Project Background

The Multinational Drought Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods Programme (DRSLP) in the Horn of Africa is a regional programme covering eight IGAD states. These are: -Kenya, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Southern Sudan and Uganda.

This followed the resolution of the Heads of State and Government Summit held in Nairobi in September 2011 to address drought and other disasters in the horn of Africa region.

The programme was designed to be implemented in three phases of five years each. The first phase of the Drought Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods Programme (DRSLP) in the Horn of Africa- Kenya Programme covers six Arid and Semi-arid counties namely Baringo, West Pokot, Turkana, Samburu, Isiolo and Marsabit, benefiting 168,900 households.  It is financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), through a loan, and the Government of Kenya (GoK)

The executing agency for the programme is the State Department for Crop Development and Agricultural Research in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives.

The purpose of the programme is to contribute to poverty reduction, food security and accelerated sustainable economic growth in the Horn of Africa (HoA) through enhanced rural incomes. Specifically, it aims at improving resilience to drought by communities in the Arid and Semi-arid Lands (ASALs) of Kenya.

The programme interventions cover water supply for human, livestock and irrigation; improvement of crop & livestock production, marketing and disease management; and capacity building.

The programme commenced in July 2013 and was expected to close in June 2018. However, due to initial delay in project start up and the need for hand-holding farmers into the production phase in the irrigation schemes; the government of Kenya was granted extensions and therefore the programme is now expected to close in June 2022.

As the programme concludes, it has yielded both social and economic benefits to the communities with a bearing on poverty reduction and improved food and nutrition security.