Turkana Friday and Saturday (last day) 512, rev.jpg
Turkana, in northern Kenya, has been hit by a massive drought for over a year, triggered and worsened by the effects of El Nino. Under a program called Kenya Resilient Arid Lands Partnership for Integrated Development (Kenya-RAPID), funded by USAID and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), CRS is the lead NGO in Isiolo and Turkana Counties working with Catholic Church dioceses to support the County governments as they develop their capacities to sustainably tap and exploit precious water reserves in Kenya's Arid and Semi-Arid Lands, or ASALs. Substantial water supplies lie below ground, so using them responsibly and maintaining them at the County level (as part of Kenya's devolution under the new Constitution of 2010) is key to the economic development of these traditionally marginalized lands. In the ASALs, crop farming is possible only along riverbeds and/or with irrigation, so livestock is a mainstay of the economy. Ensuring access to water for livestock and people is a major pillar of the program.
Diversifying people's livelihoods so they have more of a cushion in the event of a drought or other emergency is another pillar of the work. This man is weeding a field of onions grown by the Edome Elemae smallholder farmers group, supported by Kenya-RAPID. The farmers here have a pump system and use drip irrigation, manure, compost and other methods to improve the quantity and quality of their crops. Women from other surrounding villages were coming on this early morning to buy kales and other produce to sell in their own local areas.
The farmers here also reported that their animals have survived the drought, because they can feed them the crop residues and other weeds and grasses they don't use to the animals.
The Diocese of Lodwar has been leading this type of development work in Turkana for decades, and is the lead with this farmers' group.
Photo by Nancy McNally/Catholic Relief Services
Turkana Friday and Saturday (last day) 512, rev.jpg
Turkana, in northern Kenya, has been hit by a massive drought for over a year, triggered and worsened by the effects of El Nino. Under a program called Kenya Resilient Arid Lands Partnership for Integrated Development (Kenya-RAPID), funded by USAID and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), CRS is the lead NGO in Isiolo and Turkana Counties working with Catholic Church dioceses to support the County governments as they develop their capacities to sustainably tap and exploit precious water reserves in Kenya's Arid and Semi-Arid Lands, or ASALs. Substantial water supplies lie below ground, so using them responsibly and maintaining them at the County level (as part of Kenya's devolution under the new Constitution of 2010) is key to the economic development of these traditionally marginalized lands. In the ASALs, crop farming is possible only along riverbeds and/or with irrigation, so livestock is a mainstay of the economy. Ensuring access to water for livestock and people is a major pillar of the program.
Diversifying people's livelihoods so they have more of a cushion in the event of a drought or other emergency is another pillar of the work. This man is weeding a field of onions grown by the Edome Elemae smallholder farmers group, supported by Kenya-RAPID. The farmers here have a pump system and use drip irrigation, manure, compost and other methods to improve the quantity and quality of their crops. Women from other surrounding villages were coming on this early morning to buy kales and other produce to sell in their own local areas.
The farmers here also reported that their animals have survived the drought, because they can feed them the crop residues and other weeds and grasses they don't use to the animals.
The Diocese of Lodwar has been leading this type of development work in Turkana for decades, and is the lead with this farmers' group.
Photo by Nancy McNally/Catholic Relief Services