DEC and CAFOD Appeal Emergency Drought Response in Northern Kenya 2016-2017. Case Stories and Best Practices

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

2. 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
57,240 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
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 shortages. This resulted in various
health and nutritional challenges for both people and livestock and the scarcity of resources also 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 a response in northern Kenya. With funding from this appeal, together with funds from the
Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC), CAFOD responded to the drought emergency in northern Kenya by addressing water shortages,
food insecurity, health and nutrition needs, livestock feed and ethnic conflicts by working through its local partners on the ground; Car-
itas Isiolo and Caritas Marsabit.
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3. CASE STORIES
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HOW CAFOD’S MALNUTRITION PROGRAM SAVED THE
LIVES OF BABY WINNY AND ESTHER
“When I enrolled baby Winny and Esther
into the Caritas program, they were severely
malnourished and weighed less than 10 ki-
lograms and for their ages, they were below
average,” says Magdalene Nasipan, Commu-
nity Health Volunteer, CHV Elsa-Ntirim vil-
lage, Isiolo County.
Baby Esther Mesianoi is 2 years old and was born at the
onset of the drought in northern Kenya. Today she is happy
and bubbly, but just a few months ago, she could barely
afford 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 my-
self were severely affected by the drought,” explains Eunice
Dicemba, Baby Esther’s mother. From 2016 to 2017, Isiolo
County in northern Kenya experienced prolonged periods of
drought and as a result crops, pasture and water were scarce.
Eunice, Esther’s mother says that during that time, the near-
est water source was at Nayakore, almost 10 kilometers away.
The community had lost most of its livestock due to lack of
pasture while their crops had withered in the fields, leaving
them in a disastrous situation.
Baby Winny Akuom (3.5yrs) from the village of Nayakore in
Isiolo County was also enrolled by CAFOD’s partner, Cari-
tas Isiolo into the malnutrition program. Winny’s mother
Rebecca Ngaske, a mother of seven, says her child was in a
very poor condition. Her husband is a casual laborer with no
steady source of income and during the drought the family
often ate just once a day, sometimes even missing meals
completely.
Baby Winny Akuom and Esther Mesianoi are just two of the
29 severely malnourished children admitted by CAFOD’s part-
ner Caritas Isiolo into the Outpatient Therapeutic Program
(OTP) funded by CAFOD and the DEC drought appeal.
Baby Esther Mesianoi with her mother Eunice Dicemba (Elsa-Ntirim, Isiolo County, Kenya
August 2018)
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Baby Winny Akuom and her mother Rebecca Ngaske Isiolo County, Kenya
August 2018)
How the Program Worked
During the drought, CAFOD’s partners Caritas Isiolo conducted monthly
mass screenings across several villages in Isiolo as part of its outreach pro-
gramme. This program specifically targeted children who were severely
and moderately malnourished. Of the 651 children screened, 29 children
were identified as severely malnourished.
Once infants like baby Winny and Esther were identified, they were reg-
istered and linked to their nearest health facility where CAFOD’s part-
ner Caritas Isiolo stationed Community Health Volunteers, (CHVs) who
acted as a link between the families, the health facility and Caritas Isiolo.
Baby Winny and Esther were both registered at the APU dispensary in
Elsa-Ntirim, Isiolo County. The two children were first weighed and then
had an appetite test to confirm that they were happy to eat the food
supplements (plumpy nuts and plumpy sup). They were also de-wormed
before starting the feeding program. The children were started on plumpy
nuts, receiving three nuts per day and weighed and checked on a weekly
basis.
“After four visits Baby Esther was transferred from the plumpy nut pro-
gramme to the plumpy sap programme where the plump sap is taken
once per day and children are weighed and checked every two weeks.
Fortunately, Esther’s condition significantly improved and when she exit-
ed the program she weighed 13.5 kilograms, a gain of 4kgs compared to
when she entered the programme! Winny continues to be monitored on
a monthly basis to ensure she stays on the path to full recovery,” explains
Magdalene Nasipan, the local Community Health Volunteer.
Food Voucher for the families
To complement the malnutrition program, Winny and Esther’s parents
were identified to receive special porridge alongside other breastfeeding
mothers. Their households were also selected to receive food vouch-
ers 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, particularly during times of drought and were continuously
reminded that the malnutrition program would only work if children were
also well fed at home with nutritious foods as part of their normal feeding
patterns. Their parents were among those trained on best dry land agri-
cultural practices and were also provided with improved seeds to grow
during the post drought period. They also received four bales of emergency hay 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 Isiolo for standing with us and we hope that they will continue to
support us,” says Eunice Dicemba, Esther’s mother.
The two villages of Elsa-Ntirim and Nayakore not only faced drought, but also conflict
with a neighbouring pastoralist community who were looking for grazing areas, forc-
ible evicting the villagers from their small farms, also, wildlife were escaping from
nearby conservancies in search of food.
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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’s group, in the local dia-
lect Mara Mari means ‘Lets come
together and discuss’.
“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 unnec-
essary 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 an additional six seed
beds full of seedlings from which
individual members will establish
their own kitchen gardens and sack
gardens in their homes. So far they
have planted kale, spinach, chilies
and tomatoes with the plan to also
grow capsicum.
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)
In the remote village of Katelo Umuro, Burga-
bo area of Marsabit a group of women from
the pure pastoralist Gabra community, are
trying to do what has not been done before
in the area – crop farming.
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From this venture they hope to feed
their families, raise school fees for their
children and put the rest in their group
savings. The shade nets are strategical-
ly placed some 200 meters away from
the Burgabo Borehole which was drilled
by CAFOD’s partner, Caritas Marsabit,
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 also
receive technical support from the Ward
Agriculture Officer.
“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 wa-
tering point,” says Roba Bante the Ward
Agriculture Officer
Roba Bante says it is the group members
and CAFOD’s partner, Caritas Marsabit
that facilitated the establishment of the
group nurseries, lay drip lines, spraying
and training the women on how to do all
these things themselves independently.
“If members of this group can keep forg-
ing ahead the way they are doing, without
relenting, I am confident they will get a good harvest,” he adds.
Mara Mari women’s group has been in existence for two years, the women trained
in kitchen gardening techniques by CAFOD’s partner, Caritas Marsabit and provided
with shade-nets, drip irrigation kits, water tanks, seeds and equipment. They were
also trained on group formation and management, group lending, record-keeping
