In a bid to improve water access to community members from Ambalo Location of Moyale Sub- County, PACIDA Kenya has partnered with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Caritas Germany to excavate a 35,000 cubic meters water pan. The area is dry and community members trudge long distances in search of water for household and livestock use. Within Ambalo location, there are only three small capacity earth pans which whenever it rains, their water could only last for three weeks before diminishing. This is due to the high absorbent nature of the earth pan soil. The only other water source around is a borehole, whose water happens to have high salinity levels, above the World Health Organization acceptable salinity level . Barako Guyo Koro, a 32- year old gentleman says he has been a victim of impacts of high water salinization. Others have developed bone-…

December, 2016 El Besso, North Horr Sub-county- Iya Qoto, a female herder residing in one of the outskirts far flang villages of El Besso, 30 kilometres from El Besso watering point and 70 kilometres from North Horr town of North Horr Sub-county, had made it a routine every four days a week at 3.00am to start her journey to the closest water point, El Besso. Each day she set out on a journey to the borehole, the trekking distance was too far that it lasted two days before reaching the water point. Her worst days were when there was a mechanical break down. She could camp by the water point with hopes that it would be repaired soon. “One day I got to the borehole, my animals and I were stranded with no idea of where to turn to. Days on end I stayed by the borehole hoping the repair…

Access to safe water and sanitation are essential to human health, environmental sustainability and economic prosperity. For Marsabit County to get to the desired level, great strides have to be made by different stakeholders including embracing the communal pre-paid water meters which ensures equitable access to water regardless of your social standing in the community, besides of course boosting revenue collection from water sale. With prepaid metering, the consumer is in control of their own water usage, as they decide how much water to purchase. The prepaid metering solution ensures that the consumer can now budget for their water bill as per their purchasing power. PACIDA through Maji Milele Limited with funding from USAID through Food for the Hungry has come up with an innovative sustainable solution to addressing better access to water in at least three locations within Marsabit County through installation of communal pre-paid water meters at water…

Our 2018 report highlights some of our key achievements in line with our mission to improve the well-being of vulnerable arid and semi-arid land communities through sustainable development.   Download report here: Annual Report 2018 Narrative Annual Report 2018 Operational Outputs Lack of adequate water was the main constraint to sustainable livelihoods in many parts of the county. In other areas, rapid run-off during the 2018 rainy season resulted into high proportion going to waste or becoming destructive. Conflict further limited livelihood options and shared management of natural resources, compounding vulnerability and decreasing resilience. “Conflict resolution and peaceful coexistence are integral components of PACIDA’s thematic programming in northern Kenya. This includes border counties with hardship and volatile environments as well as Ethiopia’s southern regions,” says Patrick Katelo, Executive Director of PACIDA.   PACIDA reached 480,000 livestock during mass deworming and treatment in Marsabit County. In Illeret, the first ever butchery…

“I always have business ideas. But capital has always been the biggest obstacle. I used to sell water to make a living. The income barely met daily family needs. Now I am running a shop and I have high hopes as business is good,” says Nashere Loomaabok, a member of Ariyon women’s group in Illeret, Marsabit County of Kenya. A mother of 7 children, she says she is lucky to be able to feed her family even as the drought is affecting the rest of her community members. With an elderly husband who is mostly resting, she has been left to cater for the needs of the family. Her children are of between three and 15 years old. Four of them are attending school with one in secondary school away from Illeret and three in primary schools. The others are yet to be enrolled in school. Ileret is located in…

“If there was no peace among the communities of Marsabit County, there will be no education and no future for us,” this was the message from pupils during an inter-school peace initiative held in 2018. The event was held at Tiigo School brought together pupils from six schools. Schools from Borana community included Elle Borr, Rawan and Funan Qumbi primary from Sololo Sub County. Three schools from the Gabbra community included Turbi Nomadic Girls, Turbi Primary and Tiigo School from North Horr Sub County. Each school was represented by about 30 pupils from their peace club membership. The theme of the day was “I am not only a child, but a peace maker too”. The event was officially launched by the Sub County Deputy Commissioner. Others in attendants included ward administrator, chiefs, and county peace cohesion and integration officer. Also present were teachers who served as peace club patrons. The pupil…

Local communities in northern Kenya are adapting to climate change through different approaches in order to mitigate its harmful effects demonstrated most visibly through frequent cycles of drought in East Africa. Along the border of Kenya and Ethiopia, communities of Dassanach are reshaping their adaptation strategy by embracing a unique breed of goats that is more resilient to the changing conditions. The Galla goat, a strong breed of goat has a reputation for surviving droughts thanks to its higher resistance to opportunistic diseases that eliminate ordinary goats due to weakening body immune system. Compared to ordinary goats living among the Dassanach communities of Kenya and Ethiopia, the Galla breed boasts higher yield of milk.Pastoralist Community Initiative and Development Assistance (PACIDA) has partnered with Kenya and Ethiopia governments through the livestock departments and Social Development Coordinating Office (SDCO) to provide communities of Dassanaach with 198 Galla goats. The aim of the…

I have witnessed several distinctive changes in climate over the years. The droughts are extremely harsh while the rainy seasons come with flooding and destruction of property. People are finding it hard to cope with the two extremes,” says Huka Jirimo, 62, the Chairperson for Moyale Persons with Disability Group. Huka was one of 51 participants who attended the climate change adaptation policy workshop held at St Paul Conference Centre in Moyale on 2nd of December 2019. The workshop was organized by PACIDA together with Marsabit County Department for Water, Environment and Natural Resources Development. This is part of a wider dissemination and public participation campaign to enhance public knowledge and participation on county climate change adaptation activities. Huka has problems with walking and relies on crutches to support his body. He suffered from complex arthritis eight years ago and lost all abilities to use his legs. The persons with…

A monitoring visit conducted on 5th of November 2019 by partners Concern Worldwide, European Commission ECHO, Pastoralist Integrated Support Programme (PISP), ACTED and PACIDA provided key learning on the impact of mobile cash transfer during drought emergency response among communities of Lengima and Lekuchula zones of Laisamis Sub County in Marsabit County of Kenya. The joint visit also brought on board members of County Assembly for Korr and Ngurnit Wards of Laisamis Sub County. “Cash assistance has had a positive impact on my life” The visiting team from European Commission, ACTED and PACIDA interviewed Manpiam, 40, in Lengima village and learnt about her living conditions and livelihood options. She is a widow raising four children, her husband died from an illness two years ago. “Before the cash assistance, I was begging neighbours for food support. I had no livestock and with no husband and no job I was quickly edging…

Learning is more effective and meaningful when learners can make use of a wider variety of scholastic equipment that enhance quality of instruction as well as ensure comfort of the learners. Most schools in Marsabit County lack of enough desks and chairs, leading to congestion and fatigue among the learners. Pastoralist Community Initiative and Development Assistance (PACIDA) supported by Kindermissionswerk distributes learning materials regularly to various schools in the Sub Counties of Laisamis, Moyale, North Horr and Saku of Marsabit County. School across the country of Kenya opened for their gates for the first school term of 2020 on 6th and 7th of January. For Tiigo School, 60 lockers and chairs were delivered for use. “The chairs and lockers help to improve the convenience of learning at school. The students can keep their books and pens safely because they have locks. Says Mujahin Abdi, 15 years old student of Grade…