Kisumu County
Pilot town: Ahero
Ahero town is located 25 kilometres south east of Kisumu city in Nyando sub-county. The town is a transport node, being a junction of the Nairobi-Kisumu (A104) and the Kisii-Kisumu (A1) highways.
Ahero is nestled in the Kano plains, a rich agricultural area mainly growing rice, sugarcane and soya. The town has a retail market serving as a main trading center for food and goods coming from Kisii, Homabay, and Nandi; this accounts for much of the town’s trade and commerce. Informal sector activities such as hawking, kiosks, open-air fish-frying, and bodabodas, provide a source of income to a significant proportion of the population.
The Kisumu County Government recognizes the need to improve Ahero since the town is second to Kisumu city in terms of trade and revenue collection. It is also a gateway to Kisumu city, and planning it better would ease pressure on the county capital. Ahero also hosts a good number of people that work in Kisumu city but reside in Ahero by night.