1

Community Views on Mechanisms to Support Local

Livelihoods in the Early Stages of Drought

Reference Number: KRDP/ASAL DM/P-FiM/12-13

January 2013

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Abbreviations

ALDEF Arid Lands Development Foundation

CBO Community Based Organisation

CDP Community Development Programme

COPID Community participatory integrated development

DSSO Disaster Site Security Officer

EC NSA European Commission Non-State Actor

FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation

FO Faith Organisation

KRDP Kenya Rural Development Programme

MOH Ministry of Health

NDMA National Drought Management Agency

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

OP Office of the President

P-FiM People First Impact Method

PLWH/A People Living with HIV/AIDS

RC Red Cross including KRC, IFRC and ICRC

SCF Save the Children Federation

UN United Nations

WASDA Wajir South Development Association

WASH Water, sanitation and hygiene

WFP World Food Programme

WHO World Health Organisation

WVI World Vision International

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ……………….………………………………………………………………………………………………….5 A. Background ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...8 B. Key Findings on impact and its attribution – what is and is not working ………………………………..…8

C. Methodology ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…..9 D. Limitations .………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………11 PART 1 Community Feedback on P-FiM Exercise ………..………………………………………………12

1.1.0. Positive Impact Areas ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..13 1.1.1. Access to & quality of education ….…………………………………………………………………………………13 1.1.2. Targeted humanitarian assistance .…………………………………………………………………………………15 1.1.3. Health and health facilities …………….………………………………………………………………………………16 1.1.4. WASH …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….17 1.1.5. Food Security and nutrition ……………………………………………………………………………………………18 1.1.6. Social organisation …………………………..…………………………………………………………………………….18 1.1.7. Communication infrastructure ……………………………………………………………………………………….19 1.1.8. Access to business loans …………………………………………………………………………………………………20 1.2.0. Negative Impact Areas…………………………………………………………………………………………………….21 1.2.1. Famine and food insecurity …………………………………………………………………………………………….21 1.2.2. Social disintegration ……………………………………………..………………………………………………………..24 1.2.3. Financial hardship ………………………………………………….……………………………………………………….26 1.2.4. WASH related health risks ……………………………………….………………………………………………………27 1.2.5. Poor education quality ……………………………………………..……………………………………………………..28 1.2.6. Increased disease and lack of access to health facilities …………………………………………………..29 1.2.7. Lack of participation in resource decisions ……………………………………………………………………….30 1.2.8. Lack of integration of youth ……………………………………………………………………………………………..30 1.2.9. Poor infrastructure …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..31 1.2.10. Growing Dependency and Loss of Livelihoods ………………………………………………………………….32

1.3.0. Neutral Impacts ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….33 1.3.1. Decline in children's health (water borne diseases) ……………………………………………………………33 1.4.0. Analysis of the Drivers of Impact………………………………………………………………………………………34

PART II KRDP / EC Focus Questions merged with Community Priority Issues ……………….36

2.2.0. Community Feedback to Focus Questions ………………………………………………………………………….37

2.2.1. How can community involvement help develop programmes that improve impact, increase

resilience and reduce dependency and poverty? ………………………………………………………………………….37

2.2.2. How can community entry points be improved to ensure that the whole community is part of

the decision making process? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..38

2.2.3. How can organisations be made more accountable to communities? ………………………………… 39

2.2.4. How can management and governance of programmes be improved to ensure good the

delivery of good projects and positive impact? ……………………………………………………………………………..39

2.2.5. How does drought impact on you at different times of the year and why? ………………………….40

2.2.6. What do you do to reduce the impact of drought especially at the early stages? ………………..41

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2.2.7. What additional support do you need to offset drought especially at the early stages & why?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….42

2.2.8. Who in the community should receive cash transfers and why? What criteria should be used?

What is the risk on gender relations? ………………………………………………………………………………………….43

2.2.9. When is the best time to receive cash and why? (When cash transfer is of most benefit in

protecting livelihoods from drought) …………………………………………………………………………………………..44

2.2.10. For how long do you need to receive cash transfers and at what intervals? …………………...45

2.2.11. How much cash should be given per household in a cash transfer and why? (What size of

cash transfer would be meaningful and appropriate?) ……………………………………………………………….45

2.2.12. What criteria should be used e.g. geographically, socially, or by wealth ranking? …………..46

2.2.13. What are the risks in giving cash transfers or non cash items and how can they be reduced or

eliminated e.g. impact on mobility; impact on markets, on gender relations? ……………………………47

2.2.14. How should communities participate in the cash transfer process and what difference will

community participation make e.g. as part of the management process? …………………………………48

2.2.15. What kind of information do you need to inform you about early drought and when and how

should you be given the information? ……………………………………………………………………………………….49

2.2.16. Additional comments from the team on feedback from the Groups? …………………………….50

3.0. Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….52

Annex 1 Terms of Reference …………………………………………………………………………………………53 Annex 2 Field Exercise Participants ……………………………………………………………………………….56 Annex 3 People First Impact Method Summary…………………………………………………………….57

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Authorship

The impact findings, attribution results and responses to focus questions in the report are the

statements, views and perspectives of representative community groups, as openly shared by them

with inter-agency teams of Kenyan personnel which were structured and trained in ways to limit

agency and project bias. These statements faithfully present the voice of the community without

analysis or interpretation by the authors. Gerry McCarthy and Paul O’Hagan People First Impact

Method (P-FIM© 2010) present these findings in the report which are not necessarily the views of

KRDP or the EC.

Acknowledgments

This report was commissioned by KRDP/EC and the exercise was convened and organised in Wajir

County by the NDMA. We would like to acknowledge all the 16 organisations who committed staff to

the exercise. The openness, transparency and professionalism of NDMA and partners in the process

including convening and logisical support was exceptional. We would like especially to thank the

NDMA staff who did an excellent job convening and organising the exercise.

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Executive Summary The purpose of this exercise is improve the quality of the National Drought Management Authority’s

(NDMA) response in the early stages of drought and its relevance to the communities it serves. This

is achieved by exploring community-level views on the mechanisms which best support livelihoods

and resilience. One P-FiM process was piloted with a cross-section of the community in Wajir county

where the Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP) is operational. This is a pastoralist area where a

proportion of the population is mobile and a range of interventions by multiple agencies are

underway or have recently been implemented. The purpose was to complement NDMA’s knowledge

of community-level perceptions of the measures and approaches, including cash transfers, which

best protect livelihoods during the early stages of drought. The exercise results contribute to the

fourth strategic objective in NDMA’s draft strategic plan, which is to ‘protect the livelihoods of

vulnerable households during drought crises’.

Between 21 to 27 December 2012, 43 frontline staff from 16 organisations in Wajir Country, North

Eastern Province, Kenya, conducted participatory field work on an inter-agency basis to give

communities a voice, identify, attribute impact and harvest community views on humanitarian

assitance in times of drought. Agencies involved were from Administrative Government

Departments, Community Based Organisations, National and International NGOs. The findings

recorded in this report reflect the voices of 165 people in 11 representative community groups along

with the views of the Kenyan agency personnel who participated in the exercise.

The P-FiM exercise findings provide a picture of the overall context in Habaswein from the

community perspective and an understanding of where the cash transfer programme fits alongside

other strongly felt community priorities. Feedback from community focus group discussions and

frontline agency staff shows that connectedness to community felt needs and priorities and their full

participation in all areas of the programme cycle needs to be significantly improved.

Drought was not considered the primary cause of negative impact. When asked about vulnerability,

people spoke about orphans, the elderly, people living with disabilities – those that suffer

permanent vulnerable that is severely heightened during drought. Association of vulnerability to

pastoralists as victims of drought, did not arise until people focused on the impact that drought and

climate change is having. In this regard, they make a distinction between between permanent and

seaosonal vulnerability. When focusing on the seasonal vulnerablity of pastoralists due to the impact

of drought, their first priority is to address the primary causes of drought. They want secure

livelihoods not handouts and the need for cash transfers should be seen in terms of helping them

endure the drought and build livelihoods. This analysis and response was across the baord; disabled,

children, pastoralists, dropouts, women, elders, religious leaders all focused on wanting an end to

relief and handouts even for the most vulnerable. The alternative is deepening poverty. The HSNP

programme was not discussed with communities (or indeed any project), however, the depth of

appreciation for forms of vulnerablity demonstrated an appreciation for those focused in the HSNP

programme alonside those who are seasonally vulnerable.

There is a consistent logic in how people think that a cash transfer programme should work. All cash

transfer programmes should be based on full engagement with the community; identifyng who

should benefit and what criteria shuld be used; how the transfer should be given with least amount

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“The exercise should not just

be about giving communities a

voice but should also be about

giving agency staff a voice as

we are often also not included

in the development of projects

… we are just given the job of

implementing them”.

Agency staff member

of disruption and avoid cuasing people to move to settlements; timeframe based on local drought

conditions (an important determining factor); the end of drought and end of cash transfers should

occur when livestock (shoats) begin having young as it is only then that milk is available as a staple

food and cash income – the beginning of rains does not mean that livelihoods are back to normal.

The timeframe for cash transfers to those who are permanetly vulnerable is longer-term but these

groups should also be working themselves out of poverty. A consistent message.

There is need for research to understand the impact that cash is having on existing and new

settlements as it was reported that the growth of existing and new settlements is being strongly

accelerated due to agency handouts. The people are disturbed by this and they feel it is

unsustainable, leading to increased vulnerability and a reduction in livelihood resilience.

There is logic in giving cash to women. However in a number of cases, it leads to serious domestic

conflict by creating divisions between men and women where no division existed. Beneficiary

selection criteria should be developed fully with the community. By adopting a community led

identification of cash beneficiaries the recipients will be accountable to the community and the

community will monitor when abuse of cash occurs and what action should be taken e.g. warning or

removal from the programme. This will ensure that the right families receive the support, that the

support is used to purchase essential goods and services and not be the cause of domestic conflict.

Cash is not the top priority. Having sustainable livelihoods is. Improved livestock market prices and

market information are highly important. The low value of livestock at the onset of drought

contributes directly to loss of income and livelihoods and the need for cash and food support.

Livestock market reform and information is more important than cash transfers and should be

integrated into regular early warning information along with information on drought warning,

disease etc. Communities point to critical factors such as; water (for livestock, families, irrigation);

manageable herd sizes (not just as a drought mitigation action but as a basis for sustainable livestock

farming); being able to have and sell milk and meat products all year round through drying

processes; managing their environment properly so that they maximize pasture and fodder for their

livestock and disease management through timely information and vaccination programmes.

Community engagement – there is strong feeling that

agencies do not properly engage people in programme

assessment, design, planning, implementation, monitoring,

criteria setting and impact measurement. Engagement

with communities must be addressed so that projects

target the right issues with positive impact acheived. In

this regard, the groups stated that all projects (whether

emergency or development) should produce positive

results that build sustainable livelihoods. This is not the

case as most emergency projects do not have long-term

perspectives and often result in increased vulnerability.

Understanding context is essential if programmes are going to produce positive results. Agencies

cannot understand context unless they engage fully with communities. By only working with ‘gate

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keepers’ agencies will not understand the context properly and may actually be contributing to

corrupt practices by not properly engaging the views of communities in understanding needs and

developing good projects.

Community entry points should be representative of all groups especially the vulnerable.

Accountability should operate at many levels but primarily agencies should be accountable to

communities and communities should be also be able to engage directly with donors.

Health and education – numerous examples were given of how important both sectors are to the

community but badly planned or unfinished projects means that project results and impact are often

a lot lower than they should be.

Agencies should focus capacity building of communities to help them participate in their own

development; producing accurate market information in relation to livestock prices and price trends;

differences on the impact of drought especially pointing out where there may be pasture and water;

engage people in developing existing and new small businesses.

Early warning is not just about weather and weather forecasts. It must be about likely scenarios and

the local understanding of their implications so that people can make correct decisions for

themselves e.g. whether to sell or retain livestock; whether to move or stay and when; whether to

kill newly born livestock to preserve the mothers; whether to vaccinate, de-worm or slaughter etc.

Information is critical if pastoralists are to make the right decisions.

Society and livelihoods are changing. There is a prevailing doubt among some groups that the

pastoralist way of life can survive in the future as a result of drought, new settlements, bad planning,

poor livestock markets and changes in the attitudes of young people etc.

People want long term approaches focussed on addressing the root causes of drought and

alternative livelihoods including small scale businesses as people.

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A. Background The NDMA is a statutory body established under the State Corporations Act (Cap 446) of the Laws of

Kenya. Its Legal Notice gives it the mandate to ‘establish mechanisms which ensure that drought

does not become famine and that the impacts of climate change are sufficiently mitigated’. Drought

management may be defined as the actions taken on a continuous basis to prevent, mitigate or

prepare for the adverse impacts of drought and to build drought-resilient communities and nations.

The key to effective drought management is timely action. Droughts are predictable, slow-onset

phenomena, which makes it possible to intervene at a very early stage in their evolution in order to

mitigate their worst effects. As well as the obvious benefit of reduced human suffering, early action

has been shown to be far more cost-effective than delayed emergency response.

