National Drought Contingency Fund
Written by Administrator
Kenya has a credible drought Early Warning System and other requirements for effective drought management.
However, the main shortcomings in drought management remain the weak linkage between early warning and response. Inability of the Government to facilitate timely response is caused by inadequate set-aside funds (contingency funds) for rapid response to drought emergencies.
This leads to late response, resulting in heavy erosion of livelihoods, assets and community coping mechanisms. Most of the Government ministries and departments do not have contingency funds in their budgets.
The tendency is usually for ministries to re-allocate funds from development and other items to drought emergency activities. This has not been effective in emergency response as it takes long and funds are often availed late after damage has already been done.
On the other hand, donors respond late, often waiting until the situation becomes critical and only when there is clear evidence of emergency. When they finally provide assistance, it usually comes three to four months after the crisis has set in.
Contingency funds
Hence, the availability of sufficient contingency funds may ensure timely measures to mitigate the impact of drought, protecting livelihoods and saving lives. Moreover, statistics demonstrate that early response can reduce cost of emergency interventions substantially.
The DMI will support ALRMP to establish a National Drought Contingency Fund (NDCF) that will allow contribution from both GoK and donors (a multi-donor basket fund), and with the capacity to disburse funds to drought-prone affected districts in a flexible, effective and efficient way.
To this end, DMI intends to facilitate the development of a proposal for the creation and operation of the NDCF with the preparation of a draft legal document establishing the structure of the fund.
An operation manual indicating criteria and procedures for disbursement, accounting, procurement and auditing (with the possibility to earmark and trace funds from different donors) will also be prepared.
Kenya has a credible drought Early Warning System and other requirements for effective drought management. However, the main shortcomings in drought management remain the weak linkage between early warning and response. Inability of the Government to facilitate timely response is caused by inadequate set-aside funds (contingency funds) for rapid response to drought emergencies.
This leads to late response, resulting in heavy erosion of livelihoods, assets and community coping mechanisms. Most of the Government ministries and departments do not have contingency funds in their budgets.
The tendency is usually for ministries to re-allocate funds from development and other items to drought emergency activities. This has not been effective in emergency response as it takes long and funds are often availed late after damage has already been done.
On the other hand, donors respond late, often waiting until the situation becomes critical and only when there is clear evidence of emergency. When they finally provide assistance, it usually comes three to four months after the crisis has set in.
Contingency funds
Hence, the availability of sufficient contingency funds may ensure timely measures to mitigate the impact of drought, protecting livelihoods and saving lives. Moreover, statistics demonstrate that early response can reduce cost of emergency interventions substantially.
The DMI will support ALRMP to establish a National Drought Contingency Fund (NDCF) that will allow contribution from both GoK and donors (a multi-donor basket fund), and with the capacity to disburse funds to drought-prone affected districts in a flexible, effective and efficient way.
To this end, DMI intends to facilitate the development of a proposal for the creation and operation of the NDCF with the preparation of a draft legal document establishing the structure of the fund.
An operation manual indicating criteria and procedures for disbursement, accounting, procurement and auditing (with the possibility to earmark and trace funds from different donors) will also be prepared.
