This report details the analysis of the impact study of the Building Opportunities for Resilience in the Horn of Africa (BORESHA) project, which was carried out in the Mandera Triangle (the area where Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia meet) in November and December 2022. The scope of the impact study covered the period between December 2017 and December 2022. The study sought to find out, analyse and document the impacts of the three BORESHA project phases through the lens of specific thematic intervention areas, showing what worked and/or didn’t work and why, and make recommendations for future resilience programming/work that would provide future strategic direction on cross border resilience building, thinking, and planning, for DRC, consortium partners, donors and other stakeholders.

BORESHA consortium partners are responsible for implementing specific project components, which complement the activities of other partners. World Vision has been leading the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) outcome, which is aimed at reducing communities’ risk and vulnerability to common disasters. This was delivered through interventions that enhance the capacities of communities to withstand the shocks. World Vision, through the BORESHA project, has been supporting rural communities to become more resilient to the impacts of climate change (such as droughts and floods), as well as other disasters such as diseases and conflicts. Resilience is supported through reducing the vulnerability, of communities, to disasters as well as improving their capacity to cope during and after disasters.
The BORESHA project has delivered interventions such as the creation of asset bases for the extremely vulnerable households to support them to economically sustain their lives. The project has been constructing schools, providing vet drug stores, rehabilitating irrigation canals and shallow wells, restocking livestock such as goats, providing solar-powered water pumps for irrigation and supporting vocational skills training, among other activities. The project is also promoting local knowledge management through community participation, training on DRR, supporting communities to develop their own DRR plans and, providing them with a forum to periodically review their plans and address priorities to respond to, and reduce, the impact of the identified hazards.

The aid sector is typically characterised by humanitarian, development or peacebuilding actors, expertise, funding and outcomes. Even in the post-Grand Bargain1 era, the necessary bridge building required to cross the great humanitarian-development-peacebuilding divide has been limited, with very few practical examples of implementing the nexus available. Where efforts have been made, and success stories exist, they remain isolated examples usually forced by the context on the ground (forexample,large-scale displacement into an area of operation of a development project). Evidence shows that communities served by aid interventions prefer a more coordinated and joined up approach to meeting their humanitarian, development and peacebuilding needs. The cross-border area between Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, also called, ‘The Triangle’ is a chronically fragile region.
It is characterised by cyclical drought,displacement and cross-border conflict,
which make mobility and displacement, key resilience strategies for the borderland communities. Additional stressors include concurrent plagues of desert locusts,the COVID-19 pandemic, and regular outbreaks of livestock diseases all leading to varying adaptations towards resilience for borderland communities.

In East Africa, specifically arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) accounts for 60-100% of the land cover of Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti.However, Africa rangeland biodiversity has suffered from the effects of degradation, poor land use, climate change, habitat fragmentation and the development of infrastructure. Mapping of cross-border shared grazing areas revealed widespread deterioration of rangeland resources (BORESHA 2018). A consultation with cross-border communities between 2018 and 2020 on underlying causes of rangeland degradation indicated that indigenous institutions and indigenous knowledge are weakened and unable to sustain historical roles in natural resources management. This has resulted in widespread degraded rangelands, increased natural resource-based conflicts,poor grazing practices, and increased vulnerability of pastoralist livelihoods systems. Traditionally, local institutions effectively managed natural resources based on indigenous systems. The elders enforced rules and regulations that governed use of rangelands and other resources such as water and livestock. There are efforts by humanitarian and development agencies to restore some indigenous knowledge in the management of natural resources including rangeland and water points. This has led to the introduction and implementation of Participatory Rangeland Management (PRM) .

Crossborder engagements and interventions are critical in a region linked by similar cultural, programmatic and environmental factors. The shared identity in language, history and family linkages form the single strongest argument to support cross-border programming. If families, clans and community structures remain tied across borders, then their economic development and prosperity also remain interlinked. In an area with high levels of human and livestock movement across borders, a coordinated approach is necessary for programming as in the case of management of livestock disease and livelihoods. Environmental shocks transcend borders and can have compounding effects on economic development. Similarly, natural resources such as the river Dawa and grazing fields are shared across borders and need to be coordinated accordingly, as natural resources are the key drivers of economic development in the region. BORESHA implements cross-border interventions that foster economic development in the Mandera Triangle, with a recognition of the intersection between conflict and resilience. This paper explores how cross-border programming can foster economic development, presenting experiences and lessons learned to inform ongoing and future related programs .