The contingency planning and financing system managed by the NDMA has evolved over many

years. Contingency funds are allocated to drought-affected counties on the basis of objectively

verifiable changes in drought conditions. The indicators monitored through the drought early

warning system allows these changes to be observed at the very earliest phase of a drought - before

any sign of stress is apparent. In addition to the temporary use of cash as a form of humanitarian

response, the HSNP provides an unconditional and regular cash payment to around 69,000 of the

most food insecure families in four arid counties: Turkana, Marsabit, Mandera and Wajir.1 This is a

social protection measure: these families experience chronic food insecurity regardless of drought

conditions. A particularly innovative feature of HSNP is its payments infrastructure, through which

traders dispense the cash through biometric smart cards held by the registered beneficiaries. Cash

may be redeemed at any time, thus minimising disruption to people’s normal routine (particularly

important for mobile pastoralists). Phase 2 of HSNP will start in 2013, and in preparation for this, a

comprehensive registration of all households in the four counties is underway. The NDMA will use

this registration data to scale up cash transfers to a much wider number of people than the regular

HSNP recipients at times of drought stress using drought contingency funds.

B. Key Findings on impact and its attribution – what is and is not working

Following are the areas of most highly ranked change and impact and whether working or

not working in peoples lives. The people say:

What is working? What is not working? Access to and education quality 28% Famine and food insecurity 33%

Targeted humanitarian support 16% Social disintegration 18%

WASH 13% Poor education quality 8%

Food security and nutrition 13% WASH related health risks 8%

Health and health facilities 12% Increased disease, poor access to health facilities 8%

Social organisation 9% Lack of participation in resource decisions 8%

Mobile coverage 6% Financial hardship 7%

Access to business loans 3% Lack of integration of youth 5%

Poor infrastructure 5%

1 HSNP is financed by DFID.

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In some areas people reported positive impacts in some sectors, others reported negative

impact in the same sectors – indicating uneven impact coverage. Negative impacts relating

to famine, food insecurity; social disintegration and; lack of participation in resource

decision making clearly emerged in focus questions and elaborated in Part II of the report.

Positive impact drivers Negative impact drivers

NGOs 31% Government 35%

Government 29% Community 24%

Community 24% Events e.g. drought, flooding etc 16%

Events e.g. drought, flooding etc 4% NGOs 11%

Other 4% Business 8%

Business 4% UN agencies 4%

UN agencies 3% Red Cross 1%

Red Cross 1% Others 1%

C. Methodology People First Impact Method (P-FiM) is a methodology that allows communities to speak for

themselves in identifying the important changes in their lives and to whom/what these are

attributable to was used. The starting point is people and communities, not organisations and

projects. P-FiM recognises that the primary driving force in ensuring accurate and cost-effective

interventions, sustainable processes and outcomes is people and communities. The approach

highlights some of the wider dynamics within the social, political and economic life of a community

about which implementing agencies may not be fully aware. It thus enables stakeholders to ‘take the

temperature’ in order to align their work more closely with local priorities.

The field work was carried out by Kenyans who were Somali speakers with two years as the

reference period for the exercise. All community groups spoke Somali. Recommendations are drawn

from the impact differences identified and responses to the focus questions. A deliberate “goal free”

approach was used in the first field work using inter-agency teams of three. This was followed by

goal focussed discussions during a consecutive field exercise to determine the impact of the EC

funded programme and to go deeper into issues shared by communities in the first ‘goal free’

discussion.

The inter-agency team participants received two days training in participatory communication, open

questioning, listening, understanding bias, integrated human development etc. They were deployed

in teams of three as facilitators, reporters and observers from different organisations (to avoid single

agency bias) to meet the representative community groups. Training was essential to identify stages

and quality of communication and to accurately record declarations of impact. The participants

randomly selected and prioritised in a ranking exercise the following groups whom they felt were a

cross section of the community, to achieve the exercise objectives of giving communities a voice,

identifying and attributing impact. This was done by people who know the language, area and

culture and are trusted and accepted as “sons and daughters” in the community.

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No. Selected for field work Place Rank 1 Pastoralists Hare 25

2 Village Elders Kursin 18

3 Pastoralist Drop Outs Lagdima Habaswein Town 17

4 Orphans Kibilay Habaswein Town 16

5 Religious Leaders / Elderly Central Habaswein Town 15

6 People Living With Disabilities Adimasajida (Habaswein) 13

7 Female Youth Dilmanyale 12

8 Women Lagbogol 11

9 Health Workers Abakore 10

10 Male Youth Quoqar 10

11 Children Machesa 10

A total of 11 discussions with community groups including vulnerable people were conducted. 165

people participated in the discussions. Participants of varying ages included adults, youth and

children - 58% male and 42% female.

Group impact statements form the report findings and recommendations. These qualitative

statements have been substantiated quantitatively through a systematic grouping and ranking by

their frequency of occurrence. To ensure the reliability and objectivity of the findings, scoring and

ranking exercises were an integral part throughout the debriefing and feedback in plenary to reduce

single agency bias on the results, to accurately record statements and test assumptions and findings.

Focus was not on what the teams “thought” but on what the groups “said” and at what

communication level. Participants in the group discussions declared 72 impact statements

categorised as positive, negative or neutral – 39 negative, 32

positive and 1 neutral.

The first exercise established a level of acceptance, respect and

trust between the community groups and inter-agency teams

that ensured the quality and honesty of the second discussion.

People in the groups found the opportunity to freely talk about

the most important things that happened to them as

therapeutic and liberating. After decades of humanitarian

action in North Eastern Kenya focussed mostly on agency and

project centric data collection for assessments, proposals and

0

50

100

150

200

Girls Boys Women Men Youth F Youth M TotalNu

mb

er

of

Par

tici

pan

ts

Disagregation of Representative Discussion Groups

70

95

Female Male

Representative Group Gender Disagregation

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reports the people were generally not used to an approach focussed on establishing qualitative two

way communication within communities themselves that recognised and valued their lived

experience and knowledge. They very much welcomed the approach.

The second ‘goal focussed’ field exercise was conducted by the same inter-agency teams and with

the same representative community groups in the same locations. It comprised of 15 questions

based on the TORs merged with key issues raised by groups in the P-FiM exercise. The inter-agency

team further refined the questions to assist the discussion with the community groups. The focus

group headings are given in Part II below.

D. Limitations

This was a very well prepared field exercise thanks to the NDMA who had mobilised and sensitised

community groups before and during the process. This meant that communities were ready and

available to meet the field teams and were clear on the exercise objective. Equally the NDMA had

convened a good gender balanced representation of participants and agencies working in the area

to carry out the exercise. The logistics for the training and the two field exercises was excellent

including the collaboration with agencies on the ground who provided personnel and transport.

Given the size of Wajir County the only limitation might be the geographical scale and number of

exercises carried out in the time available.

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Part 1: Community Feedback on P-FiM Exercise The Community Feedback report comprises impact statements and attribution from inter-agency

goal free discussions with 11 community groups in Habaswein, Wajir County. The main headings

represent the most important issues raised across the 11 groups followed by a presentation of how

the various groups related to the specific heading. There is a summary box under each heading that

sets out the Key Findings and Recommendations that the findings generate. The P-FiM apporach

ensured that the statements made by the community are recorded. This is validated by the inter-

agency team feedback within the exercise. The tables and graphs demonstrate levels of importance

the community groups give to different issues especially to assist analysis and decision making. Both

quantitative and qualitative feedback is measured in this way using the P-FiM approach.

This exercise was carried out to provide KRDP/EU, NDMA and all stakeholders, including the

community, a comprehensive overview of the wider context in Habaswein in particulare and Wajir in

general. The process provided an important entry point and basis for further focus discussion on

issues the community feel strongly about (e.g. agency participation, cash/handouts, settlements,

dependency, pastoralism & altnerative livelihoods etc.) and issues that KRDP/EU and NDMA wanted

the community to discuss (e.g. cash/voucher transfers, response at the onset of drought, community

engagement, beneficiary criteria etc.).

Following the P-FiM exercise, the inter-agency team of 36 people discussed how best to merge the

major issues coming from the commity and those from KRDP/EU. The merging of issues ensured that

the community felt engaged and that their issues were discussed. They were being respected and

taken seriously. Th focus questions were discussed during the second group discussion. These

findings are set out in Part II of the report.

In addition to the P-FiM and Focus Discussion exercises, the personnel from the participating

agenceis gave their feedback to the same questions at the end of the exercise. The agency feedback

report is in Annex 5.

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1.1.0. Positive Impact Areas

The 73 impact statements have been consolidated into categories - positive, negative and neutral.

The 31 positive impact differences are reflected above and show the areas or sectors where people

felt most positive change had taken place. These are reported in detail below.

1.1.1. Access to and quality of education

Key Findings

Improved access to, enrolment and quality of education in some locations is a change most

appreciated by communities.

Presence and retention of girls in school has significantly improved.

This represents changes in community attitudes and commitment to education.

While progress has been made serious educational capacity deficits exist.

Education is viewed by communities as a route to alternative livelihoods. Community initiative has been the main driver for attracting education investment

Recommendations

Education infrastructure and capacity needs to significantly keep up with enrolment and

retention as students progress to higher grades

The enrolment of qualified including female teachers should be supported

The children at Machesa felt that access to education is very important. They pointed out that of 14

children in the group (6 girls and 9 boys) only one was not at school. They appreciated the role of

their parents and the community in supporting them to go to school and said that even members

from the community had gone from home to home encouraging parents to send their children to

school. They were grateful to the community for this. They were happy that the government had

constructed 6 classrooms funded by CDF. In the past they could not attend school and many children

now do. They said that the 6 classrooms were not enough as next year they will go to class 7 and

there is no classroom for class 7 students. They are asking the government what will happen. The

children were emotional and shed tears when relating how important education is for them.

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5 4 4 4

3 2

1

Access to &quality ofeducation

Targettedassistance

Health andhealth facilities

WASH Food Securityand nutrition

Socialorganisation

Communicationinfrastructure

Access tobusiness loans

No o

f Impa

ct St

atem

ets

Wajir Positive Impact Areas

15

“Girls no longer go into early or

forced marriages. Girls can now

make a choice on who and when to

marry. The impact is positive.”

Form 4 graduate

SCF had built 3 good latrines - especially appreciated by the girls as before they had no toilets and no

privacy. They appreciate the latrines, the government (MOE & CDF), SCF, those who cook the food

and the community for giving them the chance to be educated.

The Community Health Workers group expressed that the benefits of the Abakore secondary school

is significant to their children and the wider community. The community requested the government

to build the school and the response was positive. They said the government and community should

be given equal credit as drivers of this initative.

Learning and less early marriages through increased girl child education emerged as positive impacts

in the Dilmanyale Female Youth Group discussion. Compared to the past, access to education and

girls remaining at school is much better. Previously girls were not allowed to go to school. Parents

now know the importance of education for girls as well as boys and the women appreciate this.

Sharing grievances and concerns by girls in schools was

felt to be a positive difference brought about by

establishment of monthly ‘girl-child forums’. Women felt

that the practice of forced and early marriage has been

almost stopped. The community was considered the main

impact driver for the postive change in attitude towards

the girl-child in society. The MOE received positive impact

attribution for the work it has done to facilitate girl-child

education. NGOs in the sector were positively referenced but also challenged for not addressing

serious deficits e.g. the need for more classrooms and schools, more trained teachers including

female teachers and better teacher-pupil ratios in classes. This was the perspective of the

community group.

According to the Male Youth group at Qopar improved literacy levels originated in 2008 due to a

youth initiative. Successive drought meant that a lot of livestock were lost - their only livelihood

source. The youth felt that depending on livestock alone was risky. It would be good to try other

things and adopt a semi-pastoral approach rather than a totally nomadic lifestyle. They proposed to

build a school. They felt that they could not move forward without education and that it was an

investment in their future. They presented their proposal to NGOs, the UN and government and it

was funded by the constituency development fund (CDF). It is now an important service. The youth

attributed the driver for this impact as the community and praised the CDF for funding and putting

the structure in place. While the teacher numbers are not adequate, literacy has improved. The

youth can now read and write. Women call their children to write their family names on jerricans

before going to market and children help their parents to write their names. This is something they

are proud of.

Children used to waste a lot of time in the bush. The pastoralist dropout group can see a major

change in the approach of children due to free primary education. A lot of this difference in

behaviour and attitude is due to the community who encouraged and supported their children to go

to school. The MOE and MOF supported the initiative financially and made it happen by constructing

schools and appointing teachers. NGOs such as WV supported education through the school feeding

16

programme. Local businesses contributed by under taking fund raising initiatives. The group said this

was positive as initially there was no primary education in their society.

For the pastoralist group at Hare access to education has increased through construction of classes.

The people came up with the idea from the start. They were supported by government through the

MOE to construct classrooms, recruit teachers and other staff. A UN agency gave books and they

received further support from WASDA, SCF and USAID. The Kenya Red Cross constructed latrines.

