RNE Resilience Workshop, 8 -10 Feb, 2015 Egypt

1. For more information
contact :
luca.alinovi@fao.org
Resilience Programming in a politically stable country:
the case of Kenya
In early October 2014, a statistical reassessment of the Kenyan economy indicated a 25.3 per
cent increase in size, with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of $1,160. This effectively
upgraded Kenya (according to World Bank classification) from a lower income country to a
lower middle income country.
Despite this boost in GDP, investment in growth alone will not lead to sustainable
development. In fact, although Kenya has overcome its economic challenges, according to the
World Bank more than four out of 10 Kenyans live in poverty. Inequitable growth such as this
can prove very damaging, in extreme cases (as witnessed in Egypt recently) leading to civil
unrest. Compounding these problems in Kenya is population growth. Kenya has one of the
world’s highest population growth rates, the trends indicating that the population has tripled
in the past 35 years. This raises concerns, not only related to the already high pressure on the
country’s resources, but also on the further stress that the most vulnerable areas of Kenya will
be placed under in the future. Indeed, there is considerable fear that the inequitable economic
growth, coupled with population expansion will erode the resilience of many vulnerable
groups.
Rural poverty in Kenya is also strongly linked to environmental concerns – especially poor
water management, soil erosion, declining soil fertility and land degradation. Climate change is
one of the major challenges facing the Kenyan economy, contributing to declining agricultural
yields, competition for resources, and leading to violent conflicts involving pastoralists and
sedentary farmers. In a country where pastoralism constitutes about 80% of the country’s total
surface area, and supports 25% of the total human population and 50% of the livestock
population, the need to introduce alternative livelihood options in pastoral areas is key.
Kenya is not only facing socio-economic changes but also political transformation due to the
devolution process, which is seen as a prime opportunity to achieve better service delivery.
This process, however, raises some concerns related to accountable mechanisms and the
capacity of Counties to absorb all functions in the short term.
These changes represent a source of immense opportunity for the people of Kenya but also
present new challenges, which are exacerbated by the increased in frequency and intensity of
droughts and floods over the past decade. In addressing these challenges Kenya can count on
relatively strong institutions and official government committed to ending the worst of the
suffering caused by drought by 2022. This commitment was strongly reiterated following the
drought in 2011 during which 4 million people required food assistance. This dramatic event
not only highlighted the fact that the short-term, project-based interventions conducted up to
that time, were no longer effective, but also demonstrated (very clearly) the importance of the
need for a long-term, holistic, coordinated approach to building the resilience of vulnerable
people in order to ensure household food security, livelihood security and ecosystem
protection. The government therefore recognised the need to strengthen the sustainability
and quality of drought management in Kenya and established the National Drought
Management Authority (NDMA) which coordinates activities related to Peace and security,
Infrastructure, Human capital, Sustainable livelihoods, Drought risk management &
coordination and Institutional development and knowledge management ( Ref. to Box 1).
ContextKey Points:
• Resilience involves
a complex
interrelation of a
set of factors,
while traditional
approaches to
implementation
do not apply and
can have serious
side-effects
• Inequality and
population growth
are putting further
pressure on the
vulnerable areas of
Kenya where
resilience is a
concern
• Inequality and
population growth
are putting further
pressure on the
vulnerable areas of
Kenya where
resilience is a
concern
• All these changes
represent a source
of immense
opportunity,
although a long-
term, holistic and
coordinated
approach to
building resilience
is needed

2. Box 1: National Drought Management Authority (NDMA)
The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) is a statutory body established in 2011. The NDMA is the
successor to the Drought Management Directorate of the Arid Lands Resource Management Project (ALRMP). The
ALRMP was a community-based drought management project of the Government of Kenya that utilised credit facilities
from the World Bank and technical and financial support from the European Union and other development partners. It
started in 1996 and ended in December 2010. One of the obligations under the Development Credit Agreement with the
World Bank was to institutionalise the drought management structures established by the project. It provides a
platform for long-term planning and action, as well as a mechanism for solid coordination across Government and with
all other stakeholders. The NDMA disburses resources based on a strong evidence base, built up from its institutional
memory of drought management in Kenya , and from the benchmarked triggers and response guidelines which have
been developed over the years
MANDATE
To provide coordination and leadership of Kenya’s efforts in the management of drought risks and enhancing
adaptation to climate change.
