1. Increasing Community Resilience to Drought in Sakai sub-location, Kisau Division of Makueni District Presented by Prof. Shem O. Wandiga Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Utalii House, Utalii Street, Room 802 P.O. Box 42792-00100, Nairobi E-mail: sowandiga@iconnect.co.ke sowandiga@iconnect.co.ke wandigas@uonbi.ac.ke

2. Project Objectives are: To reduce community vulnerability to drought exacerbated by climate variability and change in the Makueni District by implementing a field demonstration project to produce tangible benefits to the community and 2) to gather information from the field and relate it to the information needs for policy makers in order to inform relevant policies, in particular the policies on: Environment and Development; Natural Resources Management; National Disaster Management and Sustainable Development of Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASAL).

3. The Importance of adaptation

4. Impact model (with and without adaptation)

5. Field Implementation Partnership: The field level projects will be undertaken in partnership with the ongoing Arid Lands Resources Management Programme (ALRMP) Activities on drought preparedness in rainfed marginal agricultural zone of Sakai sub-location, Kisau Division of Makueni district.

6. The following specific field activities will be carried out: Needs and priorities assessment and rapid vulnerability assessment at community level; identify and confirm support by community involved in implementation of an existing drought management project; Development of database using the collected Arid Lands Early Warning data in Makueni District; Matching information needs at the policy level with community needs to scope field activities and priorities. The project will seek to include: increased soil moisture content, improved timing of agricultural operations, improved seed quality and variety, improved agricultural production, improved use of climate and weather information among others.

7. Activities Contd. Implement awareness creation together with Arid Lands projects on earth and sand dams and agricultural production in the sub-location; Monitoring and evaluation of adaptation measures identified; Up-Scaling of successful policy option at the district level; Preparation of recommendations for the improvement of national policy will contribute to success of addressing issues at the community level.

8. Relevant project stakeholders National Stakeholders Regional StakeholdersLocal Stakeholders  Office of the President  Kenya Agricultural Research Institute  IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre  NGOs e.g. Kenya Red Cross Society  Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (NEMA)  Kenya Meteorological Department  Kenya Food Security Steering Group  Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation  University of Nairobi  Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN  Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT)  County councils  District Food Security Steering Group  Local communities  Key informants  Local authority administration  CBOs (To be identified after links with policy and community is made) International Stakeholders  Global Environment Facility  United Nations Development Program  United Nations Environment Program  Food and Agriculture Organization

9. Project outcome will be: Demonstration of what can be done and how it is done at the field level to increase resilience to climate change Demonstration of poverty reduction activities and improvement of livelihoods at the local level, and provision of global environmental benefits at the national/regional level. Improvement of Policy Paper based on identified needs (above) and demonstration of benefits from field project; and Identification of policy implementation plan, challenges, barriers, and successful channels for implementation. In addition to the national policy recommendations, the project will directly benefit the pilot communities in improving their resilience to drought.