Strategic Options and Performance of Hunger Safety Net Program among Pastoralists Communities in Turkana County, Kenya

Abstract

More than 1.5 million of the Kenyan population faces chronic food insecurity and thus dependent on emergency interventions for livelihood. To help respond to chronic food insecurity in regions that carry out pastoralism in Kenya, hunger safety nets which are assured, timely, predictable, and long-term stipend to people who are food insecure, were created. The cash transfers involved in the program are a powerful policy instrument with a range of potential benefits for the beneficiaries. Despite the existence of more than 10 years of the Hunger Safety Program in Turkana County, it was not clear whether the living conditions of people in Turkana had improved. As a result, the primary goal of this research was to determine strategic options for improving the efficiency of the Turkana County hunger safety net program. The study's main goals were to find out how strategic preparation and strategic control affected the Hunger Safety Program’s performance in Turkana County. The specific objectives were to determine the effects of technology establish the effect of and establish strategic alliance on the Hunger Safety Program’s performance in Turkana County. It used Theory of Change, Livelihood Portfolio Theory, Resource Dependency Theory, Program theory and Systems Theory. The current investigation used a cross-sectional survey design and gathered data from the agencies in charge of coordination and payments. The informants for the study were gathered through a census conducted by the Equity Bank in Turkana County and the National Disaster Management Authority. A sample size of 40 respondents was used, all of whom belonged to the middle and senior levels of management, as determined by primary data collected via standardized questionnaires. This analysis used material to construct validity, while the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to measure the testing instrument's reliability, yielding a value of 0.73. Elements of descriptive statistics and inferential analyses were applied in the examination of the survey data. Whereas descriptive statistics included percentiles, frequency, standard deviation, and mean, the inferential statistics was made up of different approaches including analysis of Pearson's correlation, factor analysis, and multiple regression. The results of the study showed that strategic planning has an impact on the success of HSNP. However, strategic partnership, strategic control, and technology adoption had no impact on the program's performance. To ensure that Turkana County experience sustainable and successful hunger safety net program, the study recommended that the National Drought Management Authority and Equity Bank review and improve their strategic influence, strategic partnership, and technology adoption.