and establishing small businesses, which they say, will help them even after the CA-
FOD and DEC-funded project ends. Medina Galgalo says she had 200 goats, but the
drought wiped most of them out and she only has 50 goats now. Due to that chal-
lenge they now want to maximize on the borehole and pursue agriculture and other
businesses.
Everybody in the group is delegated duties. Some are responsible for fetching water
and irrigating the shade-net gardens, others are responsible for transplanting and
nursery bed construction. At the start of September, CAFOD’s partner, Caritas
Marsabit, helped the group to pipe water directly from the borehole to their water
tank to reduce their debate with men over water. In the next phase of their support,
they plan to construct a fence around their shade-net gardens.
How the Group Operates
The group was started in 2016 and each 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 such as selling clothes, perfumes and
food. The group tries not to hold on to too much money itself and instead loans out
as much as they can. Each member who takes a loan of USD100 is expected to repay
USD110, UDS10 of which is interest and feeds back in to the savings pot. Those who
have already received loans from the group claim that they made a profit of USD45.
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.
The women said that they prefer taking loans from their group as opposed to banks
due to long distances to the towns, but also because in the unfortunate event that
somebody isn’t able to pay back on time, they can talk to the group members who
can give them more time. They say that with the banks, they are afraid that if they
don’t pay on time, their property could be taken away.
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)
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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 Boru form two student and a Food for Fees Beneficiary from Boru-Haro village,
Marsabit, Kenya (August 2018)
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“I would like to be a doctor in future so that
I can help my community and everybody in
need of medical assistance, it is the only way
I can show appreciation for the sponsorship I
have been given by Caritas Marsabit [funded
by CAFOD and DEC],” says Guyo Halakhe Dida
a form two student at St. Paul’s Secondary
School in Marsabit County.
Guyo Halakhe is from Boru-Haro village, Marsabit in north-
ern Kenya. He is one of 100 students from four schools in
Marsabit County that benefited from the Food for Fees
intervention by CAFOD’s partner Caritas Marsabit, funded by
CAFOD and the DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal.
Guyo’s father, Dida Halakhe Boru, is an agro-pastoralist with
four children, two in primary school and two in secondary
school. Before the 2016 drought, his family had 15 cows, but
lost close to half of them to the drought and unfortunately
the family now have only eight. The cows and their small farm
were their main source of income, before the drought, each
day the family got 3.5 liters of milk and sold 2.5 liters, giving
him an income above USD50 a month to feed and clothe his
family. Occasionally, he would sell one of his cows USD200 to
pay for school fees for his two children in secondary school.
“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.
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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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Halakhe Dida Boru is currently a casual worker and says the drought has rendered
him helpless and he can barely afford to look after his family.
Before being enrolled in the food for fees programme, Guyo had a fee balance of
USD450 and 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. Although the
Kenyan government had issued a directive that students should not be sent home for
fees, it would always be difficult for schools to provide for children without enough
resources, including food, to do so.
The CAFOD and DEC funded programme contributed USD350 for Guyo’s school fees.
His parents secured the rest of the fee balance from the constituency development
fund, CDF a fund established by the government in 2003 and run by Members of
Parliament. This fund was designed to support constituency-level, grass-root devel-
opment projects. 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 peacefully.” 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 USD200 which her mother, Amina, a single moth-
er of three, was having difficulty paying. Amina sells khat, a plant which is often used
as a stimulant but her businesses was dramatically impacted due to no customers
willing to buy khat with an empty stomach, and most likely, having to make a deci-
sion between food and khat.
“I used to feel bad and stressed all the time, and my grade dropped from a B+ to C+,”
Jillo says. “After my school fees were paid life became much better, I say thank you
to Caritas Marsabit.”.
How the Program Worked
CAFOD’s partner, Caritas Marsabit approached schools in areas most affected by
drought and also visited the neighboring schools that had students from the most af-
fected areas. They got a report 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 then
wrote off the student’s fee balances equivalent to amount of food purchased.
“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
Halima Aden, the Principal of Moi Girls Marsabit High School, where 71 students
benefited from this program. To complement the programme, Guyo and Jillo’s fami-
lies were part of the 445 households in Marsabit County that received food vouchers
worth USD40 per month for a period of three months.
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From Food Support to Promising Agric and Poultry
Ventures - Ann Nyaruayi, 64 year old farmer
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“During the 2016 drought, our children
disappeared from home into the bushes to
scavenge for food and even stopped going
to school altogether,” says Ann Nyaru-
ai, food voucher and agriculture training
beneficiary from Elsa-Ntirim village, Isiolo
County.
“In exchange for a little food and money, many of us went to
fetch firewood for people in the neighboring county. The sit-
uation 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 Isiolo, I think some of us would have
been found dead,” adds Ann Nyaruai, a 64 year old grand-
mother from Elsa-Ntirim village, Isiolo County in northern
Kenya.
Ann’s household was one of the 100 from Ntirim village that
received food vouchers worth USD 30 per month for three
months from CAFOD’s partner, Caritas Isiolo, in a program
that was funded by CAFOD and the DEC East Africa Crisis
Appeal.
With the voucher they got food from a selected vendor who
would then redeem these vouchers for cash from Caritas
Isiolo. 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.
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Ann Nyaruai inside her poultry house
Ann Nyaruai, with Caritas staff Winfred Wanjiru in her tomato farm......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
In order to reduce incidences of food shortages in the future following the failed har-
vests due to the drought, Ann and 700 other people from Isiolo County were trained
on best dry land farming practices.
Florence Kabobori, the Isiolo County Director of Agriculture asked CAFOD’s partner
Caritas Isiolo to conduct a joint needs assessment with her team before the agricul-
ture trainings took place. This needs assessment revealed that while some communi-
ties were 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 Isiolo and the Ministry of Agriculture,
Isiolo County conducted the soil and water management trainings, farmers were
trained on land preparation, making seedbeds, vegetable farming, growing drought
tolerant crops and cash crops like tomatoes and capsicum.