AREAS OF WORK
Coordination, Rapid reaction, Knowledge Management, Risk Reduction, Information
Source: http://www.ndma.go.ke/
FAO aims to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable households and improve agricultural
production and productivity for all, thereby ensuring sustainable livelihoods, poverty reduction,
food and nutrition security and equitable economic development. The major roles of FAO in Kenya:
- At Central level
Support the Ending Drought Emergency initiative. The Government of Kenya and its partners have
developed a joint programming document for Ending Drought Emergencies (EDE) as part of the
IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) strategy. The paper focuses
on creating a more conducive environment in order to foster drought resilience through the
building of stronger foundations and institutions for development. FAO will continue to partner
with the Government of Kenya in particular: a) supporting the private sector to create
opportunities and stimulate equitable growth; b) building the capacities of institutions and agencies
in national and local government that can deliver services to poor people in accountable and
transparent ways; supporting the use of ad-hoc Knowledge and Technical solutions to promote
climate smart practice for climate change adaptation.
Improve thematic alignment and convergence among the various FAO activities and among the
involved actors for a greater impact on resilience building. Diverse food and agriculture issues
across Kenya require opportunities for stakeholders to come together and build agreement across
technical issues and approaches. FAO offers neutrality and a convening power on issues of food
security, early warning, pastoralism, and drought. In Kenya, FAO supports coordination through the
provision of technical leadership to inform and facilitate consensus. In engaging with, and bringing
these actors together into consolidated forums, FAO is able to improve cohesiveness and support
the alignment of multi-sectoral programmes to Government strategies. Some examples: FAO co-
chairing the ASAL donor resilience coordination group with NDMA, as well as the Agricultural and
Rural Development Donor Working Group.
Scaling up knowledge sharing and analysis. FAO provides the tools to map and monitor the impact
of different interventions and to analyse how actions in different sectors change the resilience of
targeted communities to drought. Using these tools FAO builds the capacity of national institutions
to make informed decisions when targeting and scaling up sector programmes. This enables
national and county governments to play a strong leading role in the coordination of resilience
related initiatives.
Review the Country Programme Framework to make sure that, as a living document it continues to
be resilience driven and aligned with the Government’s strategy.
Role of FAO in Kenya
Key Points:
• FAO brings the
voices of farmers,
pastoralists, and
those working in
the fisheries to
national
• Innovations, new
partnerships with
private sector,
transfer of
knowledge and
technical solutions
are powerful tools
to accelerate the
resilience building
process
• Rocking together
as a team in order
to build resilience
require thematic
alignment and
convergence
among partners

3. - At county level
Focusing on household needs and integrating multiple interventions between FAO and other
organisations. For FAO, the main unit of focus is the household as it is the decision-making unit,
where the most important decisions are made regarding how to manage uncertain events,
including those affecting food security. In Kenya, FAO plans its interventions accordingly to the
household’s needs and by adopting a long-term view that is flexible, collaborative and
synchronized with humanitarian and development partners based on their own comparative
advantages. For example FAO works (in partnership with the Government of Kenya, IFAD and
WFP) to support the graduation of beneficiaries from subsistence to commercially orientated and
market focussed producers that are able to access financing and develop successful agricultural
businesses. FAO is also working with UNICEF, WFP and UNHCR of Food security and nutrition (
please refer to the brief on resilience programme at regional level) to prepare a short, medium,
long term strategies for accelerating scale up of food security and nutrition responses in the
region. The agencies in each country have jointly developed their action plans, which strengthens
interagency collaboration on addressing the underlying causes of food insecurity and
malnutrition, while building the communities resilience.
