After five consecutive failed rainy seasons, Kenya experienced heavy rains that brought devastating floods between October and December 2023. Damage to agriculture, livestock, and disruption of infrastructure increased food insecurity in affected counties which, according to the latest Integrate Phase Classification analysis, was already estimated to affect 2.8 million people in the ASAL regions. Out of those facing high levels of Acute Food Insecurity 2.3 million are classified in IPC Phase 3 - Crisis and nearly 500,000 are classified in IPC Phase 4 – Emergency. The situation has forced households to adopt various coping mechanisms as a mitigation measure for the food shortages. Limiting portion size at mealtimes, reducing the number of meals eaten in a day, and purchasing food items on credit were the most common coping mechanisms reported. Margaret is a 42-year-old mother of six and a hardworking resident of Gogoltim village in Samburu County. Samburu is an…
Position: Project Officer – Natural Resource Management (2 positions) Job Location: PACIDA Marsabit / Samburu Office Anticipated Start Date: Immediately Duration: One year with possibility of extension [pdf-embedder url="http://pacida.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PACIDA-NRM-Agroecology-Officer.pdf"] Download Document Here
Position: Water Engineer (2 positions) Job Location: PACIDA Marsabit / Samburu Office Anticipated Start Date: Immediately Duration: One year with possibility of extension [pdf-embedder url="http://pacida.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PACIDA-WATER-ENGINEER-OPPORTUNITY.pdf"] Download Document Here
Cash Transfer-Bridging the food gap Kame Mamo Dido, is a 32-year-old widow and a mother of 5 children. Her youngest child is barely 9 months old. She comes from Bubisa ward and she is a beneficiary of the unconditional cash transfer supported by CBM. Kame was chosen by the community as she is partially deaf and has her safety net negatively affected by the drought. In recent years, she has been living harmoniously with her in-laws who have always been supporting her and her children after the death of her husband. They have been rearing goats and diligently sharing the proceeds from the sale to sustain their livelihoods. They have been living as neighbours and looking after each other’s welfare.They formed this cooperation to mitigate social and economic risks. Due to the prolonged drought, their goats have largely perished due to lack of water and pasture and the remaining few…
Thomas Edison, the great innovator behind the bulb, said: There’s a way to do it better. Find it! In its work with communities, PACIDA knew there had to be a better way to manage water usage. In a bid to improve water access through improved management practices, the Strengthening Community Resilience in Marsabit County (SCRMC), PACIDA received support from the Food for the Hungry Kenya (FH Kenya) with funding from USAID/OFDA introduced the first ever pre-paid communal water system in Marsabit County. The organisation identified four areas to benefit from this project: Shauri Yako and Saku in Marsabit Town. To date, two water kiosks have been installed with the pre-paid meters and the Kiosk at Saku is operational. This is how the technology works: 1. Every household in the targeted region is issued with a token (a small-chip powered gadget) by a Water Management Committee. 2. The user loads the…
Marsabit-Kenya: Seen as the worlds’ worst migratory pests, desert locust swarms descended in Marsabit, decimating crops and devouring grazing land, subsequently affecting the source of livelihoods in a community that depends on livestock for survival. Paulina, 52 years old and mother of six from Yomoo in Loiyangalani, knows too well the compounding effects of the desert locusts. “When the locusts came, they were flying all over, they landed on the grazing fields, feeding on the grass” says Paulina, adding that the locust infestation left nothing for her goats to feed on. The locust invaded her village earlier this year, around February 2020, just when they were recovering from the effects of floods that hit the region in the months of October and November of 2019. As the pastoralist communities in the region are recovering from the multiple threats, including the COVID-19 pandemic as well as recurrent climate-related shocks such as…
How Village Savings and Loans Concept is transforming businesses in Marsabit, Kenya Standing in front of her small mud retail-shop, Halima Adan, stares at her grandchildren play hide-and-seek, there are usually not many customers visiting her shop at this time of the day, so she takes time to engage with the kids. Life took a new turn for Halima, 50 years old-widow residing in Kinisa Village in the north eastern county of Marsabit, when she was given a business starter kit worth Ksh.15, 000 by Pastoralist Community Initiative and Development Assistance (PACIDA). She then took a loan of Ksh. 15,000 from Kinisa Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) to supplement her starter kit, and she started a provision shop. “Prior to venturing into the retail shop business, my only source of income was selling goat milk,” she says. “The income was hardly enough to buy food for the family, pay…