National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) kicked off the registration, targeting households in Tana River County, which will benefit from the Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP).
The programme targets 7, 377 households in the county whose beneficiaries will receive Sh2700 per month disbursed after every two months, translating to 239M annually.
Governor Dhadho Godhana who flagged off the exercise at Gururi, Galole constituency urged the beneficiaries to prudently use the money and invest some of it for income generating activities.
“It is my belief and hope that the regular cash transfers will contribute significantly to the financial well-being of these vulnerable families and the county in general. Since our people are industrious by nature, I am confident that these families will invest part of the cash,” said Governor Godhana.
The Governor emphasized the gist of the registration exercise saying the enhanced single registry would be a one-stop data center for targeting during humanitarian interventions when disasters occur.
“With this data under the Social Registry, my administration will also be a beneficiary since we will use this data to target communities that have not been reached by other humanitarian organizations during drought and flooding,” added the Governor.
According to NDMA county coordinator for Tana River Abdi Musa, the registration and the targeting of household’s exercise will undertake a census approach whereby the registration will be door-to-door and GPS coordinates of households will be part of the data.
“The GPS coordinates will go a long way in ensuring accurate targeting during drought episodes and also monitoring of cash transfer to beneficiaries. All sub- counties in the county will be targeted in the exercise,” said Musa.
He said this would ensure at least each location has a beneficiary and the ripple effect of the cash transfers would be felt across the breadth and length of the county.
The GPS coordinates of the households will ensure the traceability of beneficiary households as Tana River County is predominantly inhabited by the pastoralists and farmers communities.
Meanwhile, the governor calls upon the youths who have attained the age of 18 years to apply for national identity cards. He said working in tandem with NDMA they would collaborate with the National Registration Bureau to expedite the issuance of IDs to HSNP target groups.
“It will be disheartening if many beneficiaries are unable to access their bi-monthly stipend because they do not have identity cards,” Governor Godhana.
The Governor urged other humanitarian organizations to actively engage and support NDMA not only with finances but also with logistics.
The programme is being implemented under the auspices of the Kenya Social and Economic Inclusion Project (KSEIP) and by the end of the first phase over Sh717M will be disbursed to Tana River communities.
HSNP is an unconditional cash transfer programme that has also been implemented in Turkana, Wajir, Mandera and Marsabit counties where a total of 101,800 households in the four counties receives cash transfers.
The government is expanding the programme to Tana River, Isiolo and Samburu counties in order to cushion vulnerable people in arid and semi-arid areas where 3,200 vulnerable households will benefit during the first phase in these counties.
The governor outlined his government’s efforts to reduce hunger through the SMART agriculture project in conjunction with other development partners.
“My government has facilitated farmers in the county with drought resistant food crops in areas such as Bura and Upper Hola to ensure there is food security in the county,” he said.
The national government has other cash transfers which include: Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), People with Severe Disability (PWSD) and Older Persons Cash Transfer.
By Sadik Hassan