Support county governments in aligning their policies aimed at resilience building to a common
resilience approach at national level and ensure contribution and achievement of sub-national
and national objectives related to resilience.
Scaling up those programmes which prove to have a substantial positive impact on household
resilience by making sure that the solutions have real impact, are cost-effective, systematic, and
replicable at scale.
The resilience programming in Kenya calls for fundamental changes from a project approach to a
more programmatic approach, as a viable and attractive tool for the allocation of FAO resources
in a more strategic and results-oriented way, as well as more flexibility and better focus of
objectives to promote resilience.
Integrate humanitarian and development approaches. This requires that humanitarian and
development actors collaborate on a shared objective and coordinate actions so as to sequence
short term and long term interventions in order to build the resilience of vulnerable populations.
The resilience programming has to consider a broader and innovative partnership. To support
the building blocks of resilience, multiple actors across all sectors are needed. They should
include, governments ( at national and local level), development partners and the private sector
and they must act on the basis of the specific added value they bring.
The resilience programming has to be multi-year, supported by multi-year flexible funding.
Enhancing resilience requires sustained commitment.
Promote inclusive growth. Inequalities are affecting many socio-demographic groups (such as
women, youth and immigrants) that are to a large extent excluded from the benefits of Kenya’s
economic growth. Investments to create economic opportunities, and social inclusion are key to
ensure equal access to opportunities.
The resilience programming must be aligned with the existing priorities spelled out in the
national and regional strategies for Kenya.
Principles
Key Points:
• Interventions
focused on
building resilience
at a household
level, although it is
crucial to consider
multiple-scale and
multi-level
interactions
• FAO is the natural
and best-placed
actor to facilitate
policy alignment at
national and
county levels
• Programmes
aiming to be
resilience building
need to be at scale

4. Building resilience in Kenya will be achieved through initiatives designed to:
1- Scale up small producers productivity and profitability: FAO is developing multiple
approaches in support of promoting greater integration of smallholders into markets which
include supporting capacity to increase productivity, reduce the cost of marketing, as well as put
attention on mechanisms for identifying the design and sequencing of appropriate institutional
solutions — such as improvements to regulatory frameworks, contract farming, farmer
organizations— and provision of support services for alleviating key constraints faced
by different categories of producers. This includes a specific focus on increasing productivity and
profitability of small holder farmers thought: a) adoption of a value chain approach for
identifying key constraints and considering appropriate solutions; b) the promotion and scaling -
up of Good Agricultural Practice and Conservation Agriculture in productive Semi-Arid areas of
Kenya (ref. to Box 3). Particular emphasis will be put on the development of innovative market
linkages between small holder farmers and larger private sector companies.
2- Strengthen access to basic services: this includes basic services (health, nutrition, education,
water, sanitation, hygiene, and protection), support services, such as extension, to the
productive sectors. Included in addition is support to the development of feeder roads, support
to the construction of water harvesting structures, support access to financial services through
group savings and loans, and introduction to banks
3- Promote safety nets: The effectiveness of a social safety net (SSN) intervention lies in the
adaptation of the programme to the context, together with effective integration with national
public investments. In countries like Kenya, FAO is investing in SSN programmes that are
integrated in public investment plans and transfer of knowledge and skills. This entails including
provision of food / cash in exchange for the labour involved in the construction of soil and water
conservation assets (including zai pits, construction of terraces, preparation of seed beds, the
digging of shallow wells and the construction of sand dams).
4- Fostering analysis to improve impact of programmes in resilience terms. FAO puts particular
emphasis on supporting national, county and local analysis through national authorities ( such as
NDMA, BoS) that will provide a solid common ground to advise on the design of resilience
programming, including recommendations on activities at the household level in order to
improve the effectiveness of its work
Blocks
Box 3. Change the terms with big producers: the Conservation Agriculture Programme
This programme aims to improve the livelihoods of rural farming populations in semi-arid areas of Kenya by
increasing their incomes, making them more resilient to climate shocks and reducing their vulnerability to poverty
and food deficits. This will be done through the promotion of Conservation Agriculture as a basis of Good
Agriculture Practice and through improving market linkages.