The CDF helped construct the classes. It was important for the community.

1.1.2. Targeted humanitarian assistance

Key Findings

Cash transfer programmes were more appreciated than food aid.

Cash transfer programmes that were jointly designed with communities at the outset were

better understood. Cash was not unanimously appreciated and this is explored in sections Part II.

Recommendations

Interventions such as livestock vaccination must be done properly for effective results.

Issues concerning improving the cash transfer system are outlined in Part II

The mothers in the female youth group said the cash transfer programme had really helped them

survive and changed their livelihoods – they were able to buy food for their children. At times they

are given cash and at other times food and while they appreciate the food, cash makes the biggest

difference. They received cash for a 10 month period when they needed it most. They appreciated

WASDA and Oxfam GB for the work they did in this and gave them equal credit.

The youth at Qopar also said that WASDA and Oxfam introduced a cash transfer programme that

had a very important impact on the community as it gave families an income to buy basic goods and

that they did not have to rely totally on the sale of their animals - especially difficult during drought.

The cash interventions by these agencies helped them a lot.

A project initiative by WFP, SCF UK, WASDA has provided people with food and greatly assisted

families to have a nutritious diet in their homes. This was greatly appreciated during the drought

and at a time when families had lost a lot of livestock. All positive impact attribution was given to the

NGOs and UN involved in the programme by the youth at Qopar.

The elders shared how the cash transfer idea started. They were being cared for through targeted

feeding. Within that programme and in discussion with WASDA and Oxfam they came up the cash

transfer plan whereby WASDA, ALDEF and Oxfam gave them cash on a regular basis so that they

could sustain themselves. The elders were very positive about the support as the idea was first

discussed with them and they see it as a better form of support as they can buy their own things.

They felt good about the project and the benefit to them. The Ministry of Social Services participated

17

The children feel the community

should do more to address hunger.

“We have to accept what the

children are saying. Let us not be

defensive. Let us accept fully what

they are telling us”. This comment

received applause from the group.

P-FiM Field Exercise Team Member

in the programme and local ‘rich men’ and Religious Organisations supported the initiative with

funding to help the poor sustain themselves.

The elders said that they had lost a lot of their livestock due to recurring severe drought and disease.

They appreciated that in recent weeks there was vaccination of livestock for Rift Valley Fever (RVF)

by the government veterinary department. The community played an important role as they

mobilized themselves to ensure their livestock were vaccinated. There was good collaboration

between the pastoralists and the veterinary department. They understand and believe that it is

important to vaccinate their animals at the right time i.e. before the rainy season. However, many in

the community still fear that vaccinations can result in livestock abortion (based on bad vaccination

practices in the past where healthy animals were contaminated by sick animals as the process uses

the same needle for each). The veterinary department provided education, vaccines and carried out

the vaccination properly and facilitated the whole process. UN agencies such as FAO and NGOs such

as SCF supported the programme. The elders felt it was successful.

People living with disabilities reported that they survived the drought due to external and internal

support e.g. from the Office of the President (OP), NGOs like Islamic Relief and the wider

community. They attributed most impact to the government followed by Islamic Relief and the wider

community. Those in the community who had little food shared theirs with neighbours who had

nothing. The OP provided water and food relief and Islamic Relief assisted with food and non food

items. They also received remittances from their own people who work outside the area.

The orphan group expressed how they often lack shelter, clothing and money to buy school uniforms

and how much they appreciate support received from relatives, well wishers and NGOs.

The children of Machesa Primary School spoke about the

terrible impact that hunger had on their families causing

loss of livestock and livelihoods. They said their livestock

were made very weak due to lack of rain. They appreciated

the role that government and WASDA played in supporting

the school feeding programme. The children equated

hunger with the death of their livestock and not necessarily

drought itself. The issue of hunger, loss of livelihood and

livestock is negative but they considered the response as

positive e.g. government for providing school feeding and

WASDA for providing relief food.

1.1.3. Health and health facilities

Key Findings

Improvements in health care were largely driven by communities themselves.

Support from various actors especially government has been important in realising

improvements in health

18

Recommendation

Coverage of health facilities is inadequate and continued expansion is encouraged especially the

recruitment of qualified medical staff and provision and management of medicines

Building the Abakore Community Health Unit was a community driven initiative. They requested

support from the Ministry of Community Health Services. SCF supported. In the past, women gave

birth at home which was risky. Through the work of NGOs like SCF, community based health workers

were trained and women given advice on when they should go to the clinic to deliver. This was felt

by them to be an important change.

For the Elders and Religious Persons in Habaswein family income and wellbeing has improved due to

reduction in diseases such as HIV infection. The role religious leaders played in informing the

community on the dangers of HIV AIDS was significant. The community feels it played a positive role

by holding to its values in addressing this. The Ministry of Health (MOH) provided services and

behaviour change communication programmes along with NGOs. Given the driving force of the

community at all levels they attributed most positive impact to the community.

The pastoralist community at Hare initiated a plan by identifying the need for a health centre and

giving the land for construction. The MOH provided medicines and personnel to staff the centre.

WHO, UNICEF, WV, SCF, Red Cross and WASDA contributed to the construction of the health centre.

The pastoralist group felt good that they now had their own health centre.

Initially the group in Lagdima were pastoralists but they lost their livestock during the drought and

now they stay in the settlement at Lagdima. There is a community health centre there with

adequate facilities. The community is given some attribution as they donated the site. Most

attribution is allocated to the government through the MOH and Ministry of Finance (MOF). SCF

also provided health facilities.

1.1.4. WASH

Key Findings

Communities are gaining increasing consciousness of the importance of proper waste disposal

Improvement in potable water access is highly appreciated by communities

Potable water access is driving income generating activity among youth through sale of water

Recommendations

Availability of fresh water remains a critical challenge.

Agencies complete water projects fully so that positive outcomes are achieved

A key impact intervention for the female youth group was that of NGOs like WASDA and Oxfam GB

in digging waste pits or ‘dust bins’ for rubbish. Each week families take their rubbish to the pit to be

burned. They feel this is good for their environment. The NGOs provided wheelbarrows, spades and

pangas to collect the rubbish and transport it to the pits. The community felt that since the issue of

rubbish collection was their issue and that they are doing most of the work they see themselves as

19

the main driver of this change. They gave equal attribution to NGOs since they provided the tools

and dug the pits. Care of their environment is an important issue for these women.

For the male youth group at Qopar improved water storage made a positive impact. It was

supported by the CDF and also by WV. They now have a well built underground water tank where

they can access drinking water during the dry season and drought. It is an important development

for the community and they attributed this impact to CDF, WV and the community.

Access to water made a positive difference according to the pastoralist dropout group. The youth

are very eager to provide water for the town through the use of donkey-carts.

The pastoralists at Hare also spoke about improved access to water due to boreholes and pans. The

community is happy with the project even though they only played a small part in it. The MOW and

Arid Lands played the major role in the construction of the boreholes and pans. UNICEF, WASDA and

SCF also participated in these activities.

1.1.5. Food Security and nutrition

Key Findings

The importance of milk and milk products as a staple food and the school feeding programme

Nutritious food contributing to treatment of HIV-AIDS

Recommendation

Develop milk and meat processing so that surplus milk and meat can used drought

According to people living with disabilities good rains in 2012 have increased food and milk

production. There is currently a lot of milk available on the market. The male youth in Quoquar

appreciated the improved nutrition in the community due to good rains with more milk and

vegetables available. Children in Machesa said that the school feeding programme is very important

and they attributed praise to the government, the UN and NGOs for supplying the schools with food.

The elders and religious leaders in Ndege Habaswein Improved health from increased production

(less HIV infections) – community, government and WASDA and ALDREF

A WFP, SCF and WASDA programme provided people with food that greatly assisted families to have

nutritious food in their homes. This was greatly appreciated during the drought when families had

lost a lot of livestock. Attribution was given to the NGOs and UN agency involved by the male youth

group at Qopar.

1.1.6. Social organisation

Key Findings

New Constitution positively viewed as enhancing the status of women

Increased trend towards individual land ownership

Social organisation of vulnerable groups makes a key difference in their access to support

20

“Sooner or later women will become

the leaders in this area and we are

going to find ways to develop this

place properly”.

Women’s Group Lag-Balal

“If I have a problem I can call my son

and if he has something (money), he

can send to me using his phone".

Lag-Balal Women’s Group Member

Recommendation

Attention to the social dynamics social dynamics and inclusion of communities in all initiatives

Women at Lag-Balal are experiencing change in their status

as a result of the new constitution. They are happy with

the new constitution and they see it as something that the

community has helped to achieve along with the

government. Both were viewed as equal impact drivers by

them. The community voted for it and the government

made it possible. The women spoke about poor leadership

as a major issue as it affects all parts of their lives - poor delivery of services such as health,

managing the environment, putting preparedness plans in place to address drought and flooding etc.

They said that they can do a lot to develop their lives but that leadership should improve. When men

meet to discuss and take action on issues they do not involve women. The new constitution will

change how women engage in the future. It will defend their right to also be leaders. They will no

longer depend on men and will change things themselves. They will fight for leadership and they will

fight for their rights.

Traditionally, there was no land ownership in the Somali society as land was owned by the

community. Now everyone wishes to have their own plot of land. The pastoralist dropout group

consider land ownership as positive. The community has taken the lead on the move towards land

ownership and the government through the Ministry of Land (MOL), Ministry of Planning and Local

Government are facilitating individual land ownership. NGOs assisted groups to purchase plots.

The Disabled at Adimasajida in Habaswein formed a group to advocate for their issues and to manage their affairs. They did this completely on their own and so they attributed the community full praise. They said that they had to take this action as their rights were not being respected and they were not receiving what was due to them. It was a positive outcome based on a negative experience.

1.1.7. Communication infrastructure

Key Findings

Increased mobile coverage helps family communication and remittance transfer using Mpesa

Communities view mobile coverage as an important indicator of progress

Recommendation

Attend to the social dynamics and inclusion of communities in all initiatives

The community at Abakore requested Safaricom to provide

network coverage and finally it was installed. It is an

important development. One woman in the Lag-Balal

group said that her son stays in Nairobi and it is good she

can speak to him often to know how he is doing. The

21

“We formed a group of ten women. Each contributed Kes10,000 and we started a clothing shop.

The business continued and after some time we felt we needed to invest more money and each

contributed a further Kes10,000. Later we learned that The Women’s Enterprise Fund was lending

money to women’s groups. We applied for Kes100,000 and were granted the loan and invested in

the business along with our own money. From that time the business is doing well and we have

also opened a butchery where we slaughter animals and sell the meat”.

Women’s Group Member

women said mobile phones are making a very big difference to their lives. They gave the

government credit for giving the license to Safaricom and they gave most recognition Safaricom as it

has really assisted them.

1.1.8. Access to business loans

Key Finding

The importance of women’s groups formed by women to develop their own businesses.

Recommendations

Iinvest more in supporting the development of local structures and local businesses

Attend to the social dynamics and inclusion of communities in all initiatives

Many women are members of Women’s Groups. They shared how they had developed their

businesses through pooling their own funds and accessing loan schemes e.g. Kulan, Nasri and

Towfiq. Other women shared similar experiences and that their way of life was improved by this as

they are better able to cater for their families. It as an important and positive impact in their lives.

22

1.2.0. Negative Impact Areas

From the 73 statements made by community groups, 39 were negative. These are reflected in the

grpah below and show the areas or sectors where people felt most negative change had taken place

followed by a detailed report on negative findings.

1.2.1. Famine and food insecurity

Key Community Findings

Poor disease management for livestock and people impacts negatively on livelihoods

Drought is undermining belief in the pastoralist way of life

‘Kenya is a stable country with structures in place – why is so little being done’

The need for local businesses as alternative livehoods

The UN not addressing the problem of dangersous waste being dumped in Wajir

Poor disaster risk management and planning makes disaster impact worse

NGOs contribute to the problem by not addressing the causes, only the consequences

The community, government and agencies are to blame for poor environmental magagement

Recommendations

There is need for comprehensive risk management plannign that engages communities fully as

the people say that poor management contributes directly to loss of livelihoods and poverty.

For people living with disability a serious negative impact was loss of livelihood and livestock. Animal

and Human Diseases badly affected their livelihoods and they attribute this negative impact to the

government and drought. While drought and disease are the cause they feel that if government had

put proper measures and veterinary services in place, the impact of disease on livestock and people

would have been less despite drought. Poor disease management is an important issue.

13

7

3 3 3 3 3 2 2

Famine andfood insecurity

Socialdisintegration

Financialhardship

WASH relatedhealth risks

Poor educationquality

Increaseddisease and lack

of access tohealth facilities

Lack ofparticipation in

resourcedecisions

Lack ofintegration of

youth

Poorinfrastructure

No

. Of

Imp

act

Stat

em

en

ts

Wajir Negative Impact Areas

23

One woman said she had a small

dam to irrigate her vegetable garden

and feed 30 goats. When the

drought came, the dam dried and

the goats died and her crop was

lost. When the rains came there was

a lot of flooding and her small dam

was washed away. She was left with

nothing.

