By Maslah Mumin | BORESHA Project
BORESHA was invited to attend the Annual IGAD Resilience Share Fair organized by IGAD in Nairobi between the 2nd -3rd of September 2019 at the Hilton Hotel. The fair responds to the recommendations made by the meeting of the IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) platform steering committee held in May 2018, on the need to: Conduct regional learning events on best practices for effective coordination of IDDRSI; Promote knowledge management for informed decision making and investment; and liaise with other partners to organize drought resilience learning events to review and share knowledge on lessons learnt on good practices in resilience programming.
Objectives of the Fair
The objectives of the resilience share fair were: Disseminate resilience good practices and lessons learnt from the IGAD region to increase knowledge in better preparedness and response to drought and other shocks, increase the evidence base about different thematic areas to influence the development of policies, scaling of good practices and design of future resilience interventions and to strengthen linkages between resilience actors in the IGAD region to promote a culture of learning and knowledge exchange between the two regions.
BORESHA as a delegate
The BORESHA team led by the Head of the Consortium Nicoletta Buono was composed of representatives from all the four partners from the three countries. The Consortium participated in the conference as an exhibitor to showcase the different interventions and achievements of the project. The exhibition space provided a good opportunity for the Project to showcase its various components aimed at building opportunities for resilience in cross border areas of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, it was also a good platform to meet some of the project stakeholders.
Key Areas of Discussion
Key areas of discussion included: Taking stock of opportunities, challenges and progress, Alternative Livelihood options for better pastoral life, Resilient Prosopis, Cross Border Cooperation, Building Resilience in Arid and Semi-Arid lands.
Possible Partnerships for BORESHA
Key stakeholders that the Consortium got an opportunity to work with and some that we can potentially partner with include: National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre (ICPAC) Regional Pastoral Livelihoods Resilience Project(RPLRP), KEFRI, Woody Weeds, CEWARN and GIZ.
We are confident the gains made and the networks created will go a long way in contributing towards resilience building in the region.