The World Bank  has approved a US$60 million credit* to assist emergency drought recovery efforts in arid and semi arid areas of Kenya, a project that is designed to scale up and broaden support for affected communities while also reinforcing community oversight and local decision making structures.

 The short rains of 2005, which followed five consecutive seasons of poor rains in many parts of Kenya have affected nearly3.5 million rural pastoral and farming people, including half a million school children in 25 districts.
 
By extending this credit, we are addressing urgent needs arising from the recent drought emergency, said Colin Bruce, the World Banks Country Director for Kenya. Our intervention is designed to save lives and livelihoods by scaling up a successful existing project with a proven, effective governance and implementation framework.
 
This credit will provide additional financing to the second phase of the Arid Lands Resource Management Project (ALRMP), which has already helped improve the lives of over one million people in 22 districts. With this supplemental funding, which will benefit from enhanced audit and fiduciary oversight functions to monitor implementation, the project will target an additional one million people and its coverage will be increased to 28 districts in the North Eastern, Eastern, Coast and Rift Valley provinces, in the communities most severely affected by the drought.
 
In approving the credit, the World Bank noted the progress Kenya has made in drought preparedness, recovery efforts and mitigation strategies through more than a decade of partnership in the arid lands, involving the Government, the Bank and other stakeholders.  Board members also noted the strong community accountability mechanisms that the Arid Lands project has established, as well as the array of safeguards against fraud and corruption that are built into project design and monitoring to ensure that funds are properly utilized. These include timely monitoring and feedback of project funding decisions and physical implementation at the community, district and national level.
 
Of the amount approved for the additional financing credit, US$20 million will reimburse the Government for audited amounts it has spent on non-food emergency drought response.  The additional US$40 million will support long term livelihood investments, such as new and improved water supplies, natural resource management activities (range and fodder improvement, ecotourism, honey, aloe, gum and resin collection, hay production, livestock product value addition), as well as livelihood related infrastructure investments, such as irrigation, and other components that include investing in women's groups. It will also provide funding for the National Drought Contingency Fund established by the Kenyan Government, the World Bank and other partners for investments in water supplies for humans and animals, repair of critical access roads, and strategic human and animal health interventions. It is expected that other development partners will make additional contributions to this fund.
 
Background
 
The first World Bank investment in the arid lands was in 1993 through an Emergency Drought Recovery Project that focused on infrastructure repair (e.g. roads, hospitals, boreholes and other water points) and the supply of goods and equipment (drugs, seeds, and other inputs) in five drought affected districts. With time, the Bank and the Kenyan Government agreed on the need for a more participatory approach to mitigate the impact of drought on the local communities and improve their long term sustainability.
 
The Arid Lands Resource Management Project was developed in 1996 and was designed to encourage community participation and capacity to cope with drought in 10 arid districts.  The project, with a World Bank credit of US$22 million, established effective early warning systems and played a significant role in the management of the 1999/2000 drought.  Emergency operations directly benefited local communities by establishing or improving 800 water points, investing in 1200 community micro projects, and rehabilitating about 40 irrigation systems.  It also empowered rural communities, with particular emphasis on women, through micro projects concentrating on services and income generating activities.  It also helped establish a working drought management system at local, district and national levels.
 
The second phase, which became effective in 2003, was designed to scale up the achievements of the first phase. Through a World Bank credit of US$60 million, project coverage was increased to 22 districts and its objectives were expanded in order to:- mitigate risks posed by drought and other factors through the strengthening and institutionalizing of natural resources and drought management systems; develop capacity at the grassroots level to empower communities to take greater responsibility and; foster an environment in the arid lands that would allow local people to break out of the prevalent survival trap and reduce their dependence on outside intervention.
 
One of the most important aspects of the Arid Lands project is its contribution to the effective coordination of the drought response of all stakeholders, including the government, the World Food Program, key NGOs and other development actors in the arid and semiarid districts, through support to district and national structures.
 
The long term expectation of World Bank support for arid lands is that the Government will fully fund drought mitigation and response, drawing on the experiences and lessons of the ALRMP, and that the communities in the drought prone areas will improve their livelihoods and long term sustainability.
 
*The credit is provided on standard International Development Association (IDA) terms, with a commitment fee of 0.35 percent, a service charge of 0.75 percent over a 40 year period of maturity which includes a 10-year grace period.