Self-reliance in Kalobeyei? Socio-economic outcomes for refugees in north-west Kenya

Report

Kenya hosts nearly 500,000 refugees.1 Most of these refugees are from Somalia, but Kenya also hosts refugees from South Sudan, Ethiopia, DRC, Burundi, and Sudan. Historically, most of the refugees have been concentrated in three main locations: the Dadaab camps, the Kakuma camps and Nairobi. The Kalobeyei settlement was conceived in 2015, just 30 km from Kakuma in Turkana County. It was a joint initiative of UNHCR and the regional government, supported with funding from the European Union. Its aim was to take pressure off the Kakuma camps and to transition refugee assistance from an aid-based model to a self-reliance model. It would offer opportunities for economic inclusion and greater interaction with the host community. Refugees in the Kakuma camp were expected to relocate voluntarily to Kalobeyei. However, the unexpected arrival of large numbers of South Sudanese refugees required a need for greater flexibility in the implementation of this model, and emergency assistance was made available. Nevertheless, Kalobeyei’s planners have retained a significant commitment to self-reliance. For example, Kalobeyei has differed from Kakuma in having designated market areas, more extensive use of a cash-assistance programme called Bamba Chakula (‘get your food’), and greater promotion of subsistence agriculture. Given that recently arrived South Sudanese refugees have been allocated to both Kalobeyei (more of a ‘self-reliance model’) and Kakuma (more of an ‘aid model’),2 this offers a unique opportunity to compare outcomes for refugees across the two contexts. We focus specifically on recently arrived refugees to examine three central questions. First, how can we measure self-reliance for new arrivals in both contexts? Second, to what extent is self-reliance greater in the new Kalobeyei settlement compared with the old Kakuma camp? Third, how can self-reliance be enhanced in such a difficult environment?

Authors: Betts, A; Omata, N; Geervliet, R; MacPherson, C; Rogers, C

• Publication status: Published
• Publisher: Refugee Studies Centre
• Place of publication: Oxford
• Publication date: 2018-07-01
• Keywords: UNHCR; Bamba Chakula; Cash assistance; refugee settlement; refugees; WFP; Kalobeyei; refugee camp; refugee economies; Kakuma