The Programme focuses on:
1- developing agriculture advisory and extension services to assess rural needs and find solutions to increase
farmers' incomes.
2- setting up supply chains, micro financing to improve the standard of living and prosperity in rural areas
3- promoting strategic partnerships across a number of value chains with the private sector to enhance input
supply, access to services, productivity and market access in order to enable greater returns to farmers. The
programme represents a clear framework for identifying the channels through which the private sector can critically
support the achievement of resilience building. These include: a) Increasing productivity and creating jobs; b)
spreading innovation outward to the agricultural and service sectors
Key Points:
• Emphasis is
needed to develop
innovative, flexible
and sustainable
market linkages
between small
producers and the
private sector
• Boosting analysis
capacities of local
authorities is key
to prioritize
investments and
policy formulation
on resilience
• Social Safety Net
programmes are
crucial but need to
be integrated with
public investment
plans and transfer
of knowledge and
skills

5. Major Challenges
Mechanisms for supporting programmatic approaches and interventions at scale. Rarely do
effective pilot projects get scaled up into sustainable interventions at national level. This creates
localized benefits for a small number of beneficiaries limiting the impact of FAO interventions. In
order to have a much greater and more positive impact in Kenya, FAO interventions need to be at
scale. A programmatic approach provides the right platform to improve complementarity of
interventions. However, difficulties can arise while implementing the programmatic approach , as
instruments laid down in the FAO legal framework are not prepared for this kind of approach and
the right mechanisms to facilitate this process are absent, thereby restricting the dimension of
the impact that FAO could have.
How to look for different donors? There is a need to engage with donors that are not traditional
but who are investing in resilience (e.g. WB, Rockefeller) to ensure a broad portfolio, but also to
that the different points of view of a varied audience inspires the development of innovative
ideas and approaches aimed at guaranteeing a balance in the strategic decisions related to
interventions.
Data quality and comparability. A common concern for a proper resilience analysis is lack of data
and in most cases the quality of data available. Many of the most available data sets suffer from
problems of inaccuracy and a lack of comparability due to different scales and the fact that they
have not been designed for resilience analysis. This also gives rise to the problem of the use of
the analysis for policy and programme formulation: translating complex analytical messages into
clear policy messages is a difficult exercise.
Genuine alignment and convergence of programmes according to well defined targets such as
household needs. The implementation of a resilience strategy raises combined issues of
conceptualization and structures. Organizations and stakeholders also need to embark on a
whole new way of working that looks at the needs of households and that enables them to start
to plan interventions accordingly, based on a long-term perspective that is flexible, collaborative
and synchronized between humanitarian and development streams. To reach greater
convergence between humanitarian and development approaches, partners have to invest in
their own comparative advantages in each one of the pieces of the big puzzle that is called
resilience, building on each others competencies, in order to make sure that short-term and
long-term interventions overlap in a contiguum rather than a continuum.
Poor quality of beneficiary profiling against resilience needs. Due to budget constraints and time,
beneficiary profiling is frequently not done following rigorous and accurate procedures and
instruments. This results in targeting errors of inclusion (providing inputs to the non-needy) and
exclusion (failure to reach the needy) at both macro and micro levels. Putting considerable effort
into the development and refinement of early warning systems, vulnerability mapping, and
similar tools, might mean that needy people are reached in a more reliable and timely fashion.
We also need to bear in mind that profiling needs to be broader enough in order to guarantee
the collaboration from other partners using the same list of beneficiaries.
Key Points:
• Interventions at
scale have the
potential for
greater, positive
impact due to their
wider population
reach and their
ability to diffuse
root causes of
poverty and
inequities.
• Improve data
quality; build
capacity to
analyse,
synthesize, and
interpret data is
key for policy
formulation.
• Genuine alignment
and convergence
of programmes
between
Governments, UN
agencies and local
actors is needed to
converge on the
needs of
households
• Good beneficiary
profiling mean
that needy people
are reached in a
more reliable and
timely fashion