السيد Murasi Mulupi Murasi
Food Security and Livelihood project in Lamu East county of Kenya bordering Somalia. The project targets one of the last forest communities in Kenya-the Boni, who were predominantly hunters and gatherers. Honey is a major component of their diet which they gather from the wild. Lately with the government's declaration of Dudori forest as game reserve and nature conservancy, the Boni felt the shock of sudden change from their normal way of life. Having no back ground in agriculture and food production, this evacuation from the forests and resettlement into villages made them vulnerable to food insecurity and poverty due to deprived source of livelihood. This project seeks to enhance their resilience to the vagaries of drought and poverty through identification and adoption of alternative livelihood sources. Moreover it seeks to improve food availability and quality by diversifying food sources and promotion of drought tolerant crops. As such breeds of livestock and domestic birds with high resistance to drought conditions will be introduced for adoption by the community. The people will also be sensitized on the importance of natural resources at their disposal, the most predominant being the Indian ocean. The project looks to promote fish and crab farming as alternative sources of livelihood and quality food. The project implementation period is twenty four months until December 2013, with possible period extension.
السيد Murasi Mulupi Murasi
‘Beyond “temporal” resilience: results that withstand the test of time
Communities, individuals and systems experience shocks/stressors at different levels and magnitude. Some of these shocks/stressors are sporadic and difficult to mitigate such as acts of God while others are progressive over time like the vagaries of climate change. These shocks/stressors may emanate from within the affected communities or systems and are considered easy to address as the causal factors are predetermined. However, there are factors outside the realm of the affected individuals, communities or systems that are often complex and unfamiliar. In the short term, the more complex a need and resultant intervention, the less resilient the beneficiary community. Put otherwise, it may take longer for the beneficiary community to become less vulnerable if their stressors are complex and the intervention even more complex. Regardless, the impact of an intervention on the beneficiaries will determine their resilience.
Resilience is built over time. Long term interventions (programs) would be the best yard stick for measuring vulnerability levels. Nonetheless, there are other considerations in determining how resilient an individual, community or system is.
There is no minimum time frame in which a community, individual or system should remain resilient to be regarded as "resilient". Even the most stable and formidable entities buckle to shocks and stressors at some point. Constant reevaluation and strengthening of systems is the surest way of ensuring preparedness, mitigation of effects, fast recovery and bounce back. That is a lifelong endeavor.