Women’s Group Member

Lag-Balal

After the discussion was complete, the team

listened to the on-going conversation the

elders were having over tea. They said

people were being registered as part of a

relief programme and they wondered when

that programme would come to them. They

were told the process may begin possibly in

two months as work was slow. In their

discussion they said NGOs are bringing a

number of problems such as making people

dependent. Many NGO programmes are

unsustainable and as a result, the people

are even more vulnerable and dependent at

the end of a project than when the project

started. Life thirty years ago was much

better than it is now. The team felt this was

an important issue to be recorded and

reported even though it was not discussed

in the formal discussion.

Agency Staff Member

For the elders at Kursin a negative impact was the loss of their livelihoods due to prolonged and

frequent drought. The long distances they travelled with their livestock during the drought made

their livestock even weaker and more prone to disease. The lack of proper and adequate food due to

loss of livestock meant that people became

weaker and also more vulnerable to diseases such

as measles. During the drought their remaining

livestock were thin, gave no milk and could not be

sold or slaughtered. They are now living in abject

poverty in a remote part of the county. Drought

has made them lose the belief that their livestock

can provide them with the kind of good livelihood

they had in the past.

One of the elders compared conditions between

Kursin to similar places in Somalia. Even though

he had not been to Somali, he had heard from

those who travel there, that water is being piped

long distances to assist people and livestock. How

can Kenya a stable country not do the same?

Kenya has not been at war. Government agencies

are operational and there are many NGOs working

in the area. We are people of this country with

legal rights and yet we are still missing the basic

things of life, especially water. They are

considering what their options are and whether

they will re-settle their community elsewhere.

Survival in Kursin is difficult. They see no way out

unless a solution is found by government, well-wishers or NGOs to address their needs.

NGOs such as SCF UK, WV, WASDA and Oxfam said to them that since livestock farming is no longer

possible and there is not enough rain to grow crops, they should form themselves into small

business groups contributing their own money. They have formed the groups, made their

contribution but up to now have not received support

from any agency according to them.

The women’s group at Lag-Balal said that over the past

three years there was severe drought resulting in

malnutrition, poverty and pastoralist drop-outs. Most

people in the area are pastoralists or agro-pastoralists and

lost 90% of their livestock as there was no water or

pasture. Many people in the community were reduced to

poverty. The impact of the drought and the flooding

meant that many people lost everything and the women

feel very distressed. They blame the drought and flooding

most but also attribute negative impact to the community

24

“What has really concerned them is

they have never been involved in

the decision making processes of

NGOs who carry out actions such as

food distribution with little

engagement of the community.”

Pastoralist Drop Out Group

“The community has to take a lot of

responsibility, as famine is

determined significantly by the way

the environment is managed.

Drought itself does not cause

famine - people contribute to it by

poor natural resource

management.”

Pastoralist Drop Out Group

especially for tree cutting and charcoal burning which changes the environment. They attribute

responsibility to the government and UN for not sensitising the community on how to avoid or

reduce the impact of drought and flooding and for not putting early warning systems or contingency

plans in place. They consider that the UN is responsible for allowing and not challenging people who

come to their area to dump waste that produces a green gas that is damaging their land.

The pastoralist dropout group also spoke about the

negative impact of natural disasters especially drought.

While drought is a natural event, the community

contributes to the impact of drought by poor land

management. The government is responsible for not

engaging in disaster risk management and working with

the community to address the issue on time. NGOs are a

negative impact driver for not addressing the cause of the

disaster but only consequences. They feel that the

business community wish for natural disasters to occur so

that they increase their income from the sale of relief

items and relief food.

They said that food insecurity has been a major factor for

the past two years as a negative impact of drought.

Polygamy contributes to the problem ‘as a man with three

wives cannot support them and it leads to more hungry

people’. Some NGOs have not used their resources

properly. They recounted how one NGO sent five vehicles

at one time to monitor one small food distribution project.

They said that NGOs are negligent on how they make

decisions, impose their plans on the community and do

not engage the community or ask them what kind of

support they require. For example, for the past three years NGOs have been distributing maize and

beans as relief food even though it is not the preferred or traditional food. The business community

contributes negatively to food insecurity through hording goods until prices shoot up.

While the elders know that drought is affecting them badly, they also blame themselves for the poor

way they manage their environment that results in damage to pasture and vegetation. The

government has not come up with measures to manage the environment properly. The elders see

this as a serious issue that has to be addressed as drought is not the only thing that is affecting

pasture and water. The community is contributing in a negative way also. They spoke about local

people who burn the bush and pasture to prepare for farming and that no one is taking action to

prevent this from happening. They said that NGOs are not addressing the problem; they do not

educate and inform people on the dangers that such land clearing can cause and the terrible impact

it has on land, pasture and vegetation. The impact of drought is not something new and NGOs and

others should be learning from the past. They recalled serious droughts in 1973, 1992, 1995, 2005,

2006, 2009 and 2011 where they lost a lot of people and livestock. NGOs and agencies are still only

responding to the effects of drought and not addressing the causes.

25

The people of Abakore said the impact of drought and famine was severe. They blamed nature for

the impact and not the government or agencies. The major impact was the high number of animals

that died especially cattle and goats and resulted in food shortages and famine.

1.2.2. Social disintegration

Key Findings

The community view administrative government as most corrupt along with business people

NGOs were viewed as colluding with chiefs and administration officers and do not deal directly

with the community

How orphans and girl-child orphans are treated is a cause of concern. Girls are treated as

immporal even when they have not done anything wrong

Family disintegration is taking place as they are forced to break up and move apart due to

drought.

Disabled people were excluded from their own programme by corrupt officials

Food given by WFP, WASDA and OP was appreciated

Food and cash handouts is causing people to move to settlements that is undermining resilience

Frequent and prolonged drought is forcing them to change from the pastoralist way of life

Agencies just give aid and to not ask what alternatives communities want to engage in

Recommendation

The communities raise serious issues that must addressed if cash transfers are going to have

maximum positive benefit. It cannot be implemented in isolation from these challenges

For the Elders and Religious People in Habaswein, the community view administrative government

offices as most corrupt along with business people. NGOs were also attributed negatively as often

they only deal with chiefs and administration officers as community entry points - not with the

community directly. By working only with these people NGOs were viewed as contributing to corrupt

practices. Business people received negative attribution as they benefit from food stolen from the

government for re-sale.

The orphans in Habaswein said they lacked their most basic needs such as shelter, bedding, clothing

and medical care. The orphans said that they can only get work when times are good. When times

are bad and there is drought they suffer most. Other families are already suffering. That the children

were willing to say that they lacked parental love and care is significant and it emphasises an

important challenge for the wider community to be addressed. This is a societal issue and challenge

that is recognised in Islamic tradition and Somali culture. The orphans feel very bad having lost a

parent or parents and society makes life even harder by calling them derogatory names like Agon,

Raja and Rajaw that make them feel even more alone and rejected. Families that are already poor,

face an additional heavy burden when they have to cater for orphaned children. Orphaned children

are often abandoned as a result. In Somali culture, parents speak highly of their children. But an

orphan especially an orphan girl has no one to speak up for her and is a social outcast.

26

“Drought is not caused by the

government and if we choose to

work in Garissa we cannot blame

the government for that. But we can

blame the government for not

assisting us to protect our

livelihoods during the drought or

helping us be prepared for the

drought that caused us to leave.”

Elders Group

A programme was initiated by the Ministry of Social Services to identify and support disabled

persons to benefit from the Disabled Support Programme. The District Social Services Officer came.

Instead of meeting with the disabled he only liaised with leaders such as the Chiefs who gave him a

list of those who should receive disabled benefits. Many genuine disabled persons were not included

and did not benefit from the programme - while non disabled persons benefited. They attributed

this negative impact to community leaders and the government, especially the DSSO and the chiefs

for corruption and bad management.

They said that even though they are positive about the new constitution, community and

government leaders are not concerned about disabled and vulnerable groups. They attributed

negative impact to the Office of the President and community leaders equally. They said that the

government, especially the Office of the President is not making any effort to ensure that the

disabled receive the support they should get. It is an issue they feel strongly about.

The elders at Kursin spoke about family disintegration. Families, who would normally be together,

were forced to move in search of work to settlements, towns and cities. This is bad as it breaks up

families and undermines the traditional way of life of the family and community. Family

disintegration does not mean the breakup of a family - more that families are forced to move apart

just to survive. Recurring drought meant that they lost most of their livestock and that their pastoral

way of life is no longer reliable. As a result they were depending on the OP and NGOs such as

WASDA for assistance. The impact of drought on family life was very upsetting and they blamed the

drought. They are grateful for the support from the OP and WASDA and the food aid given by WFP.

The elders discussed that the distribution of food, cash and other items by agencies was causing

people to come and live in settlements and towns and this is not sustainable. It is based on

handouts. For many, movement to settlements is a matter of survival. Families move to settlements

to get relief and others to try to change their way of life from livestock to small business. A man who

has lost all his livestock and has a wife and children is forced to look for whatever is possible. Some

men will escape the family and run away and ‘get lost’ leaving the woman to fend by herself.

The elders said that the food given is not sufficient and

cannot be relied on. They consider whether they should

move to new places to better their lives. Movement to

settlements has become a coping mechanism as they can

at least get some handouts there. They see all this change

as a disintegration of their livelihoods and families which

is a worry to them – ‘the centre cannot hold’. The

pastoralist elders are living in a county and there are

agents of government operating, so most attribution goes

to the government as the main driver of negative impact

for its failure to act. Their pastoral livelihood system was

appreciated, however frequent and prolonged drought

was forcing them to change. They said lack of disaster

preparedness by the government is a major weakness.

27

Their traditional way of life is nomadic. With the loss of their livestock, the elders see a major change

in their way of life with a move towards permanent settlements; a move from a nomadic to a settled

way of life. This is a major issue for them. They see drought as the main cause of this impact as they

have lost a lot of livestock and are forced to travel far in search of water and pasture. The impact has

both positive and negative consequences; the care and support of the wider community is good; but

the government is not providing enough aid and water; NGO interventions both help and contribute

to the changed way of life; due to drought, the new settlements are changing their way of life.

According to the pastoralist dropout group the community has moved from their traditional way of

life and are having to adapt to the new life in settlements and towns. The World Food Programme

through food distribution is creating dependency along with NGOs such as WASDA, SCF and WV.

They do not engage the community to seek for alternatives to relief food. They do not ask whether

people can do other things or if they have ideas to create small businesses so that they move from

depending on food aid. Instead, they just come and distribute food. The level of communication was

low as the group was not very open to discuss the sensitive issues they raised and they said that they

themselves were contributing to the problem.

1.2.3. Financial hardship

Key Findings

Hi inflation of basic foods is a serious challenge especially at the onset of drought

The government should control prices as traders constantly raise prices

During the drought vulnerable groups such as orphans have no hope

The cost of farm items such as milk and meat also increases so inflation is across the board

Recommendation

Research into how the market performs for livestock, milk and basic food items at the onset of

drought and during drought is required to determine how big a livelihoods factor it is

For the past three years there has been high inflation having a negative impact. The price of basic

commodities such as sugar substantially increased at a time when they had lost their livelihoods due

to loss of livestock. They attribute most negative impact to the government as it should try to bring

prices under control. They blame business men and traders for hording as ‘today they say there is no

sugar and when the price increases they raise it from Kes100 to Kes150 for the same sugar’. They

feel strongly about this and said that … “the experienced person sees far”.

When a person says that today they are broke it may mean that they have hope of getting

something tomorrow. But when a person says they have nothing it means that they have nothing

today and no hope for tomorrow. The orphans said that they often feel like this.

The People Living with Disabilities said there was high increase in food prices especially during the

drought. The traders were mostly blamed for that. The cost of milk also increased a lot as there was

little milk due to the drought and the farmers were blamed for that high increase.

28

1.2.4. WASH related health risks

Key Findings

Basic WASH issues are not being addressed which increases disease and vulnerability

The community, government and NGOs should do more to prevent the spread of disease

Frequent borehole breakdown results in no water with community to blame for selecting the

wrong people to manage the borehole and the community contribution

There is a serious problem with saline water that is not fit for people and livestock.

Recommendation

Water remains a constant problem in terms of availability, quality and management. All actors

should address the challenges posed by water as integral to building resilience.

The children of Machesa complained that when people use the bush as a toilet they contaminate the

dam water and that livestock also make the water dirty. This causes diseases such as cholera,

dysentery and vomiting. They felt strongly that health risks were not being addressed. They

appreciated the water tanks and pans but felt that more care should be taken to prevent the spread

of disease. They feel that government, the community and NGOs are responsible and can do more.

The main source of water in Abakore is the borehole and frequent breakdown has a negative impact

on the people of Abakore as it is the only permanent source of water. When it is not working, the

people suffer and have to depend on water trucking to survive with their animals. The borehole is

managed by a community water committee and community borehole operators on a day by day

basis. The Abakore group attributed blame to the community for selecting the wrong people to

manage and operate the borehole as community income collected is not used for maintenance. They

attribute negative impact to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation as it should do more to assist the

community to manage the project properly. They said that some agencies such as SCF, World Vision,

WASDA and WFP have talked about doing something but have not taken any action. The group felt

that these actors should do more and not delay.

