Cafod/Caritas 2016-2017 Drought Emergency Response in Northern Kenya. Case Stories, Pictorials and Best Practices by Polycarp Otieno Onyango

1. Best Practices and Case Stories
2016-2017
DEC and CAFOD APPEAL
EMERGENCY DROUGHT RESPONSE IN
NORTHERN KENYA
September 2018

2. Due to the failure of the October 2016-December 2016 rains in Kenya, and the subsequent drought across the country, vulnerable people
especially in the northern counties were severely devastated by widespread food and water shortage. This resulted to various health and
nutritional challenges for people and livestock. This scarcity of resources further fueled ethnic conflicts.
CAFOD, Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, the official relief and development agency of the Catholic Church in England and
Wales, initiated an appeal to support its response. With funding from its appeal, together with funds from Disaster Emergency Commit-
tee, DEC which comprises of the UK’s leading aid agencies, CAFOD, through Caritas Isiolo and Caritas Marsabit responded to the drought
emergency in the northern Kenya. Its interventions addressed water shortage, food insecurity, health and nutrition needs, livestock
feeds, and ethnic conflicts.
BACKGROUND
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This report was written and compiled by an Independent Communication Consultant;
Mr. Polycarp Otieno Onyango
assisted by Mr. Brighton Oluoch
Contained in this document are a selection of case stories, pictorials and best practices from the interventions
Achievements
42,000 People Accessed Clean and Safe Water in Marsabit and Isiolo
9,060 Received Improved Health and Nutrition Within an 18 Month Period
7,949 Received Livelihood and Food Security Support

