The Sericho Resilience Assessment (RA) is the first of five assessments to be carried out across Isiolo County. The RAs will inform the design of a Climate Adaptation Fund (CAF) which will operate at the county level. Communities will be able to submit proposals to request support for ‘public good type’ activities that support climate resilience. The five RA sites were chosen in consultation with community representatives as broadly representing the diversity of production systems and livelihood strategies that exist across the county.
The aim of the RAs is to build an understanding of the different determinants of resilience to climate hazards and how those determinants vary across sub – groups within the wider community. Another aim of the RAs is to introduce the concept of CAF to communities and seek their input on how best it could be structured in order to interact effectively with communities. As part of this process an institutional analysis was undertaken in order to assess if there are existing institutions that could form a community focal point in planning the best use of external support for building climate resilience.
There was also a strong focus on the role of climate information in supporting the local planning process. The first RA was conducted in Sericho and was well attended by over 50 people from all over Sericho Ward (encompassing all four Sericho locations: El Dera, Iresa Boru, Modogashi and Sericho). Women (30%) and youth (16%) were represented at the community meeting as well as being consulted separately in small group interviews during the interview phase of the RA process.
The core research team consisted of Victor Orindi – Ministry of State for the Development of Northern Kenya and Other Arid Lands (MSDNKOAL), Daoud Tari – Resource Advocacy Programme (RAP), Joseph Ng’ang’a – Ministry of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 (MSPNDV2030) and James Pattison (IIED). In addition to the core team there were two research assistants from Sericho – Rukia Buke and Adan Turo who assisted with translation and arranging interviews and small group sessions. The community meetings were arranged and facilitated by Daoud Tari and the RAP team.
