In the fragile context of the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), livestock is the primary economic sector that populations rely on. Yet even with decades of investment, growth remains a challenge as the sector struggles to function within a complex landscape of shocks and stresses, including climate change, droughts, floods, pests, disease, and land degradation, that in turn compromise livelihoods and productivity, and increase levels of conflict. Despite these challenges, livestock remains the most important and most immediate lever for improved food security, nutrition and resilience for small-scale pastoral and agro-pastoral inhabitants of the ASALs. Finding sustainable pathways to improve the overall functioning of the livestock sector is necessary for sustained economic growth in the region.
Driven by a vision of a strengthened livestock sector flourishing within sustainably managed rangelands that conserve biodiversity, Mercy Corps and its consortium partners, FCDC and ITC, present Resilient Approaches in Natural ranGeland Ecosystems (RANGE), a 5-year programme funded by the Dutch Embassy, with the aim of strengthening communities to improve sustainable economic and social development in a well-managed landscape in the three ASAL counties of Isiolo, Marsabit and Samburu. RANGE is designed to reach >500,000 (direct and indirect beneficiaries) small-scale pastoralists and agro-pastoralists, male and female, through producer associations, community structures, and women and youth groups, as well as government stakeholders, private sector actors and development partners.
RANGE proposes an integrated package of activities and interventions that will: strengthen rangeland management and encourage regenerative practices, ensuring migratory and sedentary livelihoods can peacefully co-exist; improve herd management and market access for small-scale producers; strengthen the institutions and policy frameworks that govern the livestock sector, and prioritize the development of robust spatio-temporal data sets to strengthen outcomes and help mitigate the impact of climate change and prevent further land and rangeland degradation.
The research and evidence-strengthening component of the RANGE project plays a pivotal role in fostering knowledge dissemination and capacity building in the three counties. By actively training and involving local MSc and PhD students as Local Research Partners, we contribute to their academic development and enrich the project with diverse perspectives and innovative approaches. While the engagement will evolve around the effective use of geo-information, it should ensure a rigorous exploration of pertinent issues, generating robust evidence that can inform policies and interventions in the project counties and ASALs in general. Moreover, the training provided to these students will catalyze capacity building within local government and development organizations operating in the ASALs, fostering a collaborative environment where research findings are translated into actionable strategies for sustainable development. This interconnected approach establishes a solid foundation for empowering the academic community and the stakeholders to actively address challenges within the ASALs, promoting a holistic and impactful approach to development.
RANGE is built on the premise that transformative, inclusive growth in the livestock sector requires a commitment to a systems strengthening approach that will address root causes of disfunction and encourages local capacity building and partnerships. Our approach is integrated and holistic, operating at a landscape level to capture people, animals, and information flows across an interconnected ecosystem, and relies on extensive collaboration and coordination with a wide array of partnerships. Activities are designed to reinforce key resilience capacities at the community, ward, and county levels, including access to productive assets and information; rangeland resilience; women’s empowerment; financial and social capital, and social behaviour change. RANGE will back all interventions with a focus on quality data, and support resilience of the intervention’s goals with a Programme Modifier to respond to unexpected shocks and stresses and ensure continuation of programme activities.
RANGE recognizes the significant foundation that previous investments, activities, and projects in the region have provided, incorporating these learnings and successes into our design. We understand the real constraints of the ASAL context and will pair practical, immediate solutions with more ambitious pilots and scalable longer-term efforts aimed at systemic change.
The RANGE consortium brings together the requisite technical expertise to realize our vision. Mercy Corps has 15 years’ experience in Kenya in guiding complex, integrated programming, and brings expertise in systems strengthening, market systems development, livestock, gender, and nutrition. Mercy Corps has extensive experience in the ASALs, built around two USAID-funded ASAL flagship projects, Livestock Market Systems (LMS) and NAWIRI. The regional economic bloc Frontier Counties Development Council (FCDC) represents the 10 ASAL counties and is a leader in championing devolution within the region, promoting cooperation, coordination, and information flows between counties and with the national government. FCDC has extensive experience working closely with governance structures within the livestock sector, including with the foundational SNV LISTEN (Laikipia, Isiolo, Samburu Transforming the Environment through Nexus) Programme. Active in Kenya for three decades, the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente (ITC) is a leader in the field of spatial information sciences and Earth observation techniques, providing stakeholders with informed data to address challenges of climate change, food security, rangeland management and water scarcity, and has been active in Kenya for four decades with 600+ alumni. RANGE’s core consortium team will be complemented by local partners (governmental / NGOs) at the county and national level, providing insights and ensuring local contextualization while supporting them in building their capacity to lead activities independently.
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