Abstract
The Arid and Marginal Lands Recovery Consortium (ARC) Program in Kenya was a three-year program that ran from 2009-2012, in response to the drought of 2008/9 and the resulting food crisis in Kenya. The goal of the project was to sustain access to food in vulnerable rural communities through enhanced resilience to shocks. The specific objectives of the program were to increase agricultural productivity, to protect and diversify household (HH) asset bases, and to strengthen livelihood options to increase HH purchasing power. The evaluators found that the program beneficiaries across the ARC project area repeatedly expressed confidence that ARC area HHs had improved their ability to cope in times of severe stress as compared to 2009. More specifically, the evaluation outlines the results to five questions: (1) appropriateness of the program; (2) program performance; (3) effectiveness; (4) gender equity; and (5) sustainability. The ARC program has generated important lessons: (1) strengthening of public (Government of Kenya)/private partnerships is an essential component for ensuring the sustainability of activities; (2) community involvement and partnerships are vital to the success of activities, such as community monitoring of livestock border movements and disease control through the Community Disease Control Committees (CDCCs); and (3) economic recovery and income generation activities such as the agro-vet store in Balambala and the tilapia farm in Kinnia proved to be the most attractive and sustainable among pastoralists and drop-outs. Overall recommendations call for the modification of pilot projects and incorporating lessons learned in order to ensure that future activities are scalable and replicable, both technically and financially: (1) build on program successes and achievements by further developing scalable activities from pilot interventions in livestock and alternative livelihoods into larger scale interventions across the target areas; (2) continue the development of alternative livelihoods as options for pastoralists to allow for asset diversification to help strengthen HH resiliency from future shocks; (3) continue the development of growth centers to provide alternative lifestyles and income generating options; and (4) allow time for interventions to produce results of critical mass in order to ensure the realization of impacts from these interventions. (Excerpt, modified)