Social entrepreneurship among Kenyan farmers: A case example of acculturation challenges and program successes

In this paper we address the issues in this case study by examining the role of social entrepreneurship, servant leadership, and acculturation in reducing the problems of poverty in Kenya. Specifically, we describe a social entrepreneur, Horace Tipton, and his ‘servant leadership’ approach to cultural learning and to building sustainable farming communities. By engaging in cultural learning of local norms in Kenya Horace Tipton has provided a model case for increasing the standard of living in this economically poor part of the world. However, both Horace and the Kenya farmers faced acculturation-related challenges in enacting and benefitting from the program. In this paper, we use excerpts from interviews and blog sites to illustrate that the success of the programs may be attributed, in part, to individual and group cultural learning and the appropriateness of the servant leader approach to the Kenyan context.