Economics of resilience in northern Kenya

The 53-page Kenya country report on the “Economics of resilience” (2012) focuses on interventions in arid and semiarid areas in northern Kenya where pastoralism and agropastoralism are practised. It compares costs of key interventions in response to drought – humanitarian response, early response and building resilience – and calculates the value for money of different resilience-building interventions. It concludes that early response is more cost-effective than late humanitarian response. Building resilience is initially expensive but saves money over time. Drought recovery takes longer or may be impossible when a community is not resilient. Drought-prone areas face a disproportionate lack of investment in resilience-building interventions compared to other parts of Kenya. It is recommended that funding models be changed to integrate relief and development in a coherent cycle, and spending on resilience in drought-prone areas be increased significantly. In addition, more thorough and systematic research is needed to assess the effectiveness of different resilience-building interventions.

Posted on 18 May 2014 in Pastoralism & Climate Change, Pastoralism, Mobility & Land Tenure, Pastoralism, Policy & Power