Kenya to benefit from Sh1.2b fund for arid lands

Kenya: Communities living in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) in Kenya are part of other groups in Africa and Asia set to benefit from Sh1.2 billion ($13.5) fund from various development partners.

The fund being channelled by Department for International Development (DFID) and International Disaster and Risk Conference (IDRC) targets to assist six countries to uplift the living standards of the communities living in the ASAL areas.

The project dubbed 'Pathways to Resilience in Semi-Arid Economies (PRISE)' is focusing on basins, deltas and ASALs.

PRISE is one of the component of the bigger project, Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA), which is being funded to the tune of Sh6.3 billion ($70 million).

Senior programme specialist with IDRC Evans Kituyi, during workshop organised by University of Dar es Salam in Nairobi, explained that the project aims at building on the resources and capacities of dryland settlers and assisting to exploit current and emerging economic opportunities and investments in those areas.

Other countries to benefit include Tanzania, Senegal, Burkina Faso and in Pakistan and Tajikistan in Central Asia.

Dr Kituyi stated that the project, a five-year research undertaking, is also aimed at initiating a paradigm shift in interventions from the traditional scientific-based modelling to focusing on development first.

"The project will also assist the communities living in ASALs to develop their livestock and practice dryland farming by planting drought-resistant crops with a view to enhancing food security," he said.