The effects of climate change mean that when major droughts occur, the livelihoods of the pastoralists are threatened. Livestock, which is their main productive asset, perish in great numbers during drought. The primary cause of livestock loss is the inability to find adequate pasture and water most families are also unable to afford the commercially available supplemental livestock feed. With no resources to help their herds withstand the drought, and limited knowledge of pasture availability within their traditional grazing areas throughout the year, pastoralists are turning to negative coping strategies such as seeking pasture outside traditional lands leading to conflict, overgrazing depleted grasses, eating less and outmigration.The outmigration specifically has adverse effects on the vulnerable members of the pastoralist communities. Women are culturally obliged to provide water to their households as many young,able-bodied men migrate with the livestock in search of pasture and water. The most vulnerablepersons (including women, children, people with disabilities, and the elderly) are left behind without livestock and milk, and with minimal access to water and food.Currently, pastoralists rely on indigenous knowledge,word of mouth, and scouts to determine when and where to move their herds when drought strikes. Pastoralists spend hundreds of dollars on scouting, and substantially more on supplemental feed when pasture cannot be found. These financial outlays and economic losses can be devastating for a single household. With approximately seven million pastoralists in Kenya and more than 250 million across the continent, it represents billions in expenditures and lost resources across Africa.The traditional risk management strategies have increasingly become insufficient. Discussions calling for the need to better mitigate the risks of drought among the pastoralist communities have led to the innovative product – Index-based Livestock Insurance .

Funded by the European Union Trust Fund for Africa, Building Opportunities for Resilience in the Horn of Africa (BORESHA) is a three-year project (2017 – 2020) that works with local communities and public authorities to promote economic development and greater resilience in the tri-border region between Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia. BORESHA is implemented by a Consortium led by the Danish Refugee Council together with two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg and World Vision UK – and a private sector company Tetra Tech International1 . In recent years, whilst Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia have seen economic growth, bouts of civil and political unrest and ensuing instability, including in the tri-border area, have meant that these countries are largely characterized by common problems of high unemployment, economic inequality, and a lack of (affordable and accessible) education. In addition, the low skill levels among youth across the tri-border region is a major constraint to local economic development. Adopting a multisectoral approach, BORESHA interventions have included building conflict management and resolution capacities; enhancing and diversifying livelihoods; strengthening basic service delivery; natural resource management; and promoting cross-border trade and private sector development .

The Building Opportunities for Resilience in the Horn of Africa” (BORESHA) project has aimed to boost community resilience in the fragile and shock prone area at the intersection of the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. The continuing cycles of civil and political unrest and ensuing instability in the tri-border area have meant this region is characterised by poverty, high unemployment, poor living conditions and a lack of access to basic services. In the past year, the Covid pandemic and the worst locust infestation in many years has exacerbated the challenges facing these border communities. Literacy levels are low and skills deficits are prevalent especially among vulnerable groups. All these factors are significant constraints to local economic development beyond traditional pastoralism, the dominant source of livelihoods. The key objective of the BORESHA project was to promote economic and private sector development, and greater resilience, particularly among vulnerable groups (youth, women, and displaced people) in the border regions of Kenya-Somalia-Ethiopia. Tetra Tech International Development has implemented BORESHA’s private sector interventions,1 The interventions, delivered through three Business Development Support Centres (BDSCs) set up in the project areas in each country were: sponsorship of young men and women for certified technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and enterprise-based training (EBT) and provision of start-up kits for these graduates to help them set up their own businesses; certified business skills training (BST); and start-up and business growth grants to set up their business.

CARE international, working through its Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia country offices, has implemented the 3rd result outcome of the BORESHA project, which aimed at enhancing the sustainable and equitable management of in-country and cross-border natural resources and particularly the dry rangelands and grasslands typical of the area. The targeted rural communities are pastoralist and agro pastoralist who work to sustain their livelihoods from the rangelands. The key shared natural resources in Mandera triangle includes transboundary communal grazing lands and surface water resources such as the Dawa , Juba and Ganale rivers. The dry rangeland environment presents many productivity and sustainable utilization challenges and the rangeland resources in the Mandera triangle are threatened by various change processes. These change processes include; changing management structures and resource use regimes, increasing land degradation, inadequate community participation in management decision making and action, and climate change leading to recurrent and shortened drought cycles. These challenges are compounded by a lack of appropriate frameworks for local level resource management and capacity gaps amongst the key stakeholders, on both the community side and the government extension services side. Cross -border natural resource management linked relevant natural resource management practices into a coherent implementation and action framework to support sustainable management and equitable sharing of cross border rangelands and other shared natural resources in Mandera triangle covering Mandera county(Kenya), Dolow and Beled Hawa district(Somalia) and Dolow Ado-Dolow Bay Woredas(Ethiopia).