Due to the heavy rains there was a large increase of mosquitoes and malaria and other diseases.

People living with disabilities attributed this to the rains but also the MOH for not distributing

treated bed nets and treating places where mosquitoes breed.

Pasture and water is always scarce. The settlement at Kursin has two boreholes and the water in

both is saline and unfit for people and livestock. They can only use the water for livestock by drawing

it from the boreholes, leaving it overnight for the sediment to settle before giving to animals.

Drinking water is provided by NGOs using water tankers and by traders selling water. They were very

bitter and angry about the water situation. Elders blamed the government most as there was no

plan in place to help them address the challenges they face. They said that local businesses had poor

food stocks. They blamed the frequent drought for causing their problem.

29

1.2.5. Poor education quality

Key Findings

School security is a serious issue for children. They blame community and government equally

Being an orphan means being excluded from participating normally in society

Quality of education is undermined by large numbers of students in each class

Teachers are not trained. No female teachers to relate with female students on personal issues

They blame the community for not producing female teachers and government for not recuriting

Education is seen as essential for future development and must be addressed

Recommendation As with water, education should be properly addressed

Lack of security in the school compound is an issue. Thieves had entered the school at Machesa

twice in 2012 and the children do not feel safe. They said the compound should be properly fenced

so that they can learn without fear that the school may be attacked. The children blame the

community and the government in equal measure.

An orphan child may have lost one or both parents – usually the father. Being an orphan means a

child cannot participate in normal society such as attending school, Madrassas etc according to the

orphans experience at Habaswein.

The female youth group complained of poor education. They said the result of poor education is

large numbers of pupils per class. One mother said … “you might find 100 students in class one and

you can imagine the outcome”. The mothers of Dilmanyale said that there is a problem with

teachers; they are not enough, not trained and there are no female teachers. A woman in the group

said it is very bad when male teachers distribute sanitary pads to female students. A sensitive issue

that upset the women a lot … “the girls are too shy to approach a male teacher on such issues. It

should not happen”. Due to the poor quality of education, the women said the performance of

their children was poor even compared to previous years. In the past there were better teachers and

numbers of children were lower so the situation was manageable. They attributed equal negative

impact to the community and the MOE for the poor education standards. They blame the

community, as women and girls do not want to become teachers and prefer office jobs and to work

in towns. Poor education is an issue the community feel strongly about and are strongly united over.

The same literacy project mentioned by the male youth at Qopar had also impacted on them

negatively due to few teachers which is the fault of the government. While the community now

appreciates the importance of education and they want education for their children and for

themselves, they are disappointed that more teachers have not been appointed to the school. This is

a negative impact and they blame the community as teachers must come from the community but

mostly they blame the government for not appointing teachers and properly finishing the job they

started. There are only 2 teachers for 6 classes which is not workable.

30

1.2.6. Increased disease and lack of access to health facilities

Key Findings

Poor health facilities is a serious problem especially very poor maternity facilities

Clinics are poorly staffed with untrained staff and medicines are being sold leaving people at risk

The community asked whether their statements will be heard by the authorities?

The community is most to blame for contamination of the water point

Poor management of health facilities and bad water is causing people to die

Recommendation

Health care is another serious issue to be addressed especially to mitigiate drought

The mothers in the female youth group complained about the health facility in Dilmanyale - there

are no laboratory services. Health centre personnel are not qualified and diagnosis is made based

on observation alone and medication prescribed on that basis – they may think it is malaria but it

may be typhoid. There is no maternity ward for women. They deliver their babies at home attended

by traditional birth attendants who often do not have the basic equipment. Women face a lot of

problems during childbirth due to poor services and untrained staff. And sometimes the person in

charge is an untrained man who is dealing with women’s issues. Staff turnover is high. Attribution

goes to the whole community and especially to the Ministry of Health (MOH) who is mostly

responsible for an issue that impacts negatively on the whole Dilmanyale Location. They said that

clinic medicines are being sold and not used for the people. During the feedback presentation, the

team and women’s group were highly commended for the quality of the discussion and the honest

way they raised important issues. The mothers queried whether issues raised in Dilmanyale will be

heard at the highest level. It was explained that their issues will be accurately recorded in the report

and shared with relevant authorities and all participating agencies in the exercise.

The women’s group at Lag-Balal said the contamination of the main water source was a serious

problem. They have one dam and the dam water is contaminated. The colour of the water changed

and smelled very bad and they could no longer use it. They either travel 6km round trip to get clean

water or buy water from venders at Kes40 for 20lt from those who fetch water using donkeys. From

using the contaminated water, many children became sick especially from typhoid and dysentery.

Malaria is also a major problem. The community settlement is located near the dam and the people

use the area as an open toilet which causes the water to be contaminated during the rainy season.

Families throw their rubbish near the dam which contaminates the water and those who slaughter

animals throw the inedible animal parts in the dam area. The women say it is the community itself

that is most to blame. They went to the chief and the police to ask them to prevent people from

contaminating the dam but they received no support. The District Public Health Officer and the

National Environmental Management Agency (NEMA) were also attributed blame as they should

have taken action to work with the community to keep the dam and the dam area clean. The impact

is increased health risk especially to their children, increased cost of water and increased time used

to fetch water. The water should be clean and free and locally available but it is not.

31

The women say they face a serious problems giving birth as there is no maternity service and many

women die as a result ... “when a woman gets labour pains it is one of the most frustrating and

frightening moments of her life”. There is one dispensary and government staff are not there

permanently, so a woman in labour may not be assisted to give birth. The staff say they are always

busy working with agencies and NGOs doing other health work. One of the women in the group is a

midwife. She said that if a woman has complications and cannot be assisted at the dispensary, she

must be referred to the hospital in Wajir 60km away. As there is no public transport, the woman and

her family must find some means of transport to avoid putting her and her childs life at serious risk.

The women were very emotional relating cases where families could not find transport or did not

have money and women bled to death when they could have been saved with a proper local health

service in the village.

1.2.7. Lack of participation in resource decisions

Key Findings

Genuine disabled persons were not consulted or included in a government support programme

The blamed the community leaders and the DSSO

The community appreciate support of agencies but agencies do not ask them their views

Recommendation

Corruption can be partly addressed by open and full engagement of communities

A programme was initiated by the Ministry of Social Services to identify and support disabled

persons to benefit from the Disabled Support Programme. The District Social Services Officer (DSSO)

came but instead of meeting with the disabled he only liaised with leaders such as the Chiefs who

gave him a list of those who should receive disabled benefits. Many genuine disabled persons were

not included and did not benefit from the programme while non disabled persons benefited. They

attributed blame to community leaders and the government especially the DSSO and the chiefs for

corruption and bad management.

The children at Machesa said that while they appreciated the latrines provided by SCF. SCF had not

asked for their views and whether they wanted or needed latrines. SCF came to the school and

decided that the school needed latrines and built them.

1.2.8. Lack of integration of youth

Key Findings

Corruption is a problem espeically for youth employment with government most blamed

Government should ensure equal treatment of all citizens

The community should give youth money to buy khat wich is a serious issue for youth

Businesses and NGOs are responsible for cultural decay as they introduce foreing influences

Recommendation

As in other parts of Kenya, the use of khat by the youth is a serious community problem that has

to be addressed as it results in crime, idleness and serious family problems

32

According to the Elders and Religious Persons group there is high youth unemployment due to lack

of jobs and corruption due to favouritism, clanism and nepotism. Government received the highest

negative attribution especially the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The Ministry of State for

Immigration and Administration was cited for harassment of youth e.g. when a person does not

have an identity card. The government was given the largest share of negative attribution as it

should ensure equity and equality for all citizens. The UN and NGO bodies were viewed as dividing

their resources on a Clan basis and therefore received some negative attribution. The business

community was viewed to be failing to create sufficient inclusion and job opportunities for the

youth. Increased idleness by youth is a serious problem due to lack of opportunities and excessive

use of khat. The community was allocated most negative attribution as it fails to address the

problem and provides the youth with money to purchase khat (an issue for cash transfer). The

government is failing to address the problem of youth idleness and the business community for

failing to create more jobs. The government through the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture is

failing in its mission. The business community and NGOs contribute to the decay in culture and the

negative impact of foreign influences. The business community provide substances abused by youth.

1.2.9. Poor infrastructure

Key Findings

Spread of disease due to poor hygiene practices in selecting and butchering of animals

Poor quality of roads and lack of mobile phone network undermines markets

The government is most to blame for not ensureing basic services

The spiralling prices of basic foods is again raised as a serious issue

Recommendation

Markets and access to markets requires basic infrastructure and the women see mobile phones

as a necessity for the commercial and social life of the community. Better services be provided.

Some mothers commented that the practice of butchering animals is poor mainly due to the lack of

qualified public health officers to oversee animals for slaughter. It is a serious health concern as

animals are slaughtered in homes and the meat is sold in the market and animal diseases are

common. Lack of proper butcheries and qualified public health officers is a serious health issue. The

constant increase in food prices is a major concern to the women. The cost of basic goods and foods

increases daily. A kilo of sugar that was Kes60 is now Kes150 – over a very short period. ‘We don’t

know how we can survive with such price increases and it is a very negative impact on us’.

The women felt very strongly about issues relating to bad market management and the negative

impact on them and their families and livelihoods. They attributed blame to their own community,

the government and most to bad business practice. The price of an item such as sugar means that

something as important as taking tea is no longer possible. It is terrible.

The women said that most of them have mobile phones but they are just useless as there is no

network, no power and often no phones available. The women now see phones as important for

their lives. When there is no power, no network and no phones the impact is terrible on their social

and economic lives and even issues of security. The women complained about the poor quality of

33

the roads especially during the rainy season making travel and access to services and markets very

difficult. They blamed the community and business to some degree for these problems but most

blame was attributed to government. The women felt strongly about these issues.

1.2.10 Growing Dependency and Loss of Livelihoods

Key Community Findings

Giving free food and cash without addressing the underlying causes of drought and poverty

increases dependency and poverty.

People are not asked if they can do things for themselves – they are just given handouts

People have move from traditional pastoral way of life and are adopting new things

There is need for investment in small business opportunties to diversify livelihoods

Recommendation

Research and investment in small business enterprise is required to build livelihoods

The elders and religious leaders of Habaswein said that the temporary supply of cash transfers and

other interventions reduces resilience and self-reliance. The government through the Ministry of

Social Welfare was attributed most responsibility along with NGOs and the UN because they give

free food and free cash and do not address the problems that free cash and food creates.

Pastoralist dropouts at Lagdima said the community has moved from their traditional system of

living and they are not adapting to the new life in the settlements and the towns. The World Food

Programme through the food distribution programme is creating dependency in the society. Another

is the NGOs such as WASDA, SCF and WV do not engage the community to seek for alternatives to

relief food. They do not ask whether people can do other things or if they have ideas to create small

business so that they move from depending on food aid – instead, they just come and distribute

food. The level of communication was low as the group was not very open to discuss the issues given

how sensitive it was for them and they themselves were contributing to the problem.

34

1.3. Neutral Impact

Neutral impact refers to the impact of interventions that are viewd by the community as both

positive and negative e.g. a borehole with water but unfit for livestock and people, food aid and

handouts that save lives but create dependency, the right intervention but at the wrong time etc.

Neutral impact usually refers to interventions that have innacurate assumptions, the wrong timeline,

poor engagement, poor targeting and no alternative actions considered etc.

1.3.0. Decline in children's health (water borne diseases)

Key Community Findings

Agencies do their best to provide servcies but the outcome is poor resulting in neutral impact

that is very frustrating for communities as there are associated costs and negative impacts when

results are neutral or negative.

Recommendations

Assumptions and risks assoicated should be fully considered with the community at the concept

and design phase of a project to maximize success and consider other options

Projects should be fully thought through and agencies should engage communities in

considering alternatives if projects fail or objectives are not achieved

A borehole was drilled by WASDA that increased the water quantity of the community. However, the

water in the borehole is not fit for human consumption due the high salinity level. During the test

pumping of the borehole, the whole community was very excited as the water flowed for 24 hours

and the livestock drank their fill. It was a great moment and full of hope that they had enough water

and that the water was at least good for their livestock. But following a laboratory test, they learned

that the water was not fit for either livestock or people. So the borehole was left without a pump as

the water could not be used. It is very frustrating for the community and they feel very upset that

the borehole does not work. For them it is a neutral impact as the agencies tried to give them water

but the water was not good. Most of the neutral impact was caused by the NGO as the NGO should

have tested the quality of the water first. The community continue to rely on pans for their water

but the water from the pans is not adequate and so the problem of water remains.