After the training, CAFOD’s partner, Caritas Isiolo provided the community with
improved seeds for strategic crops, specifically tomatoes, cowpeas, capsicum, green
grams (mung beans) and pigeon peas. CAFOD’s partner, Caritas Isiolo also procured
20 non-diesel ‘money maker’ water pumps to be shared by the farmers. Some of the
farmers like Ann, were trained on indigenous poultry rearing. As a result, Ann is now
rearing about one dozen indigenous chickens, some of which are free range while
the others are housed in a simple structure made from locally available materials
like wood, used boxes and recycled gunny sacks. Ann received various high quality
tomato, pigeon peas and cowpeas seeds.
Ann had this to say; “I have already harvested close to 20 kilograms of cowpeas. I no
longer buy vegetables, I get kale, spinach and cowpea leaves from my farm and I am
very happy”.
Ann has a total of three acres and out of it she has dedicated half an acre to crops
including kale and spinach. In late August 2018, Ann transplanted an acre of toma-
toes 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 Isiolo, funded by CAFOD and the DEC for their support
for the food vouchers and for the agriculture training. Through agriculture she hopes
to see her two daughters through school.
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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
kilometers 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 Marsabit intervened and saved the situa-
tion [with funding from CAFOD and the DEC]” adds Boru
Dabasso.
Before the drought, Boru had 460 goats and sheep, of these,
only 80 survived. His donkeys which he used to transport
water did not survive the drought. When the Burgabo
borehole was re-dug by CAFOD’s partner Caritas Marasbit,
with support from CAFOD and the DEC East Africa Crisis
Appeal, he relocated and settled less than a kilometer away.
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 another new resident of Burgabo. Today,
she stays in a village just 10 minutes’ walk to the borehole.
She says that during the 2016 drought, she tragically lost
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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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two thirds of her goats and sheep. She also lost eight of her nine donkeys.
At the start of the drought, they relied on water delivered to them by water bowsers
to their village. The village paid USD100 for a 10,000litre 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
sometimes 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
livestock have water. There are 289 households (approximately 1,730 people) living
within Burgabo, but the borehole serves many more from neighbouring villages.
Bonaya ensures that each person using the borehole pays their dues, those with
camels, goats, sheep and cattle pay between USD0.01 and USD0.05 while people
who arrive with donkeys and jerry cans pay USD0.01 per trip. He also ensures that
cattle, goats and sheep are watered after two days, while camels can be watered
after 6 days. This is to ensure all livestock keepers get 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 well the plight of livestock keepers.
Each month the borehole management committee collects USD350 which goes to-
wards the purchase of diesel whenever there is not enough sunlight to use the solar
pump for the water, and it always go towards 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 communi-
ty 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 irriga-
tion inside shade nets. At Tigo center, 18 kilometres from Burgabo, another group of
men and women are lending their hand to sack gardening and tree planting. These
initiatives are only possible because of the Burgabo borehole.
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From Food Vouchers to A Promising Farm - Margaret
Lemamani, Isiolo County
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“I began harvesting my kales and cowpeas
leaves two weeks ago and I feel very hap-
py that every evening I make USD 2 and I
also have something to eat,” says Margaret
Lemamani. “My life has never been this
good and this has really motivated me to
put energy into farming,” she adds.
Before the 2016 drought, Margaret was a subsistence
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 children the best they could.
During the drought, their simple life was shattered
when their village, Elsa-Ntirim, in Isiolo County, north-
ern Kenya, was invaded by neighboring pastoralist com-
munities. The main cause of this conflict was livestock.
Pastoralists from neighboring areas invaded Elsa-Ntirim
and were forcefully grazing on their farms.
“We were forcefully evicted and escaped to Ng’ambo
Boru for our own security. We could not do any form
of farming during that time. Apart from grazing on our
fields they raided our houses and threatened us with
guns,” she adds.
At Ng’ambo Boru, Margaret and the other displaced
people survived on food vouchers funded by CAFOD
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Margaret Lemamani a food voucher and agriculture training beneficiary in her
farm at Elsa-Ntirim, Isiolo County Kenya (August 2018)
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and the DEC and distributed by CAFOD’s partner, Caritas Isiolo, for a period of three
months. Later when security was restored, Margaret returned to her home where
she once again received food vouchers, lasting for another three months.
“Caritas Isiolo [funded by CAFOD and the DEC] really helped us. The food vouch-
ers we received is what sustained us and our children. They also gave us improved
vegetable seeds and brought us the government agronomist who taught us proper
farming”.
Margaret received a number of vegetable seeds including green grams seeds, cow-
peas, beans, pigeon peas, tomatoes and kales. She began harvesting vegetables in
early August and sold part of her produce to her neighbors while consuming the rest
with her family.
Margaret is 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 I am really
grateful to Caritas Isiolo.”
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 from a quarter of an acre, 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 USD3 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 Isiolo with funding from CAFOD
and the DEC. 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 market-
able crops like onions.
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15. Better Water Supply Changing the Face of Daaba
Primary and the Surrounding Community
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Students from Daaba primary school, Nakuprat Location Isiolo, with Caritas staff Winfred Wanjiru at a
hand washing point (August 2018)......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
“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 guaranteed,
and once a boy got injured in an open well
while fetching water to bring to school,” he
explains.
Daaba Primary has 274 students and is located in Nakuprat in
Isiolo County, northern Kenya. 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 bore-
hole had cracked and could not hold any water and at the same
time, its solar pump was not working well. For eight months
the school (and the surrounding communities) had serious
water problems.
The deputy head teacher says during those eight months,
teachers fetched water for their houses from a well, one
kilometer away from the school. This was very tiresome. The
teachers had to leave school early, and in the mornings would
come in late for the same reason; this meant that the children’s
education suffered as they missed out on valuable learning
time.
“When Caritas Isiolo visited our community, we explained to
them our water problems and their solution was to get a new
10,000liter tank and elevate it to enable it build pressure and
15

16. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
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)......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
flow to all tanks in the school and to the community water points,” explains James
Nkayai, the chief of Daaba. In addition to the elevated 10,000liter tank, CAFOD’s
partner, Caritas Isiolo provided a more efficient solar system (3 phase) to pump
water from the borehole. Caritas Isiolo also purchased a 1,000liter hand wash water
tank for the school with funding from CAFOD and the DEC. The increased access to
safe and clean water, hygiene and sanitation reached over 7,000 people in seven
locations in Isiolo during the 2016-7 drought.
Impact of the New Water System
“Daaba borehole serves 18,000 people, (3,000 households) the school and close
to 50,000 livestock both from the locals and from the neighboring community each
month,” says Chief James Nkayai, who also explained that when the weather is fine,
the 10,000liter tank fills up in 2.5 hours while the old solar system took 4 hours -
almost double the time. 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’s quarters.
“Because of the increased access to water, my teachers are very motivated, they
report to class at 7:00am and often leave school at 5:00pm, 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 distributed by CAFOD’s partner, Caritas
Isiolo. The deputy head teacher says that children are using better hygiene practices
as a result of the hand wash system near the toilet facilities. With the extra tanks,
there is less conflict with communities who used to drain water from the school
tanks at night and during holidays. “I am very happy with Caritas Isiolo [supported
by CAFOD and DEC] 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
which is used for repairs and for the salaries for those working at the water points.
Livestock keepers with 50 goats and above pay USD3 per month and are entitled to
water their goats every other day. Households pay USD1 per month and this entitles
them to fetch eight 20 litre jerry cans (160 litres) per day.
16

17. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Recovering from the Drought... Ware Dulacha
Invests in Indigenous Chicken and Vegetables
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
“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 Marsabit was generous
enough to come to our aid.”
Before the drought, Ware Dulacha an elderly lady from Dad-
ach Kambi, Marsabit County in northern Kenya was getting by
reasonably well. She had 34goats and 21 cows and from this
she was able to care for her children and her aging husband.
However when the drought came, her livelihood was almost
wiped out.
Ware, from the small village of Kubi Qalo was among the 300
people from Dadach Kambi enrolled to receive unconditional
cash transfers from Caritas Marsabit, funded by the DEC East
Africa Crisis Appeal and CAFOD in a drought relief programme.
Ware received USD 30 per month for a period of three
months.
After receiving the money, Ware and her family were able to
buy food for themselves during the drought, this would have
been extremely hard for them to do without assistance. She is
slowly recovering and her seven goats that survived have given
birth to seven kids, so she now has 14goats in total. From the
surviving five cows she sold three in order to pay school fees
for her two children who are in university. Luckily two of her
cows calved and she now has five cattle.
Out of her final cash grant, Ware bought indigenous chickens
17

18. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.
Ware Dulacha, an unconditional cash transfer beneficiary from Kubi Qalo, Dadach
Kambi, Marsabit County, Kenya with her indigenous chicken (August 2018)
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
(a hen and cock) each at USD6 which proved fruitful as she now has nine adult chick-
en, some of which are laying eggs, some of which she uses for food and some she
sells. She sells eggs 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 bore-
hole. The vegetable garden was also distributed by Caritas Marsabit and from it she
gets a little money from the sale of vegetables to her neighbors.
“My family and I survived the drought because Caritas Marsabit was generous
enough to come to our aid. I wasn’t a beneficiary in the first round because my live-
stock 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 Marsabit was planning
to support 150 homes with DEC and CAFOD appeal funding which were severely
affected by drought in Dadach Kambi. The three villages in Dadach Kambi met and
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. The village
representatives were then asked to meet and identify those most in need from their
villages. Ware’s village, Kubi Qalo 2 held a meeting attended by all 64 households.
She says in addition to losing her livestock, she was selected because she had a very
elderly husband who was not able to work and bring secure an income and none of
her children have been able to get a job.
Once the beneficiaries were selected, a management committee was also selected.
A few days after this was done, CAFOD’s partner, Caritas Marsabit gathered each
household benefitting from the programme in a central location to receive the cash
and sign their name once they had received it.
Ware says she prefers the method of delivery of the unconditional cash transfer
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 Ken-
ya. 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 Marsabit [funded by CAFOD and DEC] for
the support, I didn’t have a means of income, but they came to our aid and I am very
happy.
18

19. Being a Caritas Food Vendor Changed my Life -
Raphaela Lokadon
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Raphaela Lokadon, a Caritas Food Vendor inside her shop in Daaba Village, Isiolo County,
Kenya (August 2018)
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
“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 be-
come their food vendor under the food
voucher program by Caritas Isiolo,”
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 com-
munity selected me to become their food vendor under the
food voucher program by Caritas. I have now built a perma-
nent house made from stones and better-quality iron sheets
for my roof and this has improved my business, my life and
that of my family.
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 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 USD7
per day and out of this I made a profit of about USD1.35 per
day which I spent on items like food, school fees for my form
1 child and other domestic necessities. I am a widow and so I
don’t have anyone else to lean on. When the drought came,
my business began running at 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 engaged in char-
coal burning, but this was declared illegal by the government,
and so they also didn’t have money to buy from my shop and
would just come to ask for items on credit instead. When
19

20. 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.
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Caritas Isiolo 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 100 people who were in desperate
need of support, which came in the form of food vouchers. Each selected house-
hold 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, although running at a loss at
the time, was stable.
I was allocated 30 households to supply food items to while Caritas Isiolo would then
refund me, with support from CAFOD and the DEC. This voucher acted like cash, I
would take the voucher from them and in exchange give them food worth USD 30 of
their choice. I would then take the voucher to Caritas Isiolo office or myself and the
other vendors would gather them and then call the officers of Caritas Isiolo to come
and collect them from us. After that, we were given a cheque to deposit in our bank
accounts. The payments were very efficient.
We were instructed that the vouchers were only to be used for food, including salt
and cooking oil. Getting money for the food stocks was initially a challenge for many
of us, however at the time I had some savings that I had put aside as school fees for
my child and I used this money to bring in the first food stocks. Life became much
better after we had been paid for the first instalment and I was then able to replen-
ish the savings for my child’s education.
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 350 per month for a total of six months. It
is from this profit that I built a permanent house 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 was the only one who had a separate room and a bed, but since building
our new house, my children now have their own separate bed room, and this has
made both me and my children very happy. Some of my shop products last much
longer than before now I have a better-quality building, for example, my flour is
now safe from termites and 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 live 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, however this depends on what my customers need.
I thank Caritas Isiolo, CAFOD and DEC for helping the community of Daaba at our
time of great need.
20