, Recurrent drought often causes devastating effects on pastoralists and agro-pastoralists living in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) of Kenya. Pastoralist households have continuously experienced severe consequences of drought forcing them to employ short-term traditional drought coping strategies such as migrating with herds to other regions, distress sales, distributing herds amongst their relatives and borrowing herds from clan members to mitigate the effects of drought. When major droughts occur, they often affect vast regions thus rendering most of the traditional risk management strategies insufficient. Many times the entire livelihoods of the pastoralists are threatened since their livestock, which is their main productive asset, perish in great numbers. In response to the need to help pastoralists keep their animals alive during severe droughts, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) together with various donors, research organizations and commercial partners, has since 2008 piloted and supported the implementation of an Index Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) product in the ASALs of Kenya and Ethiopia. The IBLI product is designed to improve the resilience and livelihoods of pastoralists by cushioning them against the effects of drought-related risks on their livestock. Unlike conventional insurance, which assesses losses on a case by case basis and indemnifies the policy holder based on individual claims, IBLI utilizes low cost, accessible and reliable satellite data known as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as an indicator of pasture condition in defined geographical zones known as Unit Areas of Insurance (UAIs). In case the data indicate below-normal pasture conditions, payouts are provided to all insurance policy holders within the UAI. The IBLI insurance coverage and timing of payouts is designed to help pastoralists protect their livestock in the event of severe forage scarcity early in the season, before major losses occur, thus the product could be termed as an asset protection contract. .

, The Cross-border region encompassing north-eastern Kenya, south-eastern Ethiopia and south-western Somalia, also known as the ‘Mandera Triangle’, is a critical intersectional area for the stability, peace and economic integration within the Horn of Africa. The ‘Mandera Triangle’ region, as a point of convergence, is known for its instability, influx of refugees and many IDPs, recurrent conflicts and climate shocks, as well as being the home for one of the most underprivileged and marginalized populations within Africa. Since December 2017 the cross border EUTF funded BORESHA has been implementing activities related to Disaster Risk Management (DRM), Livelihoods and Private Sector (LPS) development and Natural Resource Management (NRM) in partnership with local communities and public authorities. In less than 3 years, BORESHA has established transformative processes to enhance the cross border socio-economic integration in the area and to promote local businesses development in order to support resilience in the region. A remarkable achievement made possible by the commitment of a dynamic consortium of development, humanitarian and private sector actors; Danish Refugee Council; World Vision International; CARE International and WYG .

More than 350,000 people living in the Mandera triangle (Liban and Afder zones in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, Gedo in Somalia and Mandera in Kenya) face widespread poverty in an area with primarily pastoralist livelihoods. Fluctuations in weather patterns that swing from drought to floods with relatively short periods of stable pasture and agricultural harvests drives up to 80 per cent of households into debt during dry seasons. Livestock are also increasingly susceptible to disease and mortality, partly as a result of weather conditions. Many people migrate across borders in search of pasture while those who farm along the riverbanks are also displaced during periods of heavy rains. This fragile region is characterized by low levels of literacy, poor agricultural extension services, traditional technologies, low levels of access to skills development and credit, and high levels of animal disease. All these factors contribute to low incomes. The mean monthly income of households in 2018 in the BORESHA project areas was USD 41.80 in Kenya, USD 37.39 in Ethiopia, and USD26.27 in Somalia – all of them below the poverty line. The incomes of the households were largely from livestock keeping, farming, trading, salaried employment and wage labour. BORESHA targets this region with socioeconomic and resilience interventions. Trade between the cross-border areas is important to most livelihoods. However, frequent border closure affects the region’s economic potential. Insecurity due to terrorist activity and inter-clan conflict caused by resource scarcity remains a challenge .

Development work is designed with the intention of supporting positive efforts in the community. However, development work may sometimes lead to unintended negative impacts if conflict sensitivity and ‘do no harm’ principles are not adequately integrated into the pro¬gramme design. This makes conflict sensitivity a critical component in all contexts of programming. In fragile and conflict-affected areas such as the Mandera triangle (Liban and Afder zones in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, Gedo in Somalia and Mandera in Kenya), the need to integrate conflict sensitivity in programming is even higher. The Mandera triangle has a long history of trans-boundary conflicts over natural resources. Conflict, particularly over pastoralist resources such as water and pasture, is worsened by limited state functions, and historical and contemporary marginalization. In recent years, external factors such as spill-over political contestation, increased flow of small arms and light weapons across the borders, and periodic attacks by violent extremists have worsened the already fragile context.