35

1.4. Analysis of the drivers of impact

The analysis in this section examines what is working or not working from the perspective of

representative community groups. This weighs accountability from the perspective of the affected

population to reflect the performance of all actors (including the community itself) – which may be

helpful to government, donors and decision makers. Stakeholders are rated positively, negatively

and neutrally. Each impact statement receives a 0-10 score attributed to different actors / factors

that people see as creating change in their lives. These totals are combined giving the results in the

charts above and shown against the numbered left axis.

The size of the attribution column (positive, negative, neutral) is important. If the height of the

positive attribution column is greater than the corresponding negative attribution column then an

actor or group of actors may feel they are on the right track. However the size of negative or neutral

attribution should be seriously considered, as should the overall size of the attribution to external

humanitarian actors (even when positive). If negative or neutral impact outweighs the positive

impact an actor or actors are making, or if the attribution column of positive impact by external

actors is too high, then this provides an opportunity for reflection, further community discussion and

a possible change of strategy, to ensure that positive local community, government, business and

civil society results are increased. In a healthy development context; community, government, local

business and local civil society action should be strong and provide the foundation for a robust and

locally sustained response.

A review of the positive attribution results clearly demonstrates the substantial positive space

occupied by the community, Administrative Government and NGOs over the past two years.

In some instances groups named agencies both positively and negatively in their statements.

Sometimes, people may not know how to differentiate between agencies and the community

appreciation of organisations is often horizontal regardless of whether an agency is large or small.

UN agencies are in some cases funding NGO, FO and government activities, and this is sometimes

020406080

100120140160

Wajir Impact Attribution

Negative Impact Positive Impact Neutral Impact

36

unknown by communities. What matters to them is what and who are having results from their

perspective. This underlines the fact that sector performance is collective from the perspective of

those on the receiving end, and that organisations are not insulated from judgement on

performance by the affected populations. The results above show (albeit from a relatively small

representative group) who and what people feel are responsible for these impacts. The situation on

the ground is dynamic in relation to long-term changes and can vary considerably from area to area.

The graphs provide a clear appreciation of the context within which actors are working.

In terms of negative impact, forces within the community are clearly driving negative impact

whether through social prejudice, cultural attitudes or poor livestock and farming practice etc. This

is followed by action, inaction or lack of coverage by administrative government departments, e.g.

not enough coverage of education, water supply and health services. Attribution to an event is

primarily the 2011 drought. Learning from the attribution results raises important questions about

the need to build positive links between communities, local actors and local government. In terms

of neutral impact differences this is largely due to getting a response half right but not completely.

37

PART II

KRDP / EC Focus Questions merged with Community Priority Issues

1. How can community involvement help develop programmes that produce better impact,

increase resilience and reduce dependency and poverty?

2. How can community entry points be improved to ensure that the whole community is included

in the decision making process?

3. How can organisations be made more accountable to communities?

4. How can management and governance of programmes be improved to ensure sustainable

project impact?

5. How does drought impact on different livelihood systems at different times of the year and why?

6. What do you do to reduce the impact of drought especially at the early stages?

7. What additional support do you need to offset drought especially at the early stages & why?

8. Who in the community should receive cash transfers and why? What criteria should be used?

What is the risk on gender relations?

9. When is the best time to receive cash and why? (When cash transfer is of most benefit in

protecting livelihoods from drought).

10. For how long do you need to receive cash transfers and at what intervals?

11. How much cash should be given per household in a cash transfer and why? (What size of cash

transfer would be meaningful and appropriate?).

12. What criteria should be used e.g. geographically, socially, or by wealth ranking?

13. What are the risks in giving cash transfers or non cash items and how can they be reduced or

eliminated e.g. impact on mobility; impact on markets, on gender relations?

14. How should communities participate in the cash transfer process and what difference will

community participation make e.g. as part of the management process?

15. What kind of information do you need to inform you about early drought and when and how

should you be given the information?

2.2.0. Community Feedback to Focus Questions

2.2.1. How can community involvement help develop programmes that

improve impact, increase resilience and reduce dependency and

poverty?

Key Findings

Agencies limiting their engagement with communities by meeting leaders such as chiefs.

Community entry points should engage all groups in the community; children, elders, women,

religious leaders, youth, disabled, businesses, government

Representation builds ownership and transparency ensuring that the right people receive

benefits

Training and capacity building needed so various groups can participate in discussion, decision

making, monitoring and evaluation, accountability and knowing their rights

38

Plans should be communicated through barazas etc. so the community is fully informed

Civic education that builds knowledge on participation and rights

Recommendation

Agencies should ensure that entry points allow full and open access to all groups in the

community so they participate fully and to lower corruption.

2.2.2. How can community entry points be improved to ensure that the

whole community is part of the decision making process?

Key Findings

Agencies are limiting their engagement with communities by meeting leaders such as chiefs.

Community entry points do not engage all groups in the community; children, elders, women,

religious leaders, youth, disabled, businesses, government

Ownership and transparency is not being built

There is need for training and capacity building so that various groups can participate in

discussion, decision making, monitoring and evaluation, accountability and to know their rights

Plans should be communicated through barazas etc. so the community is fully informed

Civic education that builds knowledge on participation and rights

Recommendation

Community entry points are just that … entry points. Agencies should ensure that entry points

allow open access to all groups so they participate fully.

6

4

2

Involvement at all projectstages

Communities knows whattheir needs are / Better

needs identification

Appropriate ideas, actionsand programmes that

have long-term benefits

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Improving impact, resilience, reduce dependency and poverty

8

3 2

Inclusive genderbalanced

representation ofall groups

Elders Chief (localadministration)C

om

mu

nit

y ra

nki

ng

Improvement of community entry points

39

2.2.3. How can organisations be made more accountable to communities?

Key Findings

Government and agency plans are not shared publicly with the community

Agencies are not transparent and open about their objectives, budgets and plans

Communities do not have direct links with donors which would improve accountability and cost

effective programmes

Representative local committees should be in place to monitor, evaluate, report, provide

feedback and challenge bad practice

Communities should have their own structures for accountability – feedback mechanisms should

use community systems and located in the community and not the agency

Recommendations

Agencies should engage in pre-project discussion with communities setting out possible budget,

plans, start-up time and timeframe, capacity to work etc. so the community can share its views

so that a workable programme with achievable objectives can be developed.

Community involvement in M&E and Impact Measurement should be standard

2.2.4. How can management and governance of programmes be improved

to ensure good the delivery of good projects and positive impact?

Key Findings

Prior discussion with communities on project design and planning is essential

Groups and committees should be trained to enable them contribute fully

Even short-term emergency projects should have long-term benefits that the community

support and agree to before hand

People who abuse resources should not be protected. The community should expose them.

Representatives should be elected/endorsed by the community before engaging with agencies

Recommendation

For communities to own, manage and provide a governance structure on project outcomes

requires that they be involved in management and governance from the outset.

7 6

4 3

Public sharing ofplans at barazas /

increasedtransparency on all

information

Communitiesinvolved at all

project cycle stages

Inclusive andrespresentative

decentralisedproject monitoring

committees

Communitycomplaints /

monitoringstructures and notthose of agencies

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Improving Accountability to Communities

40

2.2.5. How does drought impact on you at different times of the year and

why?

Key Findings

The impact of drought is loss of pasture, water, increased disease, bad market prices, lack of

food and milk and all this forces people to take action

In the dry season period prior to rains there is increased pasture and vegetation burning that

contributes to drought as the land cannot survive.

In the early stages of drought there is massive livestock migration; sale of animals to get income

when possible to avoid losing livestock later; retain smaller herds to mitigate loss of pasture and

water and have breeding stock for the future.

In the early stages of drought people still have options; sell healthy livestock, use income to buy

food and fodder, move livestock to better areas, treat for disease.

As the drought progresses, there are few options as livestock lose weight and cannot be sold,

fodder and food prices increase, diseases strike livestock and people, there is high inflation and

family income is finished so the situation becomes extremely critical

As the drought continues there is an increase in settlements and those going to settlements as

there are no alternatives and they are attracted by the kind of support agencies give

Agencies usually do not provide support at the early stages. It usually comes late when the

situation is chronic and lives and livelihoods are threatened as more people lose livestock.

Recommendation

There is an important link between what is done to mitigate the impact of drought at the early

stages and the subsequent need for external support (e.g. cash and/or food). It is important that

agencies be fully aware of this and engage actively with communities to address it – before aid.

3 3 3 3

Community publicawareness / feedback

on programme

Involve womens groups/ project steering

committees

Community shouldhave a voice before

and at all project stages

Election of peoplerepresentative of

whole community (notjust gatekeepers)

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Improving project management & governance

41

9

5 5 5 3 3

Livestockdeaths

Loss oflivelihoods /

income

Disease Poverty /dependency

Loss of life /malnutrition /

starvation

Migration tosettlements for

relief / work

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Top ranked drought impacts

2.2.6. What do you do to reduce the impact of drought especially at the

early stages?

Key Findings

Livestock are sold to get income before the animals become thin and weak

Herds are reduced to manageable sizes so they can survive the drought

Family income is used to purchase fodder and water for remaining livestock

Weak animals are slaughtered as they have no market value. New born animals are slaughtered

as they only weaken the mother who cannot produce milk and both may die if she suckles her

calf

If it is not a recurring drought, they travel to areas where there may be pasture and water

Livestock offtake programmes provide alternative income as market prices are very low

People migrate with their animals and others to towns and settlements to look for work and

support

Drought is directly associated with bad community practices as well as changes in the climate

Recommendation

Groups stated often that they reduce livestock numbers at the onset of drought to raise income,

avoid losing stock during the drought and retain viable herds. The focus on viable herd numbers

should be considered as a long-term development issue now that the concept is localized.

6 5

3 2 2

Inadequate pasture,water, food

Low livestock prices Climate change / rain Pasture destructionby bush burning (lack

of community unity /commitment)

Lack of rain

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Top ranked causes of drought impacts

42

2.2.7. What additional support do you need to offset drought especially at

the early stages & why?

Key Findings

Awareness campaigns to inform communities of the pending drought, for what duration, of

what severity and what its impact may be including accurate weather forecasts

There should be proper livestock marketing and market information available so people can

decide when and where to sell livestock to avoid having to sell at throwaway prices

Emergency water supplies should be in place as water is essential for people and livestock

Train communities on drought preparedness so that they can make better choices

Government should control food prices especially during drought when prices become very high

Livestock should be vaccinated before the drought to avoid the risk of disease

Water provision and canal / irrigation channels should be set up to ensure water supply

Early warning systems that involve communities and use of traditional signs should be in place to

help pastoralists make the right decisions well in advance

There is need for communities to be involved in contingency planning to ensure plans are put in

place that address their immediate and long-term needs

Recommendation

The issue of markets and poor livestock prices was raised a lot and there is need to address the

issue of how livestock markets operate and to ensure that pastoralists get the best prices for

their livestock as this is critical to family income and also central to the cash and voucher debate

6 5

4 4 3

Reduce livestock herdsize / livestock sale

Migration for pastureand water

Livestock off take / de-stocking programmes

Cry out for supportfrom Government /

NGOs

Stock food (maize /sorghum) / Dry meat /

savings / Buy hay /animal feed

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g Measures to reduce drought impact

43

2.2.8. Who in the community should receive cash transfers and why?

What criteria should be used? What is the risk on gender relations?

Key Findings

Groups were unanimous that a representative community committee should identify the most

needy using local criteria (e.g. wealth ranking) setting out those who should receive cash

The community has criteria to identify the most vulnerable as those at risk of hunger and disease

during drought requiring additional support. Vulnerability criteria be decided locally

They focused on vulnerable groups demonstrating an awareness and care for those in need

There is a gender risk as cash given only to the woman in the home can create tension and

violence that may not have existed to that point and that can have serious results.

Women are seen as having the most domestic responsibility and it makes sense for them to

manage cash for domestic needs. Men deal mostly with livestock and so they too require cash.

How the community engages in determining how cash is given is critical to both

Recommendations

There is need for an integration of vulnerability as community groups identify the needs of those

who are destitute and the needs of pastoralists – but not in an integrated way.

Community should decide who should receive cash, how and when. And set out local bylaws on

what will happen to those who abuse cash (e.g. chewing miraa, not working, not supporting

their family). This must be addressed locally with external actors fully engaged to achieve a

workable solution. Giving cash just to the women in the home solves one problem and creates

others

8

4 4

2

Drought awareness raising /early warning information

weather forecasts

Livestock marketinginformation

Water harvesting / pans /irrigation channels from

existing water sources toproduce crops / water for

livestock / Emergencyboreholes at grazing areas /

de-silting

Cash transfers

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44

2.2.9. When is the best time to receive cash and why? (When cash transfer

is of most benefit in protecting livelihoods from drought).

Key Findings from the Community Focus Groups

Most vulnerable should receive cash all the time as their status does not change. This was

qualified as the community should ensure other initiatives are followed so even the most

vulnerable should try to be self sufficient and not become dependent

Cash transfers should be given during emergencies such as drought, flooding and serious disease

to livestock as pastoralists become vulnerable in these scenarios

Some say cash to be given at the start of drought to mitigate the drought

Others say pastoralists sell healthy livestock at the start of drought to reduce herd size and use

the money to buy fodder and water.

