Since 2001, the DOL through the livelihood programme chose to empower women so that they too can pump into the welfare of their families. Women generally have contributed to the general welfare of the families. In the past women have been seen as being good for the kitchen and not given chance to contribute to development. With the changing society it has become necessary that women too become bread winners for their families since they too have capabilities needed to be utilized for the good of the whole society and their families too.

With the continuing support from BD (Bridderlech Deelen) the livelihoods programme decided to extend its support to youth,men and women targeting a wider Turkana County.

Vision

To transform the livelihood of the Turkana Community through an integrated approach to development

Objectives

• To improve food security and increased livelihood productivity of the Turkana Community
• Influence perspectives, behavior and activities and values
• Provide skills and opportunities for improvement of livelihood
• Enhance community participation in decision-making
• Lobby and advocacy
• To increase entrepreneurial skills
• Improve access to market for products

Income Generating Activities

Livelihoods and Agriculture Programme through IGA(Income Generating Activity) Component aims at creating  an environment through which Savings ,Lending and linkages for financial services are enhanced for financially unreached Communities. This is done  to enable the communities to achieve increased income, increased livelihoods, diversity and food security in the face of climatic shocks, humanitarian crises and social political changes.

Agriculture

The major economic activity for the Turkana Community is pastoralism. Introduction of crop farming in the Turkana Community as an alternative means of livelihood through the DOL Livelihood programme.It is a step towards solving food insecurity issues in the local community.
DOL Livelihoods programme assists the Turkana community in crop farming through:

• Provision of seeds
• Provision of farm tools
• Provision of fertilizers
• Canals and gabions construction
• Trainings on Agriculture
• Pest control inputs
• Piped water with sprinklers for the farms
• Drilled shallow wells for human consumption and water for the farms

Among the crops grown by the farmers are: greengrams, peas, water melon, sorghum, sugarcane, sweet potatoes, green vegetables, pawpaw, onions, pumpkins, tomatoes, maize, and peanuts.

Livestock

Turkana Community is known for livestock keeping. Even then the community has faced a number of challenges in regard to livestock keeping and as a result the Turkana have in some instances lost their livestock through:

• Diseases
• Drought
• Unreliable rainfall
• Conflicts with their neighbors within and ouside Kenya

The toggenberg goats is a foreign breed. The rearing of these goats has been beneficial to Turkana communities in the following ways:

• The goats have high yield of milk and their milk is so nutritious
• Very unique breed that grows faster than our local goats
• They can be sold at a higher price
• They are a better species for breeding

Fishing

Fishing serves as an alternative source of livelihood for the Turkana living near Lake Turkana. The people living near the Lake have no other reliable source of earning a living except fishing. Fishing as an economic activity of these people has been of benefit to them in various ways:

• Enabled them to buy some of the livestock they keep
• Buying school requirements for the school going children and even paying school fees
• Meeting basic needs of life like food, clothing and medical care
• Provided capital for some micro-businesses they run

This good business needs to be encouraged because the profit of selling the commodities is high. The following are the challenges being faced by fisher folks in fishing as their economic activity:

• Poor access to market outside their vicinity given that all of them do the same activity
• Little catch of fish
• Few of them own boats
• The boats get spoilt given their quality and at times they are not able to repair the boats