21. Community Coordination and Feedback System that
Works - Jarso Duba and Denge Jarso
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Kame Roba (R) a food voucher beneficiary from Bonaya Malate Village, Bubisa Marsabit County, Ken-
ya receives her food items from businessman Ali Malicha. (August 2018)
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
“When Caritas Marsabit came and informed us
of their intention, we as the management com-
mittee sat down and made a decision 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 to identify
the vendors who would supply the food to the
households benefitting,” explains Jarso Duba.
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, CAFOD’s partner, Caritas
Marsabit and the community seem to have found a winning
formula.
Jarso Duba is a village elder and also the chairperson of
the Community Coordination Committee for Boru Haro, in
Marsabit County. Jarso and his committee of eight (including
elder men, women and youth) were a very important part
of Caritas Marsabit’s delivery chain during the 2016-2017
drought. They served four villages, each village represented in
the committee by two people. “When Caritas Marsabit came
they informed us of their intentions and the kind of aid that
they wanted to give our community, then we [the manage-
ment committee] made decisions 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 beneficiaries,” explains Jarso Duba.
21

22. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.
.
Denge Jarso Doti, chairperson community management committee, Boru Haro
village in Segante location, Marsabit County Kenya (August 2018)
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
“The process was then a free and fair one because members of the manyatta (villag-
es) were involved in the process,” he adds. Boru Haro had 80 households benefitting
from the food vouchers and were served by two food vendors. The committee held
meetings with the food vendors to agree with them the most appropriate food items
they must stock in their shops and ensure that the normal prices remained and were
not inflated. When households were buying their food from the vendors, the com-
mittee supervised the distribution and handled any complaints that arose.
“We made sure that every single beneficiary got all their foods of choice almost all
the time and that the food was worth USD 40.45 per household,” says Jarso Duba. In
Isiolo – the vouchers were worth USD 40, while in Marsabit they were USD 30, this
was reflective of the local contexts. Several students from the village also received
food for fees support. After the schools had given CAFOD’s partner, Caritas Marsabit,
the names of students with fee balances from Boru Haro, the names were given to
the committee, who then verified that the named students existed, were from their
village and also that they were in need of urgent support. Denge Jarso Doti is a mem-
ber 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 Marsabit, with funding from CAFOD and the DEC, 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 trou-
bles, we sort that out too,” explains Denge Jarso Doti. In the case of Dadach Kam-
bi, selection of beneficiaries was done by the community themselves and not the
committee. Jarso says that he has the telephone numbers of officers from Caritas
Marasbit who he can call in case of any complaints. Caritas Marsabit with support
from Cafod and the DEC drought appeal implemented several interventions in these
villages during the 2016-2017 drought.
How the Feedback System Works - James Galgallo, CAFOD’s
Emergency Response Officer Kenya Explains
The idea behind the feedback mechanism concept is accountability, adherence to
core humanitarian standards that stipulate that there must be very clear communi-
cation and links between the people who deliver the project and the communities
benefitting from the project. The community complaints committees must be active
and must give information to the community or feedback to the communities ben-
efitting from the project. If feedback isn’t shared, then communities may not know
what they are entitled to. If they don’t know what to expect, they themselves cannot
give feedback which could lead to significant lessons not being learned and issues
not being dealt with.
The criteria established to identify those who will benefit from project interven-
tions must be clear and acceptable to the community themselves. The community
members must be involved because they are the most aware of who is particularly
vulnerable and are well-placed to identify those who most need support.
When this is implemented well with all of those involved, a working feedback mech-
anism can run conductively.
22

23. From Pure Pastoralism to Sack Gardening - Tigo Arid
Lands Self Help Group
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......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
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
livestock 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 own lives. Since I lost
basically everything, I am trying crop farming
for the very first time.”
Deko Roba says he wants to reduce his dependency on the
nomadic way of life due to the many challenges such as the
frequent drought that they have faced. He says, “the world is
changing and we want to change with it.”
Arid Lands Self Help Group has 20 members, most of whom
lost almost all of their livestock during the 2016-2017 drought
and as a result have decided to try something entirely differ-
ent. 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 had 600 goats and sheep, but he sadly
lost almost all of them, with only five surviving. He lost all
10 of his donkeys because during the drought before Caritas
Marsabit dug a borehole with DEC and CAFOD support (which
is just 18km away), his nearest watering point was 40km
away.
The other 19 members of his group have similar stories, los-
ing all, or the vast majority of their livestock, making looking
after their families extremely difficult. However, the group
have turned their hand to crops and they currently have 1200
vegetable seedlings, once they mature, they will consume
and sell these.
23

24. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Members of the Arid Lands Self Help Group inside their garden at Tigo, Marsabit
County, Kenya (2018)
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
The group chose vegetables, kales and spinach, because of the good prices they
commanded in the area, meaning there was a better chance of making a profit.
“Currently a small bunch of spinach brought in from other counties is sold for USD1
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. Buku-
no 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 CAFOD’s partner, Caritas Marsabit 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 tree planting.
All the group members were livestock keepers, but after they lost their livestock,
they struggled to find alternative livelihoods. When it was suggested they turn their
hand to crop farming, they were all on board, and they are especially happy now
with the outcome. Each of the members will buy sacks for their home sack gardens,
once the seedlings are ready, but as a group they are starting with 20 sack gardens.
Sack gardens, also known as ‘vertical farms or gardens,’ and are tall sacks filled with
soil from which plant life grows.
“When we started this work, other community members said it was not possible,
now they are asking us to do another list to present to Caritas Marsabit to help them
start their own groups,” Denge 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, clear insects and ensure their crops are
secured from children and livestock, especially camels. Their farm is 63x20 meters
and with support from CAFOD, through Caritas Marsabit, 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. With support from CAFOD and the
DEC, Caritas Marsabit did water trucking in Tigo for eight months, once every five
days and also provided 117 households with food vouchers worth USD50 for three
months. When the drought ended, Caritas Marsabit conducted trainings on dry land
agriculture to the self-help groups.
24

25. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Tony Waikwa, Youthful Farmer Trained by Caritas
and Provided with Seeds and Water Pump
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
“Because of the training by Caritas Isio-
lo, 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 Waikwa.
Tony Waikwa is a 26 year old farm-
er from Elsa Ntirim in Isiolo County.
I started engaging in agriculture
in the year 2013 having no other
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 cereal farming, I
decided to try out cash crop farming
from 2016.
The opportunity came in 2018
when I was trained by Caritas Isiolo
to farm of onions, tomatoes, veg-
etables, spinach, butter nuts and
capsicum. The training came at a
time when I had already decided by
myself to go into cash crop farming.
25

26. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Because of the training by Caritas Isiolo, there was a significant change to my life as
my profits grew significantly. From it I could feed my family, buy clothes, pay school
fees and save for future use.
The drought of 2016 really affected us. We lost most of our crops due to a lack of wa-
ter. 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 Isiolo gave us livestock pellets
and food vouchers worth USD30 per month for a period of three months. They also
carried out medical workshops where selected members of the community were
trained and enrolled as community health volunteers to help with minor medical is-
sues in the community. They also brought medicine for the ill and the malnourished
children in our community.
To address the issues with the lack of water, Caritas Marsabit, with funding from
CAFOD and the DEC, dug four boreholes that cushioned the community from the
drought. With the availability of water, seeds were distributed that the community
could plant. Foot pumps (money maker pumps) were also installed so that the com-
munity would not have to rely entirely on rainfall for farming.
Tony is sure that the support from CAFOD and the DEC has helped the community a
great deal, providing them with expertise and supplies which helped overcome the
drought.
After the training, Tony borrowed money from his youth group for land preparation
and for pesticides and fertilizer. He hopes to repay this loan with from sales of his
tomatoes (which at the time of writing were not yet ready to harvest).
The seeds that we got from Caritas Marsabit were of high quality and that is evident
from the produce that I am about to harvest. Unlike the previous harvests this one is
more encouraging. If the market price favors the 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 my family.
I would like to thank CAFOD, the DEC and Caritas Marsabit for the support they have
provided us over the harsh period that we went.
26

27. BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
In order to come up with best practices and lessons learnt, we conducted in-depth in-
terviews with the National Drought Management Authority coordinators for Marsabit
and Isiolo and with the Director of Agriculture for Isiolo. The discussions focused on
effective coordination with the government and other agencies as well as with other
agencies during drought emergencies. Secondly we surveyed 210 people in Marsabit
and Isiolo who had directly benefited, using the representative sample method. The
survey 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 de-
liver emergency response to the intended people? Did the tar-
geting, selection of people and items as well as method of de-
livery. Did it improve on the current market structures in the
community? Did it make use of community production and mar-
keting structures? Did it make use of the private sector structures?
d) Results and Impact: Did Caritas interventions save lives?
Did it improve for example the community’s future produc-
tion capacity, its distribution capacity, its manpower capaci-
ty, its use of local resources capacity, and its cash flow capac-
ity? What were the overall impact of Caritas interventions?
e) Timeliness and Adequacy: Was the drought response timely? Was
the Caritas support enough?
Survey Findings
Beneficiary Targeting and Selection
In Marsabit, 39% of those who received CAFOD and DEC support through Caritas
Marsabit said they were single parents, elderly or disabled. In Isiolo the percentage
for this same category was 35%. Those who said they had lost all or most of their
livestock in Marsabit was 38% while in Isiolo this figure was 15%. Those who were
selected because they had no source of income were 43% in Marsabit and 45% in
Isiolo. One unique response from Isiolo was that 3% said they were selected because
they had been displaced by conflict.
Best practice and lesson: The targeting was efficient and those selected met the
profile of those typically expected to receive support during drought emergencies.
Selection of items to Deliver / Nature of Support
During the drought, 100% of people in Marsabit said that their primary need was
food, compared to 87% in Isiolo, with water being the second need for both (79%
and 78%, respectively). Marsabit also prioritized school fees (43%), livestock feed
(39%) and money (12%), while Isiolo prioritized medication (75%), livestock feed
(56%) and farm inputs (23%).
Through the project, 85% of people benefitting from the project in Marsabit received
food vouchers or cash and 75% of people benefitting in Isiolo received food vouch-
ers. 42% of people benefitting in Marsabit received water, in Isiolo, 51% received
livestock feed, 21% received medical support and 14% received farm inputs.
When this is compared to what was actually delivered from Caritas, 85% beneficia-
ries 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: It is clear when comparing the reality to the needs men-
tioned by those identified through the project that not all of them were met. At the
start of every intervention Caritas should conduct rapid assessment of needs before
determining the nature of support to provide to communities.
27

28. BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Method of Delivery and Delivery Approach
In Marsabit 41% of beneficiaries said that the community elders reported matters
surrounding the drought to Caritas Marsabit, who then conducted a needs assess-
ment in which priority needs were identified, followed by a community gathering
and during that gathering, criteria for people who will be selected for support was
given. In Isiolo, 61% said the above method was used.
In Marsabit, 36% of people benefiting said that delivery was through local vendors
while in Isiolo 27% said the same. In Isiolo 13% said that administrative officers from
the government (e.g. agricultural officers) and community leaders delivered 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: CAFOD and partners should continue to prioritize use of
community structures to determine the needs of community and use these commu-
nity structures to do beneficiary selection and monitoring. It should also continue
to deliver through local vendors. In some sites, specifically in Isiolo, more education
and communication need to be done to increase the level of awareness and satisfac-
tion.
Timeliness and Adequacy:
In Marsabit 92% beneficiaries said that the support was adequate while 8% thought
there should have been given a little more money and more food. In Isiolo 63% said
that they felt that CAFOD’s support was adequate while 37% said CAFOD should
have increased their level of support.
In terms of timeliness, 97% in Marsabit and 96% in Isiolo said assistance was timely.
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.
Results and Impact
From the survey, 57% of beneficiaries in Isiolo who received food vouchers said they
could afford decent meals on a daily basis and 48% of those who received livestock
food and clean water said this assistance helped their livestock not only to survive,
but to increase in number. A further 21% who got medical support said their chil-
dren are recovering from malnutrition while some have already fully recovered.
In Marsabit 43% said that as a result of CAFOD’s intervention through Caritas
Marsabit, they had learned better agricultural practices (shade net usage, sack
gardens, kitchen gardens) and are now engaging in productive agriculture both for
subsistence and for sale. 28% of those who received unconditional cash transfers in
Marsabit said they were able to meet their household needs, while 11% said be-
cause of CAFOD and DEC support their children now 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.
During the 2016-2017
drought, what were your
top seven (7) needs?
Survey Question (Isiolo)
During the 2016-2017
drought, what were your
top seven (7) needs?
Food
Water
School Fees
Pasture
Money
Livestock
Medication
Number of PeopleResponseSurvey Question (Marsabit)
107
85
46
42
13
9
2
Food
Water
Medication
Livestock pellets
Farm inputs
School fees
Livestock
Number of PeopleResponse
88
79
76
57
24
20
13
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29. BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS
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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)
According to the National Drought Management Authority Coor-
dinator for Isiolo, Mr. Lordman Lekalkuli, the drought of 2016-
2017 was worse than the previous drought experienced in 2010
– 2011. The difference being that in the most recent drought,
communities in Isiolo had nowhere else to go as water sources
across the county were depleted, this caused many to leave the
county completely to provide for themselves and their families.
The National Drought Management Authority coordinator for
Marsabit agreed with his Isiolo counterpart and added that this
drought lasted longer than the previous one which had a signifi-
cant impact both at the time, but also in following harvests.
The National Drought Management Authority plays a coordina-
tion role in drought management, and as the government agen-
cy at the center of the drought response, actors such Caritas
agencies implement drought responses on behalf of the agency.
The NDMA has a contingency plan that guides all drought emer-
gency responses.
Once the partners and donors respond, NDMA coordinates this
response directly and through periodic County Steering Group,
CSG 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 re-
sponse (e.g cash transfer) having consulted with NDMA, Caritas
were able to harmonize and standardize their rates.
29

30. BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS
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......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mr. Lordman Lekalkuli, NDMA coordinator, Isiolo County
Lessons
All government agencies emphasized the need for coordination, disclosure, flexibil-
ity, diversification, social audits and accountability as well as documentation as the
key to an effective drought response. Partner’s performance was gauged on these
parameters.
“Caritas Marsabit and Isiolo performed well in terms of consultations with NDMA,
in their targeting criteria, 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 live-
stock 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
Halkano, 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 unwilling 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.
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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
31

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)
33

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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34

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
35

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
36

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

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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39