Intervention designs for household food security : lessons from Kenya

The study on this paper seeks to identify intervention design(s) which have had an impact on household food security in Kenya's drylands, and could be replicated in other places with similar conditions. Five different ex-post interventions in the drylands of Kenya were evaluated using descriptive statistics and econometric models. It was shown that the intervention project design which had integrated provision of irrigation water and access to markets for both farm inputs and produce in its development strategies had an impact through improvement in the levels and stability of household incomes. Access to markets included institutional organization and provision of transport. In conclusion, food security policy in the drylands should focus on creating an enabling environment for farmers in terms of market organization and provision of irrigation infrastructure.