Working Group Report
The Community Mobilizers Selection Process(5-8 Feb 2004)
According to the tasks in article 3 of the TOR herein attached, the Working Group (WG) was requested by Ujamaa Center to develop a CMs’ selection programme, which is also hereby attached. Part of the selection process was contracted to independent consultants based in Kwale and Kilifi, whose reports are also herein attached. The WG had a pre-selection field trip to Kwale and Kilifi to familiarize themselves with the scenario of the community, identifying with the challenges and opportunities in these environments. Guided by Kachero of MIDO for Kilifi district and Mwaka, an independent consultant in Kwale region. The trip to Kwale which took place on the 31 st of January took us through Maji ya chumvi quarry; Samburu livestock auction market; Kinango, Marere river, Kwale District headquarter; Mwaluganje animal sanctuary and finally ending up with Shimoni beach and marine park in south coast. Several stopovers in these areas resulted in interactions with the community to discuss issues around natural resources, income generating activities, community capacities and other related challenges and threats. The trip to Kilifi District was not as extensive. Led by Kachero of MIDO, we visited a small community in Roka that bordered the Arabuko Sokoke forest and Shingwaya Cultural center in the same area. Hampered by transport problems, we had to cut the trip short. However, we managed to get information on the conflicts between government and the locals in accessing their natural forests and exploitation of the resources. The group also visited a number of NGOs in Mombasa to draw out community issues from a different perspective. These trips informed not only the selection training but also the curriculum content.
- Appreciate the different landscape and vegetation in the area.
- Evaluate the economic and natural resource potential in the regions.
- Interact with a few members of the communities and collect information to form a foundation for case studies.
- Make out the population pattern in the region.
- Isolate issues of contention for advocacy.
- Gather information that will inform the selection process of the community mobilizers.
These objectives were formulated with the end of advising the curriculum and the selection workshop. The issues to look out for were: - Quarrying in sacred areas, thus a lot of resistance from the locals.
- Access to resources
- Government utilization and ownership of land and proposed usage in contrast with community wants.
- Tourism features and activities e.g. Crocodiles – for the community’s benefit or peril?
- Are the communities addressed or protected from any consequential results of the government decisions or activities.
- In the tourist areas:
- Management
- Politics
- Benefits and to who?
- Consequences e.g. shimoni caves
The visit exposed the working group to the various resources and income generation activities that are in the region. Also, we got a good cross section of the vegetation, infrastructure and population in the area. A number of issues also arose:
Issues:
- Poor organization.
- Little bargaining power esp. in the pricing
- How to handle the corporate buyers
- Community does not benefit from the resources directly.
- Co-operations do not work so they prefer individualism
- Savings and credit for the future were not a their focus
- Collective action
- How to do things better in terms of technology and priorities.
- Broadening their operations – reach and activities
- It was evident that there are no safety and security provisions in the operations, eg protective clothing, medical facilities, first aid skills etc.
Issues:
- Access
- Security of tenure
- Consultations in decision-making e.g. taking loans on behalf of others.
- Planning and organization of operations
- Again there was a lot of individualism whereby there was evidence of inherent potential.
Issues: - Interaction and conflict issues on resources and policy were recurrent.
- Untapped resources e.g. water, natural forest etc.
- Access to usage and management of resources was generally poor.
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