UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI PARTICIPATES IN “IGAD RESILIENCE RESEARCH COORDINATION PLATFORM”

Dr. Oliver V. Wasonga (4th left) 2nd row at the Workshop

Dr. Oliver V. Wasonga from Department of LARMAT represented the University of Nairobi at the Workshop on Strengthening Collaboration of existing National Drought Resilience Research Institutions Network Pathways within the IGAD Region, which was held at Hilton Hotel, Nairobi on 24-26th February, 2020.

IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience Initiative (IDDRSI) together with IGAD Food Security, Nutrition and Resilience Analysis Hub (IFRAH)– Resilience Analysis Unit (RAU) and USAID have co-developed a proposal “Regional Drought Resilience Research Collaborative Network Pathways” to strengthen market systems that will improve resilience to shocks and stresses through increased income, improved production systems, increased food availability and diversity and livelihood diversification. The overall strategic objective of the proposed network is to build resilient communities through strengthened market systems in the IGAD region and its goal contributes directly to the overall strategic goal of IDDRSI which is “Drought disaster resilient communities, institutions and ecosystems in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) of the IGAD region achieved by 2027” and specifically to Priority Intervention Area No. 5 (Research, Research Training and Knowledge Generation, see IDDRSI Strategy 2013 & 2019).The Network seeks to bring together key senior researchers of public national universities and national agricultural/livestock research institutions from IGAD member states with significant engagement and experience in the arid lands of the Horn of Africa region. The network is anticipated to also serve as a platform to share innovative technologies as well as facilitate new

The objective of the workshop was therefore to build a regional consensus on the National Drought Resilience Research Institutions within the IGAD Region, specifically validate the proposed network, identify implementation pathways, and set priority research agenda for the IGAD region.