Sustainable Livelihood

Sustainable Livelihood Sector is one of the Sectors in LWF/DWS Kakuma Sub program and its goal is to enable vulnerable groups achieve sufficient & Sustainable livelihoods targeting Host Community members in Turkana West Sub County and the Refugees in Kakuma Refugee Camp

The major activities include Vocational trainings. There are two vocational trainings centers in the camp offering tailoring training to an average of 100 trainees annually while 50 Youths are sponsored and attending institutions within and outside Kakuma for various vocational skills annually.

Village Saving and Loans Association (VSLA) is also a major activity implemented under livelihood sector. Beneficiaries engaging in business are trained on VSLA skill which is a money saving concept and supported to form organized groups and carry out shared contribution as well as lending loans to its members and other community members.

The sector support improvement of animal Health of host community through training on disease surveillance and treatments of livestock and vaccination. So far, by end of 2014, a total of 250 Community Diseases Committees, Community Animal Health Workers and livestock Marketing Members were trained on aspects of veterinary health care and livestock marketing. 105,163 Livestock including sheep, goats and cattle were vaccinated and treated in Turkana West Sub County By the end of 2014. Livestock were treated on Peste des Petites ruminates (PPR), contagious Caprine Plero-Pneumonia (CCPP) and other bacterial diseases.

Micro Enterprise activities are also implemented Targeting vulnerable groups that are identified, assessed, trained on business management and supported with seed capital to start businesses. 65% of groups supported have made impact on their house hold income base.

The sector support host community on Disaster Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR). The community structures are supported with skills on disaster risk reduction. Trainings are provided to build capacity of community structures to be able to mitigate any disaster. This is blended using provision of water services and maintenance of boreholes through WASH program.

Sustainable Livelihood

The Dadaab Area program’s Livelihood Sector seeks to enable youth, women and vulnerable persons access and achieve sufficient and sustainable livelihoods targeting both the refugees in Hagadera and its immediate host Community members.

The major activities include Vocational skills trainings funded by ELCA and CoS, aiming at empowering the youth, women and men with skills to enable them fend for their families through self employment, business and other formal employment thus contributing improved to household income. There is one Vocational Training Center in Hagadera offering tailoring and dressmaking, tie and dye and ICT training to an average of 180 trainees per year. Another 50 women in an established women group are supported with materials for short term skills training courses (tie and dye, carpet making and the production of liquid soap and hand woven items) which generate income from the sale of products. Based on available funding, successful graduates are awarded with start-up kits and trained on basic business development and management skills which are essential in running the businesses. With increased impetus to repatriation of Somalia Refugees, the demand for livelihoods skills has proportionately increased.

Equally the host community members benefit from training on soap production and marketing of their products. They are also the pre-selected traders contracted to supply fresh fruits and vegetables to the beneficiaries of the Fresh Food Voucher initiative.

LWF also implements a restricted cash transfer for Fresh Food Voucher funded by DKH/ BMZ targeting 15,300 Persons with Specific Needs – Persons with Disabilities, Children with Disabilities and Elderly) through Safaricom’s (Kenyan telephone service provider) web based fund management system called SUREPAY. The project aims to improve the nutritional status of the target group while establishing a sustainable demand for fresh foods (fruits and vegetable) and contributing to access of the same to all refugees. It also contributes to improved social and economic relations between the local host and refugees communities. The project is phased out over a period of 3 years.

The Sector further supports host community farmers in Garissa through training on best farming practices, supply of farm inputs and equipments to enhance quality and continuous supply of the fresh fruits and vegetables to the traders in Dadaab.

Vaccination exercise

Sustainable Livelihood sector supports the improvement of animal Health of host community through training on disease surveillance and treatments of livestock and vaccination. In 2014, a total of 250 Community Diseases Committees, Community Animal Health Workers and livestock Marketing Members were trained on aspects of veterinary health care and livestock marketing. More than 120,000 livestock including sheep, goats and cattle were vaccinated and treated in Turkana West Sub County in 2017. The most prevalent animal diseases were Peste des Petites ruminates (PPR), contagious Caprine Plero-Pneumonia (CCPP) and other bacterial diseases.