ASAL Humanitarian Network (AHN)
In the face of growing global challenges, ASAL communities are leading local solutions that strengthen resilience and sustain livelihoods.
Community-Led Transformation: Empowering People to Drive Change and Build Resilience
From drought to floods, ASAL communities are not just surviving crises—they are organizing, responding, and rebuilding through grassroots systems that reflect local knowledge and solidarity.
The Global Challenge and Local Reality
The world is grappling with unprecedented challenges that threaten the productivity and sustainability of economic and social systems. Among these, ensuring food security and equitable development for a growing global population remains critical. Yet, climate change, global warming, rising food prices, and persistent conflicts have combined to erode ecosystem services and undermine community resilience, especially in fragile regions like Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs).
In Kenya, ASAL counties are increasingly affected by recurring disasters—droughts, floods, livestock diseases, and pandemics. The compounded impact of these hazards, including the devastating 2021–2022 drought in the Horn of Africa followed by widespread flooding, has exposed deep vulnerabilities. These emergencies have further marginalized communities and heightened the number of people requiring humanitarian assistance.
The Power of Community-Led Action
Despite the overwhelming scale of these challenges, local communities across the ASALs have consistently shown resilience and leadership. Humanitarian agencies often face limitations in reaching affected areas swiftly due to resource and capacity constraints. In contrast, local actors—grounded in the socio-cultural realities of their communities—are typically the first to respond and the last to leave.
During the 2022 drought, ASAL communities relied on their traditional systems, networks, and values of mutual support. They mobilized food, water, and shelter, often without external aid, guided by a deeply ingrained culture of solidarity—being “your brother’s keeper.” These indigenous response mechanisms underscore the importance of recognizing and supporting community-led initiatives as central to effective humanitarian response.
Community-Led Approaches: Strength in Structure and Solidarity
Community-led disaster response is more than a fallback—it is a proven model of resilience. These approaches work by leveraging local knowledge, leadership structures, and social cohesion to deliver timely and context-specific solutions. By investing in these systems, humanitarian and development partners can strengthen long-term coping capacities, reduce dependency, and ensure that aid efforts are rooted in local realities.
As ASAL communities continue to confront the dual threats of climate change and systemic marginalization, there is an urgent need to center local actors in response planning, funding, and coordination. Empowering communities to lead not only ensures relevance and efficiency—it also drives transformative change from the ground up.