C-LaSAIR will be implemented in three Counties in Kenya, namely: Elgeyo Marakwet County (situated between latitude 0o 10′ N and 1o 20′ N, and longitude 35o 10′ to 35o 44′ E), Kisumu County (situated between longitudes 330 20’E and 350 20’E and latitude 00 20’ South and 00 50’ South) and Turkana County (situated between longitudes 34° 30’E and 36° 40’E and latitudes 10° 30’N and 50° 30’N). It is hypothesized that:

1. Climate-smart labor-saving water harvesting technologies, irrigations systems for dryland silvo-agricultural systems and food security and nutrition based technologies will reduce by at least 25% gendered vulnerability of women to effects of climate change through their economic empowerment as evidenced by enhanced economic activities and income;
2. Innovative agrosilvopastoral technologies and practices for bee keeping, poultry, fruits, sorghum, groundnut & cowpea production will lead to increased food and nutrition security and improved income as evidenced by proportion of households with improved income and tracked during the course of the project for women in the drylands of Elgeyo-Marakwet, Kisumu and Turkana (Kenya) by at least 20%, thus enhancing the capacity of the women in climate change resilience and cope with socio-cultural inequalities; and
3. Scalable value addition of products like fruits (e.g drying and juicing) in Elgeyo-Marakwet, sorghum (e.g. sorghum based porridge flour- with gluten free advantages) in Turkana, groundnut (e.g. packaged nuts, peanut butter) & fish (e.g nutrition fortified fish balls, drying and packaging; sugarcane juicing) in Kisumu will increase economic empowerment of women by at least 25% in the drylands.

C-LaSAIR grand challenge, funded by the foundation, will be implemented in 2 Sub-Counties of each of the three counties of Elgeyo-Marakwet, Kisumu and Turkana by a consortium comprised of the University of Eldoret (UoE, Kenya), involving multiple schools within the institution as the lead, and women-led non-governmental organizations (NGOs) – Lotus Kenya Action for Development (LOKADO) in Turkana, World Vision in Elgeyo Marakwet; Community-based organizations (CBOs)- Turkana Ecogree in Turkana, Ngoswet Community Based Organization in Elgeyo Marakwet, Joopers Busy L.t.d. in Kisumu, and the three relevant County governments (Turkana, Elgeyo Marakwet and Kisumu).
The activities to achieve desired outcomes based on objectives will be as follows:

SO1: Conduct a gender analysis and baseline survey to determine business as usual women climate change vulnerability scenarios in the counties. Our gender expert, Dr. Geraldine Matolla (a member of the consortium and former Director, Gender, Equity and Diversity -UoE) will lead the gender analysis activity; Establish community-based climate-smart agrosilvopastoral and production technologies living labs (field-based active user-centered units showcasing project innovations) in each of the counties; co-design & construct locally innovated rain-water harvesting units in 6 sites per county;

SO2: Identify sites and farmers to be involved in irrigation agriculture that integrate new nitrogen-fixing and fodder agroforestry trees and agricultural crops in 2 sites per county; Co-design, procure and install automated solar-powered irrigation systems at silvo-agricultural sites. The prototype for the irrigation systems will fabricated at the University and the women will be trained to maintain them; Quantify and monitor effectiveness (through household surveys) of the irrigation systems on reduction of women workload and vulnerability to climate change;
SO3: Identify farmers for beekeeping, poultry and tree fruits production; Establish living labs for beekeeping, poultry, and tree fruits; Co-design automated-feeder poultry technologies at 6 living labs within the counties through capacity building for local women groups on establishment and husbandry of beekeeping, poultry and tree fruits, and procurement of beekeeping and equipment; Quantify and monitor progress on beekeeping, poultry and tree fruits production including socio-economic impacts;

SO4: Co-design and implement tilapia fish farms in flood prone rice paddies (with strong bunds and sluice gates to ensure the tilapia are contained within the paddy fish farms) as a local capability approach to nutritional needs, emission control and income challenges during flood events in Kisumu County; Quantify and monitor progress on the rice paddy fish farms and emission (we hypothesisize that fish farming in paddies will reduce the GHG emissions from the paddies);

SO5: Generate, through desktop analysis, gender disaggregated data in county agrosilvicultural policies and programs that predispose women to climate vulnerabilities; Innovate mobile-App gender-disaggregated data tracker that will be available beyond this project; Sensitize and build capacity of women, farmers, traders and county governments for collecting and analysing gender-disaggregated data on climate impacts; Add value to fruits, sorghum, groundnut & fish products with verifiable climate neutrality and reduced vulnerability of women to climate change; Conduct market segmentation based on demographics, needs, priorities, common interests, and other psychographic or behavioral criteria; Identify key market competitors, their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; Conduct a market analysis to identify unique selling proposition, competitive advantage, and market segments for the fruits, sorghum, groundnut & fish products to enhance access to market by women as a key component of the Women’s Economic Empowerment Strategy ; and Develop a marketing strategy, pricing, promotion, and distribution channels for the value-added products.