“In these extraordinary times, greater international cooperation is needed to reverse the global economic down turn, eradicate poverty, promote security and enhance cultural understanding,” Klaus Schwab, Founder, World Economic Forum. The borderlands between Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia have long been a zone of poverty and insecurity due to harsh environmental conditions, intra- and inter-community conflict and government neglect. The increase of natural shocks, the escalation of cross-border attacks, displacement due to climatic and conflict factors, and the flow of illegal weapons and ammunition have made these borderlands a crucial focus for programmes that promote regional stability and reduce forced displacement. The Mandera triangle has only two official crossing points: Dolo Ado (Ethiopia) – Dollow (Somalia) and Mandera (Kenya) – Belet Hawa (Somalia). Only one of the two crossing points, (Dollow-Dolo Ado) is of¬ficially opened and operational. The crossing point between Mandera and Belet Hawa has been closed since 2007; however informal movement was tolerated with security forces requesting bribes from people crossing and transporting goods.

The Mandera triangle (Dolo Ado in Ethiopia – Gedo in Somalia – Mandera in Kenya) is defined by endemic poverty affecting more than 350,000 people. Impacts of climate change further expose the communities to extreme drought and floods affecting their livelihoods in livestock keeping and agriculture. Mandera triangle has also experienced periods of trans-boundary conflicts and periodic attacks by violent extremists. The complex social, economic and political challenges can affect any development program and result in both expected and unexpected outcomes. Development organizations have implemented their individual projects, which sometimes target the same geographic areas or people, use different structures or policies, and provide varied sets of incentives to the beneficiaries. The results are marred by duplication, confusion, and unintended conflicts among the beneficiaries. Positive outcome is a consequence of intentional collective approach by different development organizations who must work together to respond to common needs of their beneficiaries. The collective approach involves using strengths and opportunities from each individual organization.

More than 350,000 people living in the Mandera tri¬angle (Liban and Afder zones in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, Gedo in Somalia and Mandera in Kenya) face widespread poverty in an area with primarily pastoralist livelihoods. Fluctuations in weather patterns that swing from drought to floods with relatively short periods of stable pasture and agricultural harvests drives up to 80 per cent of households into debt during dry seasons. Livestock are also increasingly susceptible to disease and mortality, partly as a result of weather conditions. Many people migrate across borders in search of pasture while those who farm along the riverbanks are also displaced during periods of heavy rains. This fragile region is characterized by low levels of literacy, poor agricultural extension services, traditional technologies, low levels of access to skills development and credit, and high levels of animal disease. All these factors contribute to low incomes.

Across northern Kenya in areas bordering Ethiopia and Somalia as well as parts of the coastal region, Prosopis Juliflora, an aggressive leguminous shrub, has invaded areas of indigenous vegetation and is having a negative impact on rural landscapes and health of both human and livestock. In Kenya, Prosopis Juliflora is commonly known as Mes¬quite or Mathenge, and in Somalia as Ali Garoob or ga-ranwaa. It was introduced in the late 1970s to Kenya and other arid and semi-arid countries to address deforestation, desertification and fuel shortage. Prosopis has survived where other tree species have failed, creating a green cover but also manifesting itself as a difficult to manage plague. In 2004, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) identified it as one of the world’s top 100 least wanted species. On the flipside, Prosopis trees are the source of valuable multipurpose products and a source of income for agricultural communities.

Informal Cross-border trade (ICBT) contributes to the reduction of poverty and the sustenance of livelihoods for borderland communities in East Africa. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicates that women in Africa are engaged in nearly 70 per cent of the informal cross-border trade as their only source of income. Women also trade in low value, low profit products such as raw or semi-processed basic and luxury goods produced in other countries (FAO 2017). It is estimated that more than 95 per cent of the regional trade in eastern Africa is carried out through unofficial channels and has significant implications for income and food security , as well as human security. ICBT in agricultural and livestock commodities and consumer goods encourages entrepreneurship, provides employment, constitutes a source of food security, and is an important source of capital and savings for communities and individuals with vulnerable livelihoods. It also has critical gender implications as it provides an avenue for women’s entrepreneurial activity and economic empowerment.