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Turkana Host Community: Turkana West and the area surrounding Kakuma refugee camp is primarily a livestock production area, where pure pastoralism is widely practiced. Livestock supports the majority of livelihoods as the backbone for food security but, also, for social status. However, pastoralism in this region is faced by numerous challenges that threaten its viability, and expose many households to food insecurity and other forms of vulnerability. Resource conflicts and insecurity along the borders, animal diseases, inadequate skilled animal health workers and veterinary services, recurrent droughts leading to intensified scarcity of water and pastures, are among the key problems.

Households that loose livestock, either from livestock diseases, raids or droughts become very vulnerable and often forced to move to urban centres, mainly to Kakuma town and around Kakuma refugee camp in search of alternative livelihoods. The rate of unemployment among host community youth is very high and is compounded by lack of marketable skills, experience and capital to become self-employed. The creation of a new district headquarter in Kakuma has led to some development and also an unprecedented rise in the sedentary settlements around Kakuma camp, without a connection to the pastoral economy. This has resulted in increased competition and demand for basic services and resources from the humanitarian organizations operating in the camp. Intense competition over resources, especially water, food and firewood results in frequent conflicts between the hosts and with the refugees.

Many children in Turkana West District do not attend school because of many reasons ranging from inaccessibility to schools, early marriages for girls, poverty, insecurity, child labour, and children looking after livestock, sexual abuse, early pregnancies and HIV/AIDS problems that are accentuated by the drought situation. Increasingly high numbers of children are dropping out of school and others...