As drought continues, there is growing need to provide cash as money is finished and there is no

income and pastoralists need money for their families and livestock to survive

Recommendation

Logical to focus cash at the start of drought before vulnerability sets in but should be done

alongside improved markets, disease management, access to fodder etc. Should not be given in

isolation

11

2

WHEN: During drought / floodemergencies /disease outbreaks

WHY: When people cannot sell livestockis when they are most vulnerable and in

need of cash

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When and why receive cash?

8

Most vulnerable e.g. widows, orphans, elderly, critically ill, femaleheaded households, disabled, poor, divorcees, pastoralist drop outs,

cattle rustling victims, child / female headed households

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Cash transfer recipients

45

2.2.10. For how long do you need to receive cash transfers and at what

intervals?

Key Findings

Cash is required at the outset of drought to mitigate impact (retain reduced herd), and during

drought to help families survive and purchase food, fodder, water.

Cash is also required during recovery even after rains; it takes livestock at least six months to

begin producing young and milk – meat and milk are staple foods and income

So much depends on the extent and duration of a drought so the middle part of the drought can

extend indefinitely so timeframe is determined by drought duration.

Cash transfers should not extend past the recovery phase as assistance to pastoralists

Non-pastoralists e.g. dropouts, those living in settlements, the most vulnerable also experience

drought but in different ways and therefore have different timelines

Cash should be used to assist in business and enterprise development

Recommendation

While recommended periods differ, duration of cash transfers should depend on the drought

and the recovery period after the drought. It should not extend past the recovery period

2.2.11. How much cash should be given per household in a cash transfer

and why? (What size of cash transfer would be meaningful and

appropriate?).

Key Findings

Even though the amount recommended varies considerably, there is agreement that the

amount should be determined by what is required to survive on a day by day basis.

The issue of inflation especially during drought is raised as a basis to increase the amount

Amounts also vary during different times and depending on vulnerability

The community should be fully engaged in determining who should receive and how much

5

3 3

7

6 months (dependingon emergency)

Up to recovery period /livestock starting to

produce young

3-5 years (dependingon extent of drought)

Monthly

Age

ncy

sta

ff r

an

kin

g

Propoposed cash transfer duration

46

Recommendation

Further research is required to understand the level and impact of inflation at the outset of

drought and how cash transfers may impact on food prices and the development of markets

2.2.12. What criteria should be used e.g. geographically, socially, or by

wealth ranking?

Key Findings from the Community Focus Groups

They emphasized the need for the community to determine the criteria for those who should

receive cash, when and for how long

Community committees should be representative and elected locally as much depends on their

capacity and how they work with agencies

Key criteria issues are; pastoralists who depend on livestock totally

Location; especially those in remote areas, those in settlements who are already vulnerable

Geographically; those areas most affected by drought should be targeted

Size of population matters as areas that are densely populated are more vulnerable

Wealth ranking is clearly the most favoured way – community based

The importance of supporting and developing local businesses is important

Recommendation

Beneficiaries being accountable to the community as the community has selected them presents

an opportunity to revise how such projects are managed, monitored and evaluated

14

6

AMOUNT: 5,000-10,000Ksh WHY? Currency depreciation /inflation / High cost of basic

goods

Co

mm

un

ity

ran

kin

g

Proposed cash amount and rationale

10

5 4

2 2

Wealth ranking method Vulnerability level Dry / remote areas Semi rural / semi urbanareas (those who have

lost livelihoods /pastoralist dropouts)

Community basedscreening criteria

Co

mm

un

ity

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kin

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Selection criteria

47

2.2.13. What are the risks in giving cash transfers or non cash items and

how can they be reduced or eliminated e.g. impact on mobility;

impact on markets, on gender relations?

Key Findings

Discussion, decision making and criteria setting should be transparent and open and engage the

community and agencies – everyone wants money so it must be transparent.

There is fear that cash transfers will lead to inflation of basic goods

There is a fear that cash will attract more people to existing settlements and result in the

creation of new settlements with greater dependency created

Cash will be used to buy unessential things such as miraa and will make men lazy and unwilling

to work thus making the situation even more difficult

How cash is distributed is a concern especially for women in remote areas having to leave their

families / livestock unattended as well as incurring high costs of travel

Women who leave home for long periods can lead to problems of jealousy in the home and lead

to more conflict between husbands and wives

To reduce the problem, cash can be transferred through selected shopkeepers and money

accessed when required

Giving the money to women creates conflict in the home – creating a problem to solve one

Those who receive should be selected and registered by the community so that if they abuse the

benefit they can be cautioned or removed

Cash transfer can lead to double registration of persons who move from place to place and

register in each location

Frequent monitoring and evaluation that includes the community is essential

Cash for productive work should be used to avoid laziness and growing dependency

Lack of phone network is a problem in remote parts where Mpesa does not work. Vouchers and

using local traders as cash outlets can address the problem

Recommendations

The need for cash transfers is hinged heavily on the impact of drought on markets, the fall in

livestock prices and increase in basic goods. There is need to review the primary causes that

underline the need for cash and vouchers e.g. if livestock prices remained good, if viable herd

sizes were farmed, if the land was better managed etc. the need for cash may be reduced.

Pastoralists are requesting that short-term emergency funding that only responds to the impact

of drought be balanced with long-term interventions that address the primary causes

Research is needed to consider why water is a problem and fodder cannot be produced so that

smaller herds are sustained through the drought without handouts.

48

Risks Rank

Dependency 8

Distort market operations 5

Household discord leading to domestic violence 5

New settlement creation / migration to area of cash transfer / reduced production 2

Lowers capacity for resilient lifestyle 2

Hatred and resentment because not everyone would receive the cash 2

Insecurity mostly where the parcef (sp) delivery method used 2

Double registration of mobile people e.g. pastoralists 1

Risk reduction measures Rank

Use MPESA 3

Proper beneficiary selection / Target most needy vulnerable groups 2

Use of local agents and local traders to transfer payments 2

Market research 1

Cash for work 1

Frequent monitoring and evaluation 1

2.2.14. How should communities participate in the cash transfer process

and what difference will community participation make e.g. as part

of the management process?

Key Findings

Community representatives should participate fully in developing the project

There should be public awareness campaigns to inform the community on what is planned

The emphasis should be on building livelihoods and communities can lead on advising what will

or will not work even when cash is being distributed

A community screening committee with criteria to screen who should benefit

Ensure that the community own the project and outcomes by participating fully

The community know who the most vulnerable are and should oversee their selection

Community involvement will result in accurate planning and sustainable results – not being

achieved at the moment

Community involvement will improve accountability of agencies to the community, of the

community to itself and of agencies to donors

Recommendation

Community participation was raised as a major issue to be addressed. While benefits have been

stated, there may be others that have not been explored fully e.g. improved value for money,

small business opportunities, inward investment initiatives etc. Further open focus discussion is

required on an inter-agency / community basis

49

2.2.15. What kind of information do you need to inform you about early

drought and when and how should you be given the information?

Key Findings

Information on how to mitigate drought should be shared e.g. on how to store food such as

producing milk powder and dried meat that can be stored as food and for sale

Information should be shared through the media especially in relation to pending drought and

expected impact e.g. BBC Somalia, KBC, Wajir Radio, through barazas, by text message

There is need for frequent and accurate weather forecasts to inform people about weather

patterns (drought, flooding, disease) well in advance so that people can plan

Planned agency activities should be communicated openly and transparently so that

communities can share their views. The timeliness of projects is critical

Recommendations

The need for information is emphasized. The information should be accurate and timely and

given in ways that pastoralists can access. Information should encompass market issues

including livestock and commodity prices and trends so that pastoralists can plan when and

where to sell.

Early warning is more than a focus on drought or flood forecasting. It should encompass market

information, trends in markets, disease management, information on planned interventions.

12

2 1 1

All stages from beginningto end / management /

decision process

Ownership / positiveoutcomes

Trust / accountability /community

empowerment

Increase effectiveness /efficiency

Co

mm

un

ity

ran

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g

Community participation

11

7

5

2 2 2

Early warning Up-to-dateweather reports

/ rainfall patternsand forecasts

Livestock marketprices

Information onanimal disease

outbreaks

Updates onwater and

pastureavailability

Destocking andlivestock offtake

programmes

Co

mm

un

ity

ran

kin

g

Information required

50

2.2.16. Additional comments from the team on feedback from the

Groups?

When formal group discussion had ended, some of the informal dicussion was recorded as the

teams felt that the issues raised were pertinent. These are recorded below. In particular the;

emphasis on continuing cash transfers if done properly, if not, it should be stopped; the need for

business alternatives and that livestock are more productive than cash.

Key Findings

“If the projects had been planned with the community, then we could have moved forward very

far by now” … children’s group.

In the first discussion the communities said that we took time to listen and develop trust with

them that meant they were open and honest in both discussions

The first discussion was very important as it prepared the ground for the second discussion

where the elders were even more open and honest about their issues.

Cash transfers should continue if proper strategies and procedures put in place with only

deserving people receiving cash – if this is not possible, the cash transfer programme should be

stopped.

3 2

1 1 1

As early aspossible

Beginning ofdrought

Before drought Before start ofrainy season

At all stagesCo

mm

un

ity

ran

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g Information timing

9

3 2 2

Local FMstations

Barazas /Community

meetings

Bulletins Indigenoustraditional

knowledge,information andcommunication

systems

Co

mm

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ity

ran

kin

g

Trusted and accessible communication channels

51

The women said that during the rains they have a lot of milk and meat and a lot of the milk is

wasted as the market is flooded and all that food and income is lost – let us develop businesses

that produce milk powder and dried meat

One elder went as far as saying that support to develop kitchen gardens is better than cash

transfers; irrigation schemes, even re-stocking of sheep and goats is better than a cash transfer –

cash does not produce, livestock and gardens produce

They were very happy with the discussion with the people and wanted to know when they will

be called again so that they can discuss and share more.

Recommendation

Cash transfer on its own is not a solution. The community make the point a lot and strongly. It

must be properly done and must be done in a way that integrates markets, long-term

development, proper engagement of pastoralists etc. They do not want handouts, they want

sustainability.

52

3.0. Conclusion

The P-FiM exercise in Habaswein that combined goal free discussion with a wide cross section of

representative community groups produced a significant overview on how these people view their

lives and livelihoods. It also provides rich insights into how they view those who engage with and

support them. The inter-agency approach that engaged personnel from 16 agencies on the ground

demonstrated the importance of ‘agencies working together’ to try to understand their working

context in a much deeper and insightful way. The impact of the process and outcomes on the

community is extremely important. This approach is something new to them in spite years of

agency engagement with them. That they were given the opportunity to discuss their views, ideas,

fears, challenges, hopes and anxieties openly within a respectful and trusting process allowed them

to engage and share significant issues for them and those serving them.

The KRDP/EU in collaboration with NDMA provided the opportunity for views to be shared and

feedback to be received on the KRDP/EU question areas. The openness and trust achieved during

the P-FiM discussion allowed for further indepth discussion by the community on issues significant

to them and to NDMA.

At a time when the EU, DFID and the Government of Kenya are considering major investment in

social, humanitarian and development planning and programmes, it is essential that local

communities be given their rightful place in the discussion to share their views and wisdom to shape

this process. The community is saying that regular poor engagement with the community produces

poor programme results; discussion with gate keepers alone is not enough as the whole community

should be involved; information should be shared openly and transparently; if cash and handouts

are given without proper engagment with communities and due consideration for potentially good

and bad outcomes, it may result in greater poverty. Pastoralism is changing and communities know

this – they want to be proactive in considering other livelihoods and businesses; they want basic

services in education, health, WASH, security, infrastructure, markets and livestock etc. They want

programme objectives, outcomes and impact discussed fully with them; assistance at the onset of

and during drought should focus on addressing the root causes (e.g. poor livestock markets, poor

disease management, poor management of the environment, need to reduce herd sizes, new

businesses to develop livestock and livestock products such as powdered milk and meat drying, early

warning that is practical and timely etc.). They want cash transfers to be part of the solution and not

part of the problem. They fear dependency that results in spiralling poverty. The Hunger Safety Net

Programme for the most vulnerable along with cash and voucher transfers to those who are

seasonally vulnerable are significant interventions that can greatly assist vulnerable ASAL

communities cope and ‘protect their livelihoods during crisies caused by drought, flooding and

disease’. The community can and should play its full role in the discussion in designing,

implementation, monitoring and impact measurement of these initiatives.

53

Annexe 1 Terms of Reference The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) is a statutory body established under the

State Corporations Act (Cap 446) of the Laws of Kenya. Its Legal Notice gives it the mandate to

‘establish mechanisms which ensure that drought does not become famine and that the impacts of

climate change are sufficiently mitigated’.2

Drought management may be defined as the actions taken on a continuous basis to prevent,

mitigate or prepare for the adverse impacts of drought and to build drought-resilient communities

and nations. The key to effective drought management is timely action. Droughts are predictable,

slow-onset phenomena, which makes it possible to intervene at a very early stage in their evolution

in order to mitigate their worst effects. As well as the obvious benefit of reduced human suffering,

early action has been shown to be far more cost-effective than delayed emergency response.

