OVERVIEW OF THE IAS RESILIENCE RESEARCH IN KENYA AND ETHIOPIA

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IAS RESILIENCE RESEARCH IN KENYA AND ETHIOPIA: AN OVERVIEW

IAS Alliance seeks to gain a better understanding of resilience and disaster risk reduction with a combination of the two focus areas. These are; (1) a focus on the development of understanding, attitudes, and practices regarding resilience, and; (2) strengthening individuals, communities and systems and in their ability to prevent and adapt to climate change and environmental degradation, conflicts or other factors that expose communities, organizations, and individuals to stress, shock or uncertainty.

The research is one of the core activities of the “Strengthening IAS Alliance Knowledge in Resilience by Using Kenya and Ethiopia as Case Studies Project” which IAS is implementing in both study areas. The project commenced in June 2018 and will run until May 2019.  The Development Goal of this project is to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goal 1 (End poverty in all its forms everywhere) and indicator 1.5:  By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters.

The overall project objective is "Strengthening IAS Alliance learning and strategy to promote resilience in all humanitarian interventions in order to link relief, recovery to the development and increase the capacity of the communities to be more resilient".

The research component of the project seeks to ensure that the rights-based approach is applied to the design of IAS Alliance proposed Resilience Programme, which focuses on bridging the gap between humanitarian and development work and will include a strategy for integrating resilience in all humanitarian and development projects.

The main objective of the research is for individuals, communities, local government, other stakeholders and IAS Alliance to understand shocks and stresses that affect community systems in Tharaka-North and South Sub Counties of Tharaka-Nithi County and Borena Zone (Yabello and Dire) and the factors that render them to be vulnerable to those shocks and stresses. The findings from the research will lay the foundation and guide the development of an IAS Alliance resilience strategy.

The specific objectives of the research are to: 
a)      Understand what makes people and systems resilient in Tharaka-North and Tharaka-South sub-counties in Tharaka-Nithi County and Borena Zone (Yabello and Dire)[1].
b)      Identify resilience dimensions and indicators and assessing system resilience.
c)      Identify entry points and prioritize interventions to strengthen capacities and reduce vulnerabilities to build systems resilience.
d)     Establish a locally relevant resilient strategy, which will be suitable for the two communities.

The study is largely exploratory and qualitative in nature, aiming to gain a better understanding of resilience and disaster risk reduction in two locations where IAS Alliance has previous and ongoing interventions. The study areas are Tharaka South and Tharaka North sub-counties in Kenya and Borena Zone (Yabello and Dire sub-zones) in Ethiopia. Both locations are prone to climate change and environmental related events, with drought, and to some extent inter-community conflicts, as frequent disaster risks.

This research design allows for a holistic examination of household and community system resilience in the study areas. This involves efforts to understand resilience from all angles, without restricting itself to particular types (e.g. resilience to food insecurity). Because the capacity to withstand, adapt or recover from shock and stress exist on different levels, the research examines resilience at household, community and system levels, utilizing a historical perspective. This allows for a better understanding of how local households, communities, and institutions understood and have dealt with disaster risks over the years.

Apart from collecting views from the study participants (households, community members, and key informants), the study involves the observation of resilient adaptive practices of individuals, households, and institutions regarding resilience and DRR.  In addition, the study seeks to identify past and ongoing resilience building and DRR activities in the study areas in efforts to determine feasible interventions that may be required to strengthen local resilience capacities. In this examination, previous and ongoing activities by IAS are examined to gauge the extent to which they have contributed to resilience building in the study areas.

The execution of the study is underpinned by the principles of participation, appreciation for multiple perspectives and knowledge, and collaborative learning and decision-making. The planning and execution of the study have been guided by the RAN resilience framework and FAO’s RIMA as the principal conceptual frameworks. In addition, Save the Children’s Household Economy Approach has been utilized especially in understanding the household coping strategies against major shocks and stresses. Several concepts and terms form the central building blocks of the three conceptual frameworks and these have been adopted in the study, thereby giving it a sharper focus.

This study takes a case study approach that focuses on “what”, “how” and “why” questions in investigating the issues of resilience and disaster risk reduction at household, community and systems levels in two drought-prone areas of Kenya and Ethiopia. IAS has ongoing projects in the two study areas.  The study has a qualitative orientation in terms of research data and methods. It utilizes a two-case study approach with households, communities, and institutions as the central focus.  The “case” of study is the understanding, attitudes, adaptive practices and capacities in relation to resilience and disaster risk reduction in the context of climate change and environmental degradation in Tharaka South and Tharaka North in Kenya and Borena Zone in Ethiopia.

In terms of scope, the study has taken a holistic approach to the understanding of resilience. It has examined all types and dimensions of resilience in order to gain a wholesome understanding required by IAS to develop its resilience strategy. However, a special focus has been placed on resilience to food insecurity and livelihoods as these are prominent development concerns in the study areas. The special focus on food security and livelihoods is in line with IAS Alliance’s ongoing efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change and environmental related disasters during its 2016 - 2020 strategic plan period. Furthermore, there is a well established direct correlation between disaster risk and food insecurity: when a disaster occurs, exposure to high levels of disaster risk and lack of capacity to manage these risks trap poor households in a cycle of food insecurity and poverty that quickly deteriorate into a food crisis and acute under-nutrition.

The study data draws from both primary and second sources. Primary data entailed field visits to the study areas while secondary data has been obtained through the review of relevant literature. Therefore, the study findings will be based on the triangulation of multiple sources of evidence.


[1] Specifically, what makes them capable to withstand or adapt to shocks and stresses in a manner that makes them less vulnerable to future risks?

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