3. How Malnutrition Program Saved the Lives of Baby
Winny and Esther
Baby Winny Akuom and her mother Rebecca Ngaske Isiolo County, Kenya August 2018)
CASE STORIES
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Winny Akuom (2.5 yrs) was born early 2016 at the onset of
the drought in northern Kenya. Presently she looks happy
and bubbly, but just a few months ago, she could barely af-
ford a smile.
“It was hard breastfeeding her on an empty stomach, we hardly
had a meal a day and so both my child, family and myself were
severely affected by the drought,” explains Rebecca Ngaske,
Baby Winny’s mother.
From 2016 to 2017, Isiolo County in northern Kenya expe-
rienced prolonged periods of drought and as a result crops,
pasture and water were scarce. Rebecca, Winny’s mother says
that during that time, the nearest water source was at Nay-
akore, close to 10 kilometers away. The community had lost
most of its livestock due to lack of pasture while their crops
had withered in the fields.
Baby Esther Naisianoi (3.5yrs) from the village of Nayakore in
Isiolo County was yet another child enrolled by Caritas into
the malnutrition program. Esther’s mother Eunice Dicemba, a
mother of seven, says her child was in a very poor condition.
Her husband is a casual laborer with no steady source of in-
come and during the drought eating once a day or missing food
completely was a very common occurrence for their family.
Baby Winny Akuom and Esther Naisianoi are just two of the 29
severely malnourished children admitted by Caritas into the
Outpatient Therapeutic Program (OTP) funded by Cafod and
the DEC drought appeal.
“When I enrolled baby Winny and Esther
into the Caritas program, they were severely
malnourished and weighed less than 10 kilo-
grams and for their ages, they were below av-
erage,” says Magdalene Nasipan, Community
Health Volunteer, CHV Elsa-Ntirim village,
Isiolo County
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4. .........................................................................................................................................................
How the Program Worked
During the drought Caritas through its outreach program did monthly mass screening
of children across several villages in Isiolo. The program particularly targeted children
severely malnourished and those moderately malnourished. The program screened
651 children and identified 29 cases of severely malnourished infants.
Once they identified infants, like baby Winny and Esther, they registered them and
then linked them to a health facility nearest to their homes. At the health facility, Cari-
tas stationed Community Health Volunteers, CHVs who act as a link between the fam-
ilies, the health facility and Caritas. Baby Winny and Esther were both registered at
the APU dispensary in Elsa-Ntirim, Isiolo County. The two children were first weighed
and then put through an appetite test to confirm that they were happy to eat the food
supplements (plump nuts and plump sap). They were then de-wormed and the start-
ed on the feeding program. The two were started on plump nuts, three nuts per day
and would be weighed and checked on a weekly basis.
“Winny was exited from the plump nuts after four visits (one month) and was then
enrolled for plump sap. This was taken once a day. A child under it was weighed and
checked once every two weeks. Winny’s condition improved and she exited the pro-
gram at 13.5 kilograms, however she is still monitored on a monthly basis to ensure
she stays on the path to full recovery,” explains Magdalene Nasipan, the Community
Health Volunteer in charge of Elsa-Ntirim and Nayakore villages of Isiolo.
Food Voucher for the families
To complement the malnutrition program, Winny and Esther’s parents were enrolled
to receive special porridge alongside other breastfeeding mothers. Their households
were also selected to receive food voucher that entitled them to food worth USD 30
per month for a period of three months. The parents were trained on best feeding
and nutrition techniques even during times of drought. The parents were reminded
repeatedly that the malnutrition program would only work if children were also well
fed at home with nutritious foods as part of their normal feeding programs.
Their parents were among those trained on best dry land agricultural practices and
were also provided with improved seeds to grow during the post drought period. They
also received emergency hay, four bales per family once every two weeks to help their
few remaining livestock survive the drought.
“Previously Esther wasn’t this happy and playful, she has really improved and I want to
thank Caritas for standing up with us and we hope that they will continue to support
us,” says Eunice Dicemba, Esther’s mother.
Apart from drought, the two villages of Elsa-Ntirim and Nayakore faced several kinds
of conflicts. First was conflict with the neighboring pastoralists’ community who were
looking for grazing areas and were forcefully evicting them from their small farms. On
the other hand was human - wildlife conflict occasioned by wildlife escaping from the
nearby conservancies in search of food.
Baby Esther Naisianoi with her mother Eunice Dicemba (Elsa-Ntirim, Isiolo
County, Kenya August 2018)
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5. Trying their Hands at Crop Farming to Complement
pastoralism - Mara Mari Women Group
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The group calls itself Mara Mari women group. The name Mara
Mari in the local dialect means ‘Lets come together and dis-
cuss’.
“Our major challenge is that men think we are wasting water
meant for livestock, but we are trying to make them have faith
in us and give us this opportunity to show that we are trying
to give our children healthy foods while reducing unnecessary
expenditure of purchasing vegetables from lorries along the
highway,” - says Medina Galgalo, the group’s chairlady.
The group has four shade-nets each measuring 12 x 8 meters
squared and have planted 1,700 vegetable plants with addition-
al six seed beds full of seedlings from where individual mem-
bers will establish their own kitchen gardens and sack gardens
back in their homes. So far they have planted kales, spinach,
chilli and tomatoes and later plan to grow capsicum.
In the remote village of Katelo Umuro, Bur-
gabo area of Marsabit a group of women
from the pure pastoralist Gabra communi-
ty, are trying to do what has not been done
in the area – crop farming.
Medina Galgalo (L) Chairlady of Mara Mari Women Group, with Caritas staff Wakera Ibrahim
inside one of the group’s shade net gardens in Burgabo, Marsabit County, Kenya (August 2018)
From this venture they hope to feed their families, raise school fees for their chil-
dren and put the rest in their group savings. The shade nets are strategically placed
some 200 meters away from the Burgabo Borehole which was drilled by Caritas, with
support from Cafod and the DEC drought appeal. The borehole produces 6,000 liters
per hour and serves an area of about 100 kilometer radius with over one thousand
households. The group relies on technical support from Mr. Roba Bante, the Ward
Agriculture Officer, Torbi ward.
“These women are trying to do farming here at Burgabo for the first time, and they are
very interested despite the challenges they face, especially with men when fetching
water at the village watering point,” says Roba Bante.
Roba Bante says it is the group members and Caritas that facilitated to establish for
the group nurseries, lay drip lines, spraying and training the women on how to do all
these things.
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6. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
“If members of this group can
keep forging ahead the way
they are doing, without relent-
ing, I am confident they will get
a good harvest,” he adds.
Mara Mari women group has
been in existence for two years
and were trained on kitchen
gardening techniques by Car-
itas and also provided with
shade-nets, drip irrigation kits,
water tanks, seeds and equip-
ment. They were also trained
on group formation and man-
agement, group lending record
keeping and establishment of
small businesses, which they
say, this will help them even
after the Caritas project ends.
Their journey to crop farming
was not by chance.
“I had 200 goats but the
drought wiped most of them
and I only remained with 50
goats, and due to that challenge we now want to maximize on this borehole and do
agriculture and other businesses,” explains Medina Galgalo.
Everybody in the group is delegated duties. Some are responsible for fetching water
and irrigating the shade-net gardens, others do transplanting and nursery bed con-
struction. At the start of September, Caritas helped the group to pipe water directly
from the borehole to their water tank to reduce their tussle with men over water. In
the next phase of their support, they plan to fence the place.
How the Group Operates
The group was started in 2016 and member contributes USD 2 per month. Currently
they have USD 1,000 in savings and have given loans of USD 100 to seven (7) group
members to invest in various projects for example selling of clothes, perfumes, food
Roba Bante (L) the Torbi Ward Agricultural Officer and Caritas staff Wakera Ibrahim keenly observing as Medina Galgalo sprays
the group vegetables (August 2018, Burgabo, Marsabit County, Kenya)
items among others. The group tries not to keep too much money with itself and
loans out as much as they can. Each member who takes a loan of USD100 is expected
to refund USD 110 with the extra USD 10 being interest charged. Those who already
took loans claim that they made a profit of USD 45 before they returned the money.
The group meets twice a month; on the 17th
of the month for people who have loans
and on the 30th
for all members to give monthly contributions and to review their
progress.
They say that they prefer taking loans from their group as opposed to banks due to
long distances to the towns and because in the unfortunate event that one isn’t able
to pay back on time, they can talk to the group members to give them more time. They
say they are afraid that with banks, if they don’t pay on time, all their property could
be taken away.
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7. With School Fees Taken Care of, Am at Peace and
Performing Better - Guyo Halakhe Boru
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Guyo Halakhe is from Boru-Haro village, Marsabit in northern Ken-
ya. He is one of the 100 students from four schools in Marsabit
County that benefited from the Food for Fees intervention by Cari-
tas, funded by Cafod and the DEC drought appeal.
Guyo’s father, Dida Halakhe Boru, is an agro-pastoralist with four
children, two in primary school and the rest in secondary school.
Before the 2016 drought, his family had 15 cows, but lost close to
half of them to the drought and now have only eight (8). The cows
and their small farm were their main source of income. His father
explains that previously in a day he got 3.5 liters of milk and sold
2.5 liters, giving him an income above USD 50 a month to feed and
buy clothe his family. From time to time he sold a cow for USD 200
to pay school fees for his two children in secondary school. Dida
claims that before the drought, looking after his family was fairly
easy. However, because of the drought, everything changed.
“The drought made my cattle very thin, we couldn’t sell them in
that state, and many died, and in addition, milk from the surviving
ones dried out,” explains Halakhe Dida Boru.
“My small farm too couldn’t produce anything,” he adds.
“I would like to be a doctor in future so
that I can help my community and every-
body in need of medical assistance, it is
the only way I can show appreciation for
the sponsorship I have been given by Car-
itas,” says Guyo Halakhe Dida a form two
student at St. Paul’s Secondary School in
Marsabit County.
Guyo Halakhe Boru form two student and a Food for Fees Beneficiary from Boru-Haro village,
Marsabit, Kenya (August 2018)
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8. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Dida is currently a casual worker and says the drought has rendered him helpless and
can barely afford to look after his family.
Before the Caritas program, Guyo Halakhe had a fee balance of USD 450. Because of
this he was often sent home to look for the money. He says he failed to go to school
for a whole week and as a result lagged behind his colleagues. Whereas the Kenyan
government had issued a directive that students should not be sent home for fees,
keeping them in schools that didn’t have enough food for them or money was always
going to be a burden to the schools.
The Caritas program paid for Guyo USD 350. His parents secured the rest of the fee
balance from the constituency development fund, CDF. Guyo says that knowing that
his school fees has been taken care of gave him peace of mind that has translated to
his good performance in school. “I moved from the 24th
position the previous term to
18th
position last term because I didn’t have any stress and was now learning peaceful-
ly,” he adds.In the same village, Jillo Mohamed Huka, a form one student of Moi Girls
High School was facing the same challenge. She had a fee balance of USD 200 which
her mother, Amina Yattani, a single mother of three, was having difficulty paying. Am-
ina sells khat (miraa) for people and even that business was affected since there was
no customers willing to buy on an empty stomach.
“I used to feel bad and stressed all the time, and my grade dropped from a B+ to C+,”
Jillo says. “After Caritas paid for me, life became much better, I say thank you to Car-
itas,” she adds.
How the Program Worked
Caritas approached schools in areas most affected by drought and also visited the
neighboring schools that had students from the most affected areas. They got a re-
port from the schools with the names of students with fee balances and their home
addresses. Using the community structures, they verified these names and then went
back to the schools with the proposal to buy food for the schools equivalent to the fee
balances of the selected students. The school was to then write off the student’s fee
balances equivalent to amount of food Caritas bought.
“We were very happy with this ‘Food for Fees’ arrangement because during drought,
food prices were rising on a daily basis and sometimes we had the money but food
wasn’t available to buy and so we often needed food more than the money,” says Hali-
ma Aden, the Principal of Moi Girls Marsabit High School, where 71 students benefit-
ed from this program. To complement the program, Guyo and Jillo’s ’s families were
part of the 445 households in Marsabit County that received food voucher worth USD
40 per month for a period of three months.
Jillo Mohamed Huka (R) student from Moi Girls High School, Marsabit, with her
mother Amina Yattani (Kenya, August 2018)
Guyo Halakhe Boru (C) with his parents Halakhe Dida Boru (L) and Daki Dida Halakhe
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9. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
From Food Support to Promising Agric and Poultry
Ventures - Ann Nyaruayi, 64 year old farmer
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“In exchange for a little food and money, many of us
went to fetch firewood for people in the neighboring
county. The situation was so bad that when food first
came, people almost killed one another scrambling for
it. If it wasn’t for food vouchers from Caritas, I think
some of us would have been found dead,” adds Ann
Nyaruai, a 64 year old grandmother from Elsa-Ntirim
village, Isiolo County in northern Kenya.
Ann’s household was one of the 100 from Ntirim village
that received food voucher worth USD 30 per month
for two phases of three months each from Caritas, in a
program that was funded through Cafod and the DEC
Drought Appeal.
With the voucher they got food from a selected vendor
who would then redeem these vouchers for cash from
Caritas.
Ann has been a subsistence farmer for over ten years.
Previously she grew maize and beans, but due to the
drought she had no source of income and food.
“During the 2016 drought, our children dis-
appeared from home into the bushes to
scavenge for food and even stopped going
to school altogether,” says Ann Nyaruai food
voucher and agriculture training beneficiary
from Elsa-Ntirim village, Isiolo County.

10. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
In order to reduce incidences of food shortage in the future, Ann and 700 other peo-
ple from Isiolo County were trained on best dry land farming practices.
“Before Caritas conducted the agriculture trainings, we asked them to jointly with my
office, conduct an agriculture needs assessment,” says Florence Kabobori, the Isio-
lo County Director of Agriculture. The needs assessment revealed that whereas the
community for example in Elsa-Ntirim was vulnerable, there was great potential for
agro-pastoralism. It also revealed that the community lacked knowledge on soil and
water management.
After the agriculture needs assessment, Caritas and the Ministry of Agriculture, Isiolo
County conducted the soil and water management trainings to the farmers. They were
trained on land preparation, making seedbeds, vegetable farming, growing of drought
tolerant crops and cash crops like tomatoes and capsicum.
After the training, Caritas provided the community with improved seeds for strategic
crops specifically tomatoes, cowpeas, capsicum, green grams and pigeon peas. Caritas
also procured 20 non-diesel ‘money maker’ water pumps to be shared by the farmers.
Some like Ann, were trained on indigenous poultry rearing. And as a result, Ann is now
keeping about a dozen indigenous chicken, some on free range and others housed in a
simple structure made from locally available materials like wood, used boxes and recy-
cled gunny bags. From Caritas Ann got various high quality improved tomato, pigeon
peas and cowpeas seeds.
“I have already harvested close to 20 kilograms of cowpeas. I no longer buy vegeta-
bles, I get kales, spinach and cowpea leaves (kunde) from my farm and am very hap-
py,” she adds.
Ann has a total of three acres and out of it she has dedicated half an acre to various
crops including kales and spinach. In late August 2018, Ann transplanted an acre of
tomatoes from her seed bed. Because she is not close to any water source and hasn’t
built an earth dam, she says she cannot use the non-diesel pump, but will borrow a
pump from the neighbors to pump water from the nearby river to her tomato farm.
“My prayer is to build a better home and to buy a dairy cow from the sales of toma-
toes so that I stop drinking strong tea (tea without milk). The milk would really help in
the nutrition of my children and grandchildren as well,” she adds.
Ann is very grateful to Caritas for their support for the food voucher and for the ag-
riculture training. Through agriculture she hopes to see her two daughters through
school.
Ann Nyaruai inside her poultry house
Ann Nyaruai, with Caritas staff Winfred Wanjiru in her tomato farm......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

11. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Borehole Sunk by Caritas Marsabit Brings Life to
Burgabo Community
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“During the past drought of 2016, before
this borehole was dug, we used to go 40 ki-
lometers to Dosa Wachu to look for water,”
says Boru Dabasso, a livestock keeper from
Burgabo, Marsabit County, northern Kenya
“Because of this long distance, only a few of my livestock made
it to the watering hole, and even I almost died, but I thank God
Caritas intervened and saved the situation,” adds Boru.
Before that drought, Boru had 460 goats and sheep and of these
only 80 survived the drought. His donkey’s which he uses to
transport water all died. When the Burgabo borehole was re-
dug by Caritas, he relocated and settled less than a kilometer
away.
The Burgabo borehole was re-dug by Caritas, with support from
Cafod and the DEC drought appeal. The borehole produces
6,000 liters per hour and serves an area of about 100 kilometer
radius with over one thousand households.
Gumato Denge is yet another new resident of Burgabo. She
presently stays in a village called Area Chief, 10 minutes’ walk to
and from the borehole. She says that during the 2016 drought
they lost two thirds of their goats and sheep and only 100 sur-
vived. She also lost eight of her nine donkeys.
Before she moved to Burgabo, Gumato lived in a village 40 ki-

12. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
lometers away with 100 households (600 people). At the start of the drought, they
relied on water delivered to them by water bowsers to their village. The village paid
USD 100 for a 10,000 litre bowser, and this water was stored in a large tank located at
the center of their village. Each household received two twenty liter jerry cans. The
water bowser would deliver water once every four days.
“40 liters a day was not enough and raising our share of the water money was some-
times difficult,” Gumato says. Now, because of the borehole, she says she has enough
water to bathe her baby and even water her young goats.
How the Borehole Operates
Bonaya Abduda is one of the seven members of the Burgabo Borehole Management
Committee. He is the borehole operator and his role is to make sure people and live-
stock have water. There are 289 households (1,730) people living within Burgabo, but
the borehole serves many more.
Bonaya ensures that the camel owners pay the USD 0.1 fee per camel and that goat
and sheep owners pay USD 0.01 while people with cattle pay 0.05. People who come
with donkeys with jerry cans pay USD 0.01 per trip but those without pay 0.05, same
as those who come with a 20 liter jerry can. Bonaya also ensures that cattle, goats and
sheep are only watered after two days, while camels can only be watered after 6 days
to ensure every livestock keeper gets a fair chance to water their livestock. Bonaya is
also a herder and during the drought he lost 350 of his 400 goats and knows all too
well the plight of livestock keepers.
In a month the borehole management committee collects USD 350 which goes to pur-
chase of diesel whenever there is not enough sunlight to solar pump the water and for
minor repairs. Bonaya is paid a salary of USD 150 per month as a borehole operator.
Whenever a group of livestock arrives at the borehole, they are gathered together
and counted. Bonaya then costs it and their keepers pay.
“Everything around here is pegged on this borehole, the livelihood of this community
and beyond, even as far as 100 kilometers. We depend entirely on this borehole. In
fact we regard it as rain to us,” explains Bonaya.
Not far from the waterhole, a group of women are trying their hands at drip irrigation
inside shade nets. At Tigo center, 18 kilometres from Burgabo, another group com-
prising men and women is trying sack gardening and tree planting. All these initiatives
are only possible because of the Burgabo borehole.
Gumato Denge from Area Chief, Burgabo, Marsabit County, Kenya. Gumato moved
to Burgabo to be near the water source (August 2018)
Sheep watering at Burgabo borehole, Marsabit County, Kenya (August 2018)
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13. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
From Food Vouchers to A Promising Farm - Margaret
Lemamani, Isiolo County
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Before the 2016 drought, Margaret was a subsis-
tence farmer growing just maize and beans. She
says that most of the time a good harvest came
by chance but often they got just 50 kilograms of
maize from their quarter acre crop field. The rest
of their one acre farm had a few livestock for milk
for their domestic use. Together with her husband,
a casual laborer, they tried to raise their seven chil-
dren the best they could.
During the drought, their simple life was shattered
when their village, Elsa-Ntirim, in Isiolo County,
northern Kenya, was invaded by neighboring pas-
toralist communities. The main cause of that con-
flict was livestock. Pastoralist from neighboring ar-
eas invaded Elsa-Ntirim and were forcefully grazing
on their farms.
“We were forcefully evicted and escaped to Ng’am-
bo Boru for our own security. We could not do any
form of agriculture during that time. Apart from
grazing on our fields they raided our houses and
threatened us with guns,” she adds.
“I began harvesting my kales and cowpeas
(kunde) leaves two weeks ago and I feel very
happy that every evening I make USD 2 and
I also have something to eat,” says Marga-
ret Lemamani. “My life has never been this
good and this has really motivated me to put
energy into farming,” she adds.

14. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.
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At Ng’ambo Boru, Margaret and the other displaced people survived on food
vouchers from Caritas for a period of three months. The food vouchers were pro-
vided through a program funded by Cafod and the DEC drought appeal.
Later when security was restored, Margaret returned to her home and once again
they received food vouchers for another three months.
“Caritas really helped us. The food vouchers we received is what sustained us and
our children. They also gave us improved vegetable seeds and brought us the gov-
ernment agronomist who taught us proper farming,” she says.
Margaret received a number of vegetable seeds including green grams seeds, cow-
peas, beans, pigeon peas, tomatoes and kales. She begun harvesting vegetables
early August. She was selling part of her produce to her neighbors and consuming
the rest with her family.
Margaret sounds both determined and motivated.
“In my ten years of farming, I have never had anything this valuable in my life,”
she says. “Right now, cooking oil, soap, sugar, and the staple maize meal, all come
from this farm. Nowadays I feel more relaxed even if I don’t have sugar or cooking
oil I know that by evening I will sell my vegetables and buy the item and so am
really grateful to Caritas,” she adds.
Margaret says that in a week she harvests a 50 kilogram sack of vegetables and
she expects her tomatoes, which are progressing very well, to be ready soon. Her
friends often come along to admire her vegetables and she has been advising
them to take farming more seriously.
Margaret has expanded her crop field to half an acre. She plans to save some
money from her farm for her children’s school and college fees and to expand her
crop field to cover most of her one acre farm. From the sales of her vegetables,
she bought herbicides costing USD 3 to spray on her tomatoes.
Together with her neighbors, they received a non-diesel water pump, commonly
referred to as ‘money maker pump’ from Caritas. Her dream is to build a 6m x 6m
dam in her compound to hold surface runoff water and the furrow irrigation water
they receive once a week. With this she would be in a position to irrigate her farm
twice a week and also grow more marketable crops like onions.
Margaret Lemamani a food voucher and agriculture training beneficiary in her
farm at Elsa-Ntirim, Isiolo County Kenya (August 2018)
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15. Better Water Supply Changing the Face of Daaba
Primary and the Surrounding Community
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Daaba Primary is in Nakuprat location in Isiolo County, north-
ern Kenya. The school has 274 students. The school, Daaba
dispensary and the local community of 3,000 households all
suffered when the water system broke down in 2016. The
tank at the borehole had cracked and could not hold any wa-
ter and at the same time, its solar pump was not working well.
For eight months the school had serious water problems.
The deputy head teacher says during those eight months,
teachers fetched water for their houses from a well, one kilo-
meter away from the school. This was very tiresome and risky
since many of them are not locals. They had to leave school
early, and in the mornings would come in late for the same
reason.
“When Caritas came, we explained to them our water prob-
lems and the solution they said was to get a new 10,000 liter
tank and elevate it to enable it build pressure and flow to all
tanks in the school and to the community water points,” ex-
“Previously the school would ask children
from upper classes to ferry water to school
in five liter jerry cans, and as a result they
often came late,” says David Kaimenyi,
the deputy head teacher, Daaba primary
school. “Safety of this water was not guar-
anteed, and one time a boy got injured in
an open well while fetching water to bring
to school,” he explains.
Students from Daaba primary school, Nakuprat Location Isiolo, with Caritas staff Winfred Wanjiru at
a hand washing point (August 2018)......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

16. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
plains James Nkayai, the chief of Daaba. In addition to the elevated 10,000 liter tank,
Caritas put up a more efficient solar system (3 phase) to pump water from the bore-
hole. Caritas also bought a 1,000 liter hand wash water tank for the school. Increased
access to safe and clean water, hygiene and sanitation initiative by Caritas, was sup-
ported by Cafod and the DEC drought appeal. The initiative reached 7,000 people in
seven locations in Isiolo during the 2016-2017 drought.
Impact of the New Water System
“Daaba borehole serves 18,000 people (3,000 households) the school and close to
50,000 livestock from the locals and from the neighboring community every month,”
says Chief James Nkayai. Chief Nkayai explains that when weather is fine, the 10,000
liter tank now fills up in 2.5 hours while the old solar system took double the time
(4 hours). Daaba primary has a school feeding program and therefore needs to have
water every day and on time. Because of elevated tanks, water is directly piped to the
school and to teacher quarters.
“Because of water, my teachers are very motivated, they report to class at 7:00am and
often leave school at 5:00pm and as a result, academic performance of the children
has greatly improved,” say the deputy head teacher. Due to efficient supply of water,
the school has embarked on a major tree planting drive using recycled water and so
far have planted 200 trees. In the ‘one child, one tree’ program, every child has a tree
which they are expected to continuously tend to and water. These trees (neem trees)
were also from Caritas. The deputy head teacher says that children are a lot cleaner
as a result of the hand wash system near the toilet facilities. With the extra tanks from
Caritas, there is less conflict with community who used to drain water from school
tanks at night and during holidays.
“I am very happy with Caritas for helping us with the water, they have been our very
close and reliable friend. During the 2016-2017 drought they supported us in many
other sectors including cash transfers, food vouchers, and even a mobile clinic,” says
Chief James Nkayai who has been the area chief for the past 12 years.
How the Water System is Managed
The entire water system is managed by a water management committee of 12 people
elected by the community. The committee charges water users a small fee for do-
ing repairs and paying people working at the water points. Livestock keepers with 50
goats and above pay USD 3 per month and are entitled to water their goats 15 times a
month. Households pay USD 1 per month and this entitles them to fetch eight 20 liter
jerry cans (160 litres) per day.
Angelina Ngolo a member of Daaba community, Nakuprat Location, Isiolo County,
Kenya with her twins at a Daaba community water point (August 2018)
Students from Daaba primary school, Nakuprat Location Isiolo, Kenya watering
trees they planted in the school (August 2018)......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

17. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Recovering from the Drought... Ware Dulacha
Invests in Indigenous Chicken and Vegetables
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Before the drought, Ware Dulacha an elderly lady from Da-
dach Kambi, Marsabit County in the northern Kenya was
doing fairly ok. She had 34 goats and 21 cows and from this
she was able to care for her children and her aging hus-
band. However when the drought came, her livelihood was
almost wiped out.
Ware Dulacha, from the small village of Kubi Qalo was
among the 300 people from Dadach Kambi enrolled to re-
ceive unconditional cash transfer from Caritas in a drought
relief program funded by Cafod and the DEC drought ap-
peal. Ware received USD 30 per month for a period of three
months.
Because of the money, Ware Dulacha and her family were
able to buy food for themselves during the drought. She
is slowly recovering and her seven (7) goats that survived
have given birth to seven (7) kids and now has 14 goats in
total. From the surviving five cows she sold three in order to
pay school fees for her two children who are in the univer-
sity. Luckily some of her cows have calved and she now has
two calves from the three cows.
“Of my 34 goats, 27 died and I was left with
just seven” says Ware Dulacha. “I also lost
16 of my 21 cows and the remaining five
were in a bad condition,” she adds. “My
family and I survived the drought because
Caritas was generous enough to come to
our aid.

18. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.
Out of her final cash grant, Ware bought indigenous chicken (a hen and cock) each
at USD 6 and now she has nine adult chicken, some of which are laying eggs and are
providing her food and cash. She sells an egg for USD 0.15 to her neighbors. Ware also
bought a water pipe, through which she waters her shade-net vegetable garden from
the nearby borehole. The vegetable garden was also from Caritas and from it she gets
a little money from sale of vegetables to her neighbors.
“My family and I survived the drought because Caritas was generous enough to come
to our aid. I wasn’t a beneficiary in the first round because my livestock were still
alive, but was selected into the second round of unconditional cash transfers by the
community,” says Ware.
How the Process Worked
Ware Galgalo says that they were informed that Caritas was planning to support 150
homes severely affected by drought in Dadach Kambi. The three villages under Dad-
ach Kambi met and first agreed that based on their population, Dadach Kambi Centre
would take 100 slots while Kubi Qalo 1 would get 30 slots and Kubi Qalo 2 was to get
20 slots. Each village was then asked to meet and select from amongst themselves the
most deserving household. Her village, Kubi Qalo 2 held a meeting attended by all 64
households in the village. She says in addition to losing her livestock, she says she was
selected because she had a very elderly husband who was not able to work and bring
home an income and none of her children have a job.
Once the beneficiaries were selected, a management committee was also selected. A
few days after this was done, Caritas called the committee to inform them of a date
when they will come to distribute the cash. On the material day, they gathered in a
central location and were each handed the money in cash after they signed that they
had received it.
Ware Dalacha says she prefers the method of delivery of the unconditional cash trans-
fer because they don’t incur any transport costs to go and withdraw this money from a
bank or from Mpesa, a mobile phone based money transfer system popular in Kenya.
She says that the cash money gives her flexibility and freedom to buy what she really
needs and gives the example of her chicken and water pipes which are now a source
of income.
“I would really like to give thanks to Caritas for the support, I didn’t have a means of
income, but they came to our aid and I am very happy and I would like to ask them
not to forget about us and to help others just like they have helped us because many
people are suffering and need help like us,” says Ware.
Ware Dulacha, an unconditional cash transfer beneficiary from Kubi Qalo, Dadach
Kambi, Marsabit County, Kenya with her indigenous chicken (August 2018)
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

19. Being a Caritas Food Vendor Changed my Life -
Raphaela Lokadon
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Before the 2016 drought, I had a small shop made from mud
that doubled up as my home, but this changed when the
community selected me to become their food vendor un-
der the food voucher program by Caritas. I have now built a
permanent house made from stones and better quality iron
sheets for my roof and this has made my business, my life
and that of my family better.
Unlike others around I didn’t have any livestock back in
2016. And so in order to take care of my three children and
my niece, I ran a small window shop where I sold food and
household items. My shop never lacked items, however
small the units were. The turnover from my business was
an average of USD 7 per day and out of this I made a profit
of about USD 1.35 per day which I spent on items like food,
school fees for my form 1 child and other domestic neces-
sities. I am a widow and so I don’t have anyone else to lean
on.
When the drought came, my business begun running at
almost a loss. My sales reduced to just USD 2.25 per day.
My customers, most of whom depend on livestock, had
lost close to 80% of their herd and hence had no money to
buy things. My other customers engage in charcoal burn-
ing, but this was declared illegal by the government, and
so they too didn’t have money to buy from my shop and
would just come to ask for items on credit instead.
“Before the 2016 drought, I had a small
shop made from mud that doubled up
as my home, but this changed when the
community selected me to become their
food vendor under the food voucher pro-
gram by Caritas,” Raphaela Lokadon
Raphaela Lokadon, a Caritas Food Vendor inside her shop in Daaba Village, Isiolo County,
Kenya (August 2018)
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

20. When Caritas came to assist at the start of the drought, they informed us that they
wanted to do a food voucher program to help people in Daaba who were affected by
drought.
In our village we were asked to select from amongst ourselves 100 very needy people
who would receive the food voucher. Each selected household was to receive a food
voucher worth USD 30 per month for a period of three months. This was done in two
phases. These families got food from selected vendors who had functioning shops
in the village of Daaba. I was selected by the community to be one of the three food
vendors because my shop was a bit stable.
I was allocated 30 households to supply food items to and then claim the money from
Caritas. This voucher was like their cash. I would take the voucher from them and
in exchange give them food worth USD 30 of their choice. We would then take the
voucher to Caritas office or we would gather them and then call Caritas to come and
collect them from us. After that Caritas would give us a cheque to deposit in our bank
accounts. Payment from Caritas was very efficient.
We were instructed not to give people things like miraa (khat) tobacco and even wash-
ing soap. The voucher was strictly for various food items, salt and cooking oil. Getting
money for the food stocks was initially a challenge for many of us, however since at
that time I had some savings that I had put aside as school fees for my form one child, I
used this money to bring in the first food stocks. Life became much better after Caritas
paid us.
During the time of the food vouchers my sales rose to more than USD 30 per day. Out
of this I got an average profit of USD 1,000 per month for a total of six months. It is
from this profit that I built a second house, this time a permanent one made of stone
and put aside money for my child’s school fees. I also bought a number of household
items I never had before, like a table, seats and kitchen utensils.
Previously I am the only one who had a separate room and a bed. My children now
have their own separate bedroom and this has made both me and my children very
happy. Some of my shop products last much longer than before. Things like flour are
safe from termites. Because my new house has special roofing iron sheets which emit
less heat, my tomatoes last for four days while before they would only last for two
days.
My children and I stay well, eat well, and dress better too. I have increased stock in
my shop. For example I used to bring 25kgs of rice, but now I can even bring the 90kg
bag, but that depends on what my customers need.
I thank Caritas for helping the community of Daaba at our time of great need.
Raphaela Lokadon, a Caritas Food Vendor outside her newly constructed shop made
from stones, cement and better quality roofing, in Daaba Village, Isiolo County
Raphaela Lokadon, outside her old mud house cum window shop.
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

