KENYA LIVELIHOOD SECURITY/DRR AND CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT FOR   PARTNERS PROGRAMME    

 Introduction

The SL/DRR programme is supported by Trocaire, an Irish agency. The project started in the year 2005 as a goat restocking project that covered ten (10) Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASALs) counties in Kenya. This project aimed to restock livestock based household assets that were decimated by the drought of 2005/2006. The Goats restocking project gave between five (5) to ten (10) goats per household to communities in arid and semi arid lands. Baraka Agricultural College (BAC) provided technical guidance to the project.

After the restocking project, there was a felt need to build on the gains realized. Thus a Sustainable livelihoods/ Disaster Risk Reduction Programme (SL/DRR) was developed, hinged on the restocking project within the partners.BAC has been providing technical guidance to the programme in areas of Livestock improvement and breeding, improved crops productivity,, natural resources management and involvement of the youth in development through the Outreach team.

Partners in the programme include the Catholic Dioceses of Kitui, Lodwar and Meru while parishes include Wenje, Barpelo mission and Ishiara. Maasai Pastoralists Integrated Development Organization (MPIDO), a Community Based organization working in Kajiado county and women groups in the Upper Eastern region of Kenya (Marsabit and North Horr) are also in the programme

Main Objectives of Programme

• Training and education on SARD on livestock, crops and natural resources management to rural communities and other stakeholders.
• Offer consultancy services, research and documentation and technical back-up to communities and partners practicing SARD.
• Work with rural youth on activities that will minimize their alienation from the process of development.
• Mitigation of social economic impacts of HIV and AIDS and provision of care and support to the infected and the affected in Kamara Division

LIVESTOCK IMPROVEMENT AND BREEDING

The programme strives to improve the capacities of partners and communities in livestock production practices through trainings and exchange tours with other partners. The trainings are done through demonstrations and discussions during the biannual Technical Accompanier’s visits to the partners. The communities and partners’ staffs congregate at a central place where the trainings are conducted. In some incidences the communities come with their goats if they require special attention during the trainings. The trainings focus on improved livestock production practices in nutrition, housing, breeding, diseases and parasite control and marketing. The programme also encourages livestock keepers to adopt new production practices through holding shows, competitions, and reward the best practices.

All the project goats are ear tagged and tattooed for identification purposes. The kids from the flocks are ear-tagged at a small fee by Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) or the paravets. This identification makes monitoring performance of an individual goat easy and thus selection based on the performance has become possible. Data collection on production, reproduction and health among the project goats is going on within the programme goats.

The programme endeavors to improve access to veterinary drugs and services for livestock diseases and parasites control. This is achieved through establishment of agrovet shops, coordinate vaccination and deworming campaigns, training of CAHWs and construction of community managed dips.

The programme’s marketing component encourages farmers to approach livestock marketing from a group perspective. This is from the realization that there is massive exploitation of the livestock owners by middlemen traders in the markets. These middlemen traders purchase livestock from farmers at a lower price and sale the same animal normally in the same or neighboring market at a much higher price.

The programme strives to revive the Galla Goat Society of Kenya to champion for the Galla goat breed in the country. BAC has been coordinating meetings that bring stakeholders in the goats industry in the country. Some of the stakeholders in the forum are Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), International Livestock Research Institute (IRLI), Gicheha Farms, Delamare Estates, University of Nairobi, Egerton University, programme partners, Nomadial Pastoralists Initiative, Heifer International, Kenya Livestock Breeders Organization (KLBO) and farmers.

RURAL YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME:

The youth programme works with the rural youth and other stakeholders in Kuresoi and Baringo districts. It aims at facilitating rural youth development through promotion of sustainable youth structures, promotion of processes that enhances holistic development of rural youth and improving their capacities to influence processes, institutions and policies that affect them as they actively participate in the development of their own communities. A lot of experience is gained and lessons learnt throughout working in these areas. They are shared with other partners in the outreach areas of Ishiara and Wenje parishes of Embu and Tana River counties where a pilot youth project has been under way. The experiences and lessons learnt are also used to inform the college on future working relationship with the youths.

NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Natural resource management section deals with building the capacities of the communities to identify and utilize the natural resources they are endowed with. In every geographical zone there are different natural resources that could be utilized to contribute to the improvement of the communities’ livelihoods. A resource becomes only when people recognizes it and are able to utilize it. The programme piloted utilization and conservation of the natural resources in Wenje and Ishiara parishes. The natural resources identified in the two parishes were, rain water, solar energy, trees for different uses and bees among others. To exploit these resources the programme promoted honey production, water harvesting technologies, conservation of trees, solar energy utilization and water and soil conservation measures.

STRUCTURES FOR PAST STUDENTS

Since 1974 when Baraka Agricultural College was initiated, about two thousand two hundred students have been trained. The graduates of BAC are spread of over Eastern Africa with majority arising from Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Tanzania. Others come from Ethiopia, Zambia, Eriteria, Congo and Ghana. With this wide catchment area, it is not clear to the college as to what these Graduates are doing. The feedback from these graduates is very important for the college as it helps in curriculum development in order to offer training that has impact on the livelihoods of the communities. Visiting each of these past BAC students to find out is very difficult, it is therefore necessary that these graduates form networks within the regions through which they could be easily reached. A pilot project has started with past BAC students from Isiolo and Marsabit counties where we have nineteen (19) Baraka Agricultural College graduates.

CROPS

Crop production is one of the major activities of the agro-pastoralist communities in the country. This is because crop productivity directly impacts on the poor agro-pastoralist communities’ household food security, incomes, labour markets, wages, better nutrition and low food prices. The programme has been promoting improved farm productivity through the dry land farming concepts of Ishiara and Wenje parishes. Specific activities in this section involves seed trails/bulking, crop diversification and intensification, value addition, laying of soil and water conservation structures.

NB: HIV/AIDS is mainstreamed in all the four thematic areas of the programme