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Cleaner rivers with

Riviera Travel

A project funded by your travel bookings

Waste management is a huge challenge in Kenya

We’ve partnered with Riviera Travel to tackle this.

Kisumu is Kenya’s third largest city. With only an estimated 39% of waste collected and disposed of safely, there’s 5 tonnes of plastic leaking into the environment every day – often through rivers and waterways.

As more people migrate towards urban centres like Kisumu, it’s vital that we have the right systems in place to handle waste disposal, keep rivers clean and protect people and the planet.

Donate today

See the challenge in Kisumu

Several people wearing reflective vests clean a roadside drainage ditch and collect debris in bags and a handcart on a cobblestone street in an urban area.

Clean Rivers, Clean Homes

We’re working with Kisumu City residents to hold community cleanup projects in waste hotspots and promote more sustainable behaviours such as household waste separation.

Support from Riviera Travel passengers is helping us provide training and equipment to informal waste workers who once worked under threat of arrest.

With better recognition for their essential role, and access to a network of traders and processing plants, waste workers can work in safety and dignity to improve the efficiency of waste collection services for everyone.

But there’s more work to be done, with your support.

Practical Action has been Riviera Travel’s chosen charity partner since 2024. For every guest who travels with them, Riviera Travel donates £2 to support our work. And that’s not all.

The fabulous team at Riviera Travel have organised fundraising events of their own, from bake sales to a sponsored walking challenge, collectively covering the distance from the UK to Kenya and raising vital funds in the process.

Passengers have also been inspired to make a top-up donation and help our work go even further. With the generous support of people like you, we’re turning bold, unconventional ideas into poverty-beating action.

This project will:

  • Reach over 2,000 households to remove 67 tonnes of plastic from the environment over two years, recycling around 33 tonnes – the equivalent of three rubbish trucks.
  • Reduce waste dumping in key areas of the city, including the Auji River.
  • Improve waste collection by connecting informal waste workers with recycling centres, traders, and processing facilities.
  • Work with local government and waste collectors to encourage people to separate their waste at home and adopt better habits across the city.
  • Organise clean-up events and awareness campaigns to boost participation in waste collection and promote recycling at household level.
  • Provide training and safety equipment to over 300 informal waste workers, and support them in forming co-operatives for fairer pay, safer conditions, and stronger workers’ rights.
  • Partner with the Kenya Plastics Pact to help reduce plastic packaging waste across the country.