21. Community Coordination and Feedback System that
Works - Jarso Duba and Denge Jarso
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Getting communities involved in work by agencies, and estab-
lishing a two-way communication especially during emergen-
cies is often a big challenge. In Boru Haro and Dadach Kambi in
Marsabit County, northern Kenya, Caritas and the community
seems to have found a formula that works.
Jarso Duba is a village elder and also the chairperson of the
Community Coordination Committee for Boru Haro location,
in Marsabit County. Jarso and his committee of eight compris-
ing of old men, women and youth were a very important part
of the Caritas delivery chain during the 2016-2017 drought.
They served four villages, each village represented in the com-
mittee by two people.
“So generally when CARITAS came they informed us of their
intention and the kind of aid that they wanted to give us then
we as the management committee sat down and made deci-
sion with the community on who should receive the food for
fees, who are the most vulnerable to be enrolled in the food
voucher program and the vendors to supply food to the bene-
ficiaries,” explains Jarso Duba.
“So when CARITAS came and informed us
of their intention, we as the management
committee sat down and made decision
with the community on who should receive
the food for fees, who are the most vulner-
able to be enrolled in the food voucher pro-
gram and the vendors to supply food to the
beneficiaries,” explains Jarso Duba.
Kame Roba (R) a food voucher beneficiary from Bonaya Malate Village, Bubisa Marsabit County,
Kenya receives her food items from businessman Ali Malicha. (August 2018)
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

22. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.
.
“In that way the process came out as a free and fair one because members of the
manyatta (villages) were also involved in the process,” he adds.
Boru Haro had 80 households’ beneficiaries of the food vouchers and were served by
two food vendors. The committee held meetings with the food vendors to agree with
them exactly the kinds of food items they must have in their shops for the day people
come to collect food and ensure that the normal prices are not hiked. During col-
lection, the committee supervised the distribution and handled any complaints that
arose.
“We made sure that everybody got all their foods of choice and that the food was
worth USD 40.05 per household,” says Jarso Duba.
Several students from the village also received food for fees support. After the schools
had given Caritas the names of students with fee balances from Boru Haro, Caritas
handed over these names to the committee and it is the committee that verified on
the ground that indeed the named students existed, were from their village and also
that they were needy cases that required support. Denge Jarso Doti is a member of
the community management committee at Dadach Kambi village in Segante location.
The committee, selected directly by the people, comprises six people, three men and
three women. Dadach Kambi has 250 households in total and out of these, Caritas
assisted 150 households.
“When we hear something, we give this information to the villagers, and whenever
the villages have a planning meeting, we chair those, in addition, if there are troubles,
we sort that out too,” explains Denge Jarso Doti. In the case of Dadach Kambi, selec-
tion of beneficiaries was done by the community themselves and not the committee.
Jarso says that he has the telephone numbers of officers from Caritas who he can call
in case of any complaints. Caritas with support from Cafod and the DEC drought ap-
peal did several interventions in these villages during the 2016-2017 drought.
How the Feedback System Works - James Galgalo Explains
The idea behind the feedback mechanism concept is accountability, adherence to core
humanitarian standards that stipulates that there must be very clear communication
and link between the people who deliver the project and the project beneficiaries.
The committees must be active and must give information to the community or feed-
back to the project beneficiaries. If the feedback doesn’t come then it could be inter-
preted differently. This could mean they don’t know what they are entitled to and they
don’t know what to expect and therefore they cannot give a feedback of what they
don’t know.
The criteria established to identify beneficiaries must be clear and acceptable to the
community themselves. The community members must be involved because they
know the poor amongst them, and they have certain understanding of what poverty
is, so on the basis of that they identify people who are entitled to that service.
When this is done well and they are involved you get a working feedback mechanism.
Denge Jarso Doti, chairperson community management committee, Boru Haro
village in Segante location, Marsabit County Kenya (August 2018)
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

23. From Pure Pastoralism to Sack Gardening - Tigo Arid
Lands Self Help Group
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Members of the Arid Lands Self Help Group inside their garden at Tigo, Marsabit County, Kenya (2018)
“I left to look for water with hundreds of live-
stock but came back with nothing,” says Deko
Roba a member of the Arid Lands Self Help
Group. “When the animals started dying, we
also feared for our lives,” he adds.“Since I lost
basically everything, I am trying crop farming
for the very first time,” he explains.
Deko Roba says he wants to reduce his dependency on the
nomadic way of life due to the many challenges they have
faced with livestock.
“The world is changing and we want to change with it,” ex-
plains Deko Roba, a member of the group.
Arid Lands Self Help Group comprises 20 people, most of
whom lost almost all of their livestock during the 2016-
2017 drought and as a result have decided to try something
entirely different. They have started growing crops in sacks
inside shade-nets.
Deko Roba and his group are from the pure pastoralist
Gabra community from Tigo Area of Marsabit. Before the
2016 drought, Deko himself had 600 goats and sheep, lost
almost all of them and just five survived. He lost all his 10
donkeys because back then, the nearest watering point
was 40 kilometres away. Caritas has now dug a borehole at
Burgabo, 18 kilometres away from Tigo.
Deko’s story is not different from the rest of the group
members (10 men 10 women). The group currently has
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

24. 1200 vegetable seedlings which when mature they will sell some and consume some.
They say that they chose vegetables, kales and spinach, because of the good prices
they fetched in the area.
“Currently a small bunch of spinach brought in from other counties is sold for USD 1
in this area, so we hope we will get good profits from our vegetables and also use it
as food for our families,” says Bukuno Denge, another member of the group. Bukuno
had 800 goats before the drought but only 10 survived. He lost his six donkeys which
he often used to ferry water for his household. He is now a casual laborer at a nearby
school.
Denge says that when Caritas came in to deliver water through trucks to them, as
well as food vouchers, he together with other group members were introduced to
shade-net farming, sack gardening and in tree planting. All the group members were
livestock keepers who after they lost their livestock, had nothing much to do. And so
when they were challenged to take up crop farming it was easy for them and they
say they are happy with the outcome of their effort that is taking shape. Each of the
members will buy sacks for their home sack gardens, but as a group they are starting
with 20 sack gardens.
“When we started this work, community members from around said this was not pos-
sible, now they are asking us to do another list to present to Caritas to help them start
their own groups,” he says.
The group also started tree planting, focusing on drought tolerant trees specifically
acacia, moringa and Lucerne. They have planted 31 tree seedlings so far.
How the Group Operates
Every day, two group members are assigned the duty of managing the crops in the
shade-net. They water the seed beds and clear insects and ensure their crops are se-
cured from children and livestock, especially camels. Their farm is 63x20 meters and
with help from Caritas, will be fenced soon to enhance its security.
Group members contribute USD 1 per month and by August 2018, the six months old
group had USD 300 as savings. Though they haven’t started lending, they plan to start
doing so in the future.
Caritas with funding from Cafod and the Disaster Emergency Appeal, DEC. Caritas did
water trucking to Tigo for eight months, once every five days and also provided 117
households with food vouchers worth USD 50 for three months. When the drought
ended, Caritas conducted trainings on dry land agriculture.
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Members of the Arid Lands Self Help Group inside their garden at Tigo, Marsabit
County, Kenya (2018)
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25. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Tony Waikwa, Youthful Farmer Trained by Caritas
and Provided with Seeds and Water Pump
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
I am a 26 year old farmer from
Elsa Ntirim in Isiolo County. I
started engaging in agriculture
in the year 2013 having no oth-
er source of income. At that time
my specialization was in cereal
farming but because of the high
cost of life and financial demands
that I could not meet by just ce-
real farming, I decided to try out
cash crop farming where I was
trained by Caritas to do farming
of onions, tomatoes, vegetables,
spinach, butter nuts and capsi-
cum.
Because of the training by Caritas,
there was a significant change my
life as my profit grew significant-
ly. From it I could feed my family,
buy clothes, pay school fees and
save for future use.
“Because of the training by Caritas, there
was a significant change in my life as my
profit grew significantly. From it I could
feed my family, buy clothes, pay school
fees and save for future use,” Tony Waik-
wa

26. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
The drought of 2016 really affected us. We lost most of our crops due to lack of water.
To make matters worse the pastoralists invaded our farms and grazed their cattle so
we did not get anything. They even attacked our homes with guns and so we had to
flee our village.
So when peace was restored CARITAS come and gave us livestock pellets, food vouch-
er amounting to USD 30 per month for a period of three months. Other than that they
also carried out medical workshops whereby selected members of the community
were taught and enrolled as community health volunteers to help sort out medical
issues within the community. They also brought medicine for the ill and also the mal-
nourished children around here.
To sort out the water issue CARITAS dug for us four boreholes that would cushion
us from the drought. With the availability of water they gave us seeds that we could
plant and also foot pumps (money maker pumps) so that we would not rely entirely
on rainfall for farming.
As an individual I would say CARITAS helped us a great deal. They provided us with the
expertise and things that we did not have to help us overcome the drought.
After the training I borrowed money from our youth group for land preparation and
for pesticides and fertilizer.
The seeds that we got from CARITAS were of high quality and that is evident from the
produce that I am about to harvest. Unlike the previous harvests this one is even more
encouraging to the farmer. If the market price favors us as farmers then we hope to
get good profits which will encourage us to put more effort into farming.
From the sale of my tomatoes, my hope is to upgrade my house to a more decent one
and try my hand on zero grazing so that I can have a more stable income. At some
point I would like to purchase a motorcycle for my business and to help transporting
my family to and from home.
I would like to thank CARITAS for the support they have provided us over the harsh
period that we went through and if possible they continue helping in the event that
another calamity befalls us. They should not only provide us with seeds but also pes-
ticides and fertilizer for cash crops.
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27. BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
In order to come up with the best practices and lessons, we conducted in-depth in-
terviews with the National Drought Management Authority, NDMA coordinators for
Marsabit and Isiolo. The discussions centered on effective coordination with the gov-
ernment and other agencies as well as with other agencies during drought emergen-
cies. Our interview with the Director of Agriculture for Isiolo was to find out the place
of crop farming in community resilience to droughts. Secondly we surveyed 210 direct
beneficiaries in Marsabit and Isiolo using the representative sample method. The sur-
vey focused on the following areas:
a) Beneficiary Targeting and Selection: What was the process of bene-
ficiary targeting? How did Caritas decide on the profile of the people
it helped? With the overall profile in mind, how did Caritas go about
actual selection of beneficiaries? Was it a free-for-all, random selec-
tion, government allocation on areas and people to support, or was
it a community decision on who among them needed help the most?
b) Selection of items to Deliver and Nature of Support: During the
emergency, what exactly were the top seven needs of the people
per location, ranked from the most important? Of these many needs,
what did Caritas deliver to the people?
c) Method of Delivery and Delivery Approach: How did Caritas deliv-
er emergency response to the intended people? Was it through di-
rect implementation, through partners, through contractors, through
community structures, through the private sector players? Was it a
‘resilience approach’ that ‘did no harm?’ Did the targeting, selection
of people and items as well as method of delivery, conform to the
industry best practices? Did it improve on the current market struc-
tures in the community? Did it make use of community production
and marketing structures? Did it make use of the private sector struc-
tures?
d) Results and Impact: Did Caritas interventions save lives? Did it im-
prove for example the community’s future production capacity, its
distribution capacity, its manpower capacity, its use of local resources
capacity, and its cash flow capacity? What were the overall impact of
Caritas interventions?
e) Timeliness and Adequacy: Was the drought response timely? Did
Caritas do it on time or at the right time to alleviate suffering of the
people? Was the Caritas support adequate, was it enough?
SURVEY FINDINGS
a) Beneficiary Targeting and Selection
In Marsabit, 39% of those who received Caritas support said they were
single parents, elderly or disabled. In Isiolo the percentage under this
category was 35%. Those who said they had lost all or most of their live-
stock in Marsabit was 38% while in Isiolo this figure was 15%. Those who
they were selected because they had no source of income were 43% in
Marsabit and 45% in Isiolo. Two unique response from Isiolo was that
8% said they were selected because they were breastfeeding while 3%
said they were selected because they had been displaced by conflict.
Best practice and lesson: Caritas beneficiary targeting was efficient and those
selected meet the profile of those ordinarily expected to receive support
during drought emergencies.
b) Selection of items to Deliver / Nature of Support
During the drought emergency 100% of direct beneficiaries in Marsabit said
that food was their top need while in Isiolo 87% said food was their top need.
Water was the second need for 79% of people in Marsabit and 78% in Isio-
lo. For Marsabit the next three most important needs were school fees 43%,
livestock feed 39% and money 12%. In Isiolo the next three most important
needs of the people was medication at 75% followed by livestock feed at 56%
and farm inputs at 24 %.
When this is compared to what was actually delivered from Caritas, 85% ben-
eficiaries in Marsabit said they received food vouchers and unconditional cash
grant. It is assumed that the unconditional cash grant was spent on food. In
Isiolo 75% said they received food vouchers. In Marsabit, those that said they
received water was 33% through trucking and 9% through tanks. In Isiolo 51%
said they received livestock feed, 21% received medical support while 14%
received farm inputs.
Best practice and lesson: Caritas should continue to conduct rapid assess-
ment of needs before determining the nature of support to provide to com-
munities.

28. BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
c) Method of Delivery and Delivery Approach
In Marsabit 41% of beneficiaries said that the community elders reported
matters surrounding the drought to Caritas, who came to the ground to do
needs assessment, followed by a community gathering and during that gath-
ering criteria for beneficiary selection was given. In Isiolo, 61% said the above
method was used.
In terms of delivery in Marsabit 36% said delivery was through local vendors
while in Isiolo 27% said the same and 19% said it was direct delivery (e.g bore-
hole repair and construction). In Isiolo 13% said that administrative officers
from the government (e.g agricultural officers) and community leaders deliv-
ered the support. A unique response in Isiolo was that 6% of the beneficiaries
said they were not aware of the procedure used to select them.
Best practice and lesson: Caritas should continue to prioritize use of commu-
nity structures to determine needs of community, and use these community
structures to do beneficiary selection and monitoring. It should also continue
to do delivery through local vendors. In some sites, specifically in Isiolo, more
education and communication needs to be done next time to increase the
level of awareness and satisfaction.
d) Results and Impact
From the survey 57 % of beneficiaries in Isiolo who received food vouchers
said they could afford a decent meal on a daily basis. In the same county
48% of those who received pellets and clean water said this assistance helped
their livestock survive and now they have increased in number. A further 23%
who got medical support said their children are recovering from malnutrition
while some have already fully recovered.
In Marsabit 43% said that as a result of Caritas interventions they had learned
better agricultural practices (shade net, sack garden, kitchen garden) and are
engaging in productive agriculture for subsistence and for sale. In the same
county, 28% of those who received unconditional cash transfer said they were
able to meet their household needs, while 11% said because of Caritas sup-
port their children go to school on a regular basis.
In Marsabit 36% said they no longer beg or take loans to survive, while 23%
said that with water and food, they can take better care of their animals. In the
same county 12% said they no longer spend time looking for water.
In Isiolo 23% of those who received seed and agricultural training are now
engaging in agriculture for consumption and for sale.
Best practice and lesson: From the survey, the Caritas interventions had a
clear impact on the lives of the people and in some cases, this support has
translated to better lives after the drought.
e) Timeliness and Adequacy:
In Marsabit 92% beneficiaries said that the support was adequate while 8%
said Caritas should have added them a little more. In Isiolo 63% said that they
felt that Caritas support was adequate while 37% said Caritas should have in-
creased their level of support.
In terms of timeliness, 97% in Marsabit and 96% in Isiolo said assistance from
Caritas came on time. 3% of people in Marsabit said the support was delayed
while 4% in Isiolo said the same.
Best practice and lesson: From the survey, an overwhelming percentage of
people say assistance from Caritas came on time. In terms of adequacy, in
Isiolo the level of satisfaction was significantly lower and Caritas should find
out reasons for this and if possible address the issue.

29. BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS
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We conducted in-depth interviews with the National Drought Man-
agement Authority, NDMA, coordinators for Marsabit and Isiolo, as
well as with the Director of Agriculture of Isiolo, and we were able
to draw the following findings on the best practices and lessons for
Caritas.
Background
According to Mr. Lordman Lekalkuli, the NDMA Coordinator for Isio-
lo, the drought of 2016-2017 was worse than the previous drought of
2010 – 2011. The difference between the two was that in the drought
of 2016-2017, communities in Isiolo had nowhere to run within the
county. The dry season grazing reserves and strategic water resourc-
es like River Ewaso Nyiro were depleted and for the first time people
from Isiolo were moving to neighboring counties.
His sentiments were echoed by the NDMA coordinator for Marsabit
who said that this 2016-2017 drought was more prolonged than the
previous ones.
NDMA plays a coordination role in drought management, and as the
government agency at the center of drought response, actors like
Caritas do drought response on behalf of the agency. The NDMA
has a contingency plan that guides all drought emergency respons-
es. When the drought begins, NDMA triggers this contingency plan
and develops a response plan, with members of the County Steering
Group, CSG. Alongside the response plan, a draft budget is tabled.
The governor of the county then develops an appeal letter and this
letter is attached to the response plan and budget and is then shared
with the partners and donors.
Once the partners and donors respond, NDMA coordinates this re-
sponse directly and through periodic County Steering Group, CSG
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Working with Government Agencies: Lessons in Coordina-
tion, Disclosure, Flexibility, Diversification, Social Audits
Medina Galgalo from Katelo Umuro village, a water user at Burgabo borehole, Marsabit County,
Kenya (August 2018)

30. BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS
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meeting with partners. Out of this county steering group the county has technical
working groups i.e. the cash technical working group where Caritas is a member. It is
through this working that a decision to harmonize rates for cash transfers across all
agencies was reached. And so when doing their response (e.g cash transfer) having
consulted with NDMA, Caritas were able to harmonize and standardize their rates.
Lessons
All government agencies emphasized the need for coordination, disclosure, flexibility,
diversification, social audits and accountability as well as documentation as the key to
an effective drought response. Partner’s performance was gauged on these parame-
ters.
“Caritas performed well in terms of consultations with NDMA, in their targeting cri-
teria, diversity in their range of support and their flexibility, I cannot compare them
with any other agency, am very happy with them,” said Mr. Lordman Lekalkuli, NDMA
coordinator, Isiolo County.
Mr. Lordman said that before Caritas embarked on any of its interventions, it took
time to come to NDMA to explain and discuss with NDMA their plans. According to
him, this disclosure was very important to avoid duplication and to ensure proper
targeting of responses. He also said that Caritas, unlike other agencies were diverse
in their response, covering several areas from food vouchers, water trucking, bore-
hole construction, medical service delivery, support around malnutrition and livestock
feed. This diversity of support made working with Caritas easy because they could be
entrusted with a ward to deliver several services at once.
“Caritas is a special team, they are reliable, dependable and flexible,” says Mr. Henry
Alkano, the NDMA drought emergency response officer for Marsabit County.
“They (Caritas) are a team you can reason with and that is why all members of the
CSG are happy to work with them. They are an asset and have saved lives and saved
situations and If everybody would do what Caritas is doing, then we will not be in
firefighting mode,” he adds.
Mr. Henry explains that some agencies get money from a donor, go to the ground
direct without reporting to NDMA, and after implementing they come to report to
NDMA, not knowing that sometimes they are implementing what the government
has already allocated funds to and this causes a lot of challenges. He says that some
agencies are not flexible and un willing to move from an area or a community, but
adds that when NDMA asks Caritas to move from one community to another, they are
willing to deliberate, reason with them and then move.
Mr. Lordman Lekalkuli, NDMA coordinator, Isiolo County

31. PICTORIALS
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Mary Nater Eloto, from Nakuprat location, Daaba village, Isiolo County. Mary was a
beneficiary of the medical outreach program, livestock feed as well as food voucher
Sube Ibrahim, a mother of two and a beneficiary of the Infant and Young Child Feed-
ing (IYFC). Sube is from Mataa Gari village, Garba Tulla, Isiolo County

32. PICTORIALS
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Ewaton Rosiayi, a 61 year old farmer from Morulem Village, Ntirim Isiolo County. She was a food voucher and agricultural training beneficiary
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33. PICTORIALS
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Galgalu Waqo, a livestock keeper at the Burgabo borehole, Marsabit County, Kenya (2018)

34. Samuel Mwangangi from Ndoleli location, Kina Duba in Isiolo County, Kenya. Samuel and 11 farmers from his neighborhood received a non-diesel ‘Money Mak-
er’ water pump to share and was also trained in dryland farming. Samuel was also a food voucher beneficiary.
PICTORIALS
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35. PICTORIALS
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Gumato Denge from Area Chief, Burgabo, Marsabit County, Kenya. Gumato moved to Burgabo to be near the water source

36. PICTORIALS
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Halima Adan, Principal Moi Girls High School. 71 students from her school benefited from the Food for Fees program of Caritas

37. PICTORIALS
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Woto Barille, a Caritas food vendor from Dakabaricha, Marsabit.

38. Rukia Galgalo from Manyatta Demo, Garba Tulla, Isiolo County. Rukia was a Caritas food vendor. With profits from being a food vendor she bought
this fridge which has enabled expand her business into juices and soda.
PICTORIALS
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39. Health club pupils from Nagaa Primary (from Left) Hawa Abdi, Najma Farah, Fatuma Hussein and Shukran Abdi. About 78 girls from the school re-
ceived reusable (washable) sanitary towels from Caritas. The school is in Garba Tulla, Isiolo County
PICTORIALS
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