In its efforts to ensure a timely response, one of the most important tools at the NDMA’s disposal is

the drought contingency fund. Contingency finance operates under more flexible procedures than

regular government disbursement channels. The contingency planning and financing system

managed by the NDMA is well-respected and has evolved over many years of experience.

Contingency funds are allocated to drought-affected counties on the basis of objectively verifiable

changes in drought conditions. The indicators monitored through the drought early warning system

allows these changes to be observed at the very earliest phase of a drought, well before any sign of

stress is apparent.

While the NDMA has confidence in the technical quality of the contingency planning and financing

system, it wishes to complement its knowledge by understanding more fully community-level

perceptions of the measures and approaches which will best protect their livelihoods during the

early stages of drought. One of these measures is cash transfers, which, along with vouchers and

other forms of credit, are increasingly being used by agencies instead of food aid.

In addition to the temporary use of cash as a form of humanitarian response, the Hunger Safety Net

Programme (HSNP) provides an unconditional and regular cash payment to around 69,000 of the

most food insecure families in four arid counties: Turkana, Marsabit, Mandera and Wajir.3 This is a

social protection measure: these families experience chronic food insecurity regardless of drought

conditions. A particularly innovative feature of HSNP is its payments infrastructure, through which

traders dispense the cash through biometric smart cards held by the registered beneficiaries. Cash

may be redeemed at any time, thus minimising disruption to people’s normal routine (particularly

important for mobile pastoralists). Phase 2 of HSNP will start in 2013, and in preparation for this, a

comprehensive registration of all households in the four counties is underway. The NDMA will be

able to use this registration data to scale up cash transfers to a much wider number of people than

2 It is understood that it is not possible for a ‘drought’ to become a ‘famine’, given that the two are

completely different phenomena. The legal wording is generally interpreted to mean that while drought is inevitable, its worst effects can be avoided through strategies to reduce risk and build resilience. Further, the term ‘mitigation’ is used here in its everyday sense of ‘avoiding a problem’, and not as used under the climate change regime (i.e. of reducing greenhouse gas emissions).

3 HSNP is financed by DFID and operates, like the NDMA, under the Ministry of State for Development of

Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands.

54

the regular HSNP recipients at times of drought stress using drought contingency funds. However, in

order to do so, it needs a fuller understanding from likely target communities of when such transfers

would be most effective, of what size, for whom, and for how long, and how they might compare

with more conventional forms of drought response.

Purpose

The purpose of this consultancy is to improve the quality of the NDMA’s response in the early stages

of drought and its relevance to the communities it serves. This will be achieved by exploring

community-level views on the mechanisms which will best support their livelihoods during the early

stages of drought. The exercise will contribute to the fourth strategic objective in the NDMA’s draft

strategic plan, which is to ‘protect the livelihoods of vulnerable households during drought crises’.

Methodology

People First Impact Method (P-FiM) is a methodology that allows communities to speak for

themselves in identifying the important changes in their lives and to whom/what these are

attributable. The starting point is people and communities rather than organisations and projects. P-

FiM recognises that the primary driving force in ensuring accurate and cost-effective interventions

and sustainable processes and outcomes is people and communities. The approach highlights some

of the wider dynamics within the social, political and economic life of a community about which

implementing agencies may not be fully aware. It thus enables stakeholders to ‘take the

temperature’ in order to align their work more closely with local priorities.

The P-FiM team will be accompanied by relevant officers from the NDMA / HSNP to help clarify the

technical aspects of the drought management and social protection systems, where this may be

required.

Scope of work

One P-FiM process will be piloted in one pastoralist area within one of the four counties where HSNP

is operational. The chosen pilot area should meet the following criteria:

A range of interventions by multiple agencies are underway or have recently been implemented,

including HSNP, the benefits of which the community will be able to evaluate.

A pastoralist area, where a proportion of the population is mobile.

A secure area, where the P-FiM discussions will not be affected by conflict.

The P-FiM process should elicit views from a cross-section of the community (which should include,

for example, mobile pastoralists, settled households, traders, religious leaders, and local political

authorities) on the following issues:

The impact of drought on different livelihood systems at different times and the reasons why

this impact differs.

The local/indigenous coping strategies and drought mitigation mechanisms which communities

use to protect their livelihoods and which of these can best be supported by the NDMA and

other external actors.

The impact of different mechanisms and approaches used by external actors (both government

and non-state actors) in supporting local livelihoods and economies in the early stages of

drought.

55

With regard to cash transfers in particular:

Timing: When a cash transfer would have most benefit in protecting livelihoods from drought,

and for how long the transfer should be made.

Scale: What size of cash transfer would be meaningful/appropriate.

Targeting: Who should benefit (whether defined geographically, socially, or by production

system), what the targeting criteria should be, and why.

Risk management: What risks are involved, and how these might be reduced or eliminated (for

example, impact on gender relations; impact on mobility; impact on markets).

Management: How these transfers will link with the ongoing HSNP programme; how

communities could be part of the management of the process.

The process should be informed by a strong social analysis of the community in question, which

takes intra and inter-household dynamics into account, and ensures that the perspectives of those

who are often excluded from these discussions (such as minority clans, the poorest women, or those

living in pockets of deprivation) are clearly heard.

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Annex 2 Field Exercise Participants

No. Name Postion Name of Organisation 1 Adan Husssein Dugow Driver WASDA

2 Ibrahim Jubasa Board Member WASDA

3 Muhuba Hassan M & E Officer WASDA

4 Ahmed Billow Osman Project Officer WASDA

5 Abdi Mohamed Emil Driver NDMA

6 Issack Abdille SLDO NDMA

7 Hassan kalmoy Data Officer NDMA

8 Abdi hakim Khalif Finance Assistant NDMA 9 Gedi Mohamed Driver NDMA

10 Mulki Abdi Field Officer ALDEF KENYA

11 Ahmed Ali Mohamed Project Officer ALDEF KENYA,WAJIR EAST

12 Omar Adan Driver ALDEF KENYA,WAJIR EAST

13 Mohamed kureish FSL coordinator ALDEF KENYA,WAJIR EAST

14 Yahya Dahir Admin. officer WAJIR PEACE

15 Ahmed Abdi Program Assistant WAJIR PEACE 16 Adan Ragow Hassan Program Assistant DISTRICT MARKETING COUNCIL,WAJIR

17 Kaltuma Abdullahi Admin Assistant DISTRICT MARKETING COUNCIL,WAJIR

18 Hussein Ali Abdirahman Officer DISTRICT MARKETING COUNCIL, WAJIR

19 Abdiaziz Ali Child protection Assistant SAVE THE CHILDREN INT.,WAJIR EAST

20 Abdi omar Community Mobilization Officer SAVE THE CHILDREN INT. WAJIR SOUTH

21 Rashid Bashir Driver SAVE THE CHILDREN INT.,WAJIR SOUTH

22 Mohamed Ali salah Tutor Ministry of Education,Wajir 23 Dagane Hussein AEO Ministry of Education Habaswein

24 Katra Mohamed Tutor Ministry of Education Habaswein

25 Gedi A. Abdi Adult Education Officer Ministry of Education Habaswein

26 Abdi M. Digale Public health officer Ministry of Health,Abakore

27 Saadia Hassan Nurse Ministry of Health, Habaswein

28 Abubakar Issack Nurse Ministry of Health Habaswein

29 Rahma Abdikadir Nurse Ministry of Health Habaswein 30 Daud.Y Guliye DLPO Ministry of livestock Wajir East

31 Mohamed A.Emil DAO Ministry of Agriculture Habaswein

32 Rukia Ibrahim Technician Ministry of Agriculture Habaswein

33 Daud M. Dahir Chairman COPID, CBO, Habaswein

34 Abdiwelly Ali Secretary COPID, CBO, Habaswein

35 Farah Abdullahi Vice Chairman Bidii Welfare Group Habaswein

36 Amran Haret Abdi Office Assistant Bidii Welfare Group Habaswein 37 Omar Bashir Member Pidad, CBO, Habaswein

38 Shamsa Mohamed Amey Office Assistant Kenya National Library Service Habaswein

39 Nesteha Fille Elmi Deputy Librarian Kenya National Library Service Habaswein

40 Nathif Maow Record keeper Kenya National Library Service Habaswein

41 Abdinasir Aden Mohamed Assistant Program Officer World Vision, Habaswein

42 Ahmed H. Ali TO KRDP

43 Robert Muriuki Driver KRDP 44 Gerry McCarthy Trainer Consultant

45 Paul O’Hagan Trainer Consultant

57

“P-FIM is fantastic in

successfully putting

people first.”

“P-FIM is fantastic in

successfully putting

people first.”

Annex 3 People First Impact Method (P-FiM) Summary

P-FIM is a simple low cost methodology that fully allows communities to speak for themselves, in identifying impact changes in their lives and what the drivers of impact difference are attributable to. In this way the starting point is people and communities and not organisations and projects. It is a powerful tool that highlights issues humanitarian and development agencies may often be poorly aware of. P-FiM as a mainstream approach and tool directly complements aspects of Sphere, the Good Enough Guide, Participatory Impact Assessment (Tufts) and HAP etc. P-FiM enables humanitarian actors to accurately ‘take the temperature’ in order to properly align interventions with local priority issues, ensure they are engaging properly and where they can have the greatest possible impact. P-FiM simply recognises the primary driving force of people and communities at all stages of an intervention as essential. It adds value to existing collaborative and inter-agency initiatives. The method has been used in multiple inter-agency exercises e.g. in 2010/12 in South Sudan, Haiti, Sudan (West Darfur), Liberia and Kenya with excellent results and high spontaneous buy-in by participants and agencies. Potential P-FIM Benefits to Agencies: (i) Impact measured in the context where a programme or programmes are delivered (ii) A series of P-FIM actions will provide a basis for advocacy/mainstreaming of people first approaches. P-FIM takes a representative geographical area (e.g. 1-5 year programme) of people and communities who are getting on with their lives. Local people are trained on P-FiM who have basic development skills, understand language and culture and are trusted locally. The method (i) enables a qualitative process where primary changes are openly discussed with representative groups making up a community - whether positive, negative or indifferent - and recorded (ii) the method then works backwards to determine in a quantitative way where change is attributable to e.g. leadership in the community, government actions, local business, NGO, UN etc. The method makes no assumptions about impact and what drives it - with often surprising impact results revealed. It is community owned and driven. P-FiM fundamentally asks “So what?” questions . . . “So what difference has that made to people’s lives?” and “who or what is responsible for the change or impact?” There are two biases that often colour project and organisational impact evaluation approaches:

What impact are we actually having? Typically organisations and their programmes are the focus of impact/ evaluation measurement to meet standard quality, accountability and donor requirements.

How can we know the actual impact of a project/programme if we only consider projects and organisations? What about the depth and breadth of what is around the project or organisation in terms of change impacts? P-FIM measures impact in the context of the project and as such, the impact of the project can be tested.

While participatory approaches and accountability at community level are given increased importance, the standard organisation/project focus is still emphasised by donors and agencies. A typical end of project impact evaluation involves external (sometimes local) evaluators who carry out desk and field exercises to determine the positive or negative qualitative and (mostly) quantitative impact achieved by a project (which in itself is important). However, by over focusing on the organisation and project and the role of external evaluations - the full honest views of local people and communities on what is working or not working (or whether correct or needed in the first place) and what other factors (often not actions of the project) have caused impact - are typically unheard or not considered. Why People First Impact Method (P-FIM)? Our fundamental question is “Are we doing things right and are we doing the right things?” To put this into a programme/project context, the assumption column of a logframe requires that donors and agencies fully consider the wider context to ensure that proposed programmes are relevant. In this way it can be said that ‘impact lives in the assumptions’ - weak assumptions lead to inappropriate responses. P-FIM references ‘project cycle approaches’ and effectively links with other evaluative / impact tools in humanitarian and development contexts. It is a simple methodology that can bridge an essential gap within existing approaches. The knowledge base and pedigree underpinning P-FiM draws on key concepts from Existentialist and Personalist Philosophy, Psychosocial Methods and beyond. It is an integrated and holistic view of human

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nature, freedom and potential - people’s needs and rights. Key concepts are: people come first; local relationships of trust are fundamental; people have a right to life with dignity; a non agency centric and non project approach facilitates objectivity and honesty; an integrated holistic appreciation of human development is vital; quality and depth of respectful communication with people is essential. Experience 2010-2012: 381 national staff from 147 agencies have been trained and engaged 3,521 disaster affected people in multiple inter-agency exercises as part of major evaluation and Evaluation exercises with FAO, UNHCR, UNICEF, CARE and Save the Children, War Child Canada, ACT Alliance, Trocaire and Norwegian Church Aid in Kenya, South Sudan, Haiti, Sudan (Darfur), Liberia and Burundi. For more information: contact@p-fim.org or http://www.linkedin.com/pub/people-first-impact-method-p-fim/53/339/841