integrated into government systems, enabling both direct impact and long-term systems change.
Kidogo works closely with national and county governments, contributes to Technical Working Groups and collaborates with ecosystem partners to shape childcare policy, standards and systems.
"I love seeing these innovative solutions on the ground that both address childcare and get women back to work."
Melinda French Gates
GET INVOLVED
Work with Kidogo
FUNDERS & PARTNERS
For foundations, impact investors and institutional funders investing in quality, scalable childcare delivery and systems change.
GOVERNMENT & IMPLEMENTORS
For government agencies and implementing partners integrating Kidogo’s model into county or national childcare systems.
TRUSTED BY LEADING FUNDERS AND PARTNERS
