Kenya’s paper presented at the 2011 Summit has gradually evolved and deepened into the Ending Drought Emergencies (EDE) strategy, which was adopted by Parliament in December 2012. It argues that the dominant pattern of investment in the ASALs – where the main form of public subsidy has been extensive and prolonged humanitarian aid – should be reversed and the region appropriately subsidised by investing in the foundations for poverty reduction and growth.
The EDE is embedded within the Vision 2030 and adopted by key parts of both the national and the county governments, integrated within IGAD’s broader regional strategy for resilience, and endorsed by development partners as a framework around which to align their assistance.
The EDE strategy became the principal point of departure from previous drought management efforts in Kenya, giving impetus to a paradigm shift from a reactive to a proactive approach that shifted focus to the structural causes of drought emergencies.
The National Government, County Governments and Development Partners developed a Common Programme Framework for EDE that was launched in 2015. The framework is aimed at ensuring stronger alignment and coordination of investment, and where possible harmonisation of programming, in line with the objectives of the Kenya External Resources Policy of October 2013.
Six broad areas, called Pillars, were identified to meet the EDE objectives. The first four are aimed at accelerating investment in the foundations of development in drought-prone areas, while the other two focus on strengthening the institutional and financing framework for drought management:
- Peace and Security
- Climate-proofed Infrastructure (water, roads, energy, ICT)
- Human Capital Development (Education, health and nutrition)
- Sustainable Livelihoods (Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Environment, Forestry)
- Drought Risk Management (early warning, resilience, preparedness, response, recovery)
- Institutional Development and Knowledge Management
The EDE Common Programme Framework recognises that drought risk management brings together many actors working in a wide range of sectors and at multiple levels – community, county, national, regional and global levels. Due to this inter-governmental, multi-sectoral and multi-agency nature, the EDE initiative has coordination structures at national and county levels.
- Pillar Working Groups at the national level are chaired by the lead sector Ministry and co-chaired by a development partner.
- County Steering Groups chaired by the Governor are responsible for coordination EDE issues at county level.
- Development partners supporting EDE activities are coordinated through the ASAL Development Partner’s Group that holds bi-monthly meetings.
The EDE is implemented through the five-year Vision 2030 Medium Term Plans in which it is prioritised as one of the Foundations for National Transformation. It is also mainstreamed in the second generation County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs 2018-2022) for all ASAL counties.