Baridi Kwa Baridi Women CBO joined community members, government representatives and other stakeholders at Skill Church, Mundika, for the first day of a four-day process to develop a Community Adaptation Action Plan (CAAP) for Bukhayo West Ward under the Devolution and Climate Change Adaptation DaCCA Programme.
The process is taking place at a particularly important point in the county planning calendar, as the 2027/28 budget cycle is entering its early stages. The development of the CAAP therefore provides an important opportunity to ensure that the challenges and priorities affecting communities in Bukhayo West are systematically identified, documented and carried forward into public participation, development planning and budget discussions.
Understanding the context of Bukhayo West
Day 1 focused on context analysis, the first step towards understanding the realities that shape the lives and livelihoods of people in Bukhayo West.
Participants examined the ward’s geographical, social and economic characteristics, with particular attention to agriculture, which remains an important livelihood and source of food for many households.
The session brought together a range of perspectives, including those of the Chief, Assistant Chief, Ward Administrator, CSO representatives, Crop Officer and farmers from different clusters across Bukhayo West.
Bringing these different actors together is important because the CAAP needs to reflect both technical perspectives and the lived experiences of the communities themselves.
Agriculture and existing adaptation practices
Agriculture was one of the key areas explored during the context analysis. Farmers shared information about their farming systems and the different strategies they use to manage their land and maintain food production.
One of the practices discussed was intercropping, where farmers grow more than one crop on the same piece of land.
These existing practices are important when developing a community adaptation plan because they provide insight into how farmers are already diversifying production and responding to challenges within their farming systems.
However, the context analysis goes beyond documenting farming practices. It seeks to establish the broader challenges facing Bukhayo West, the resources available to communities, existing coping and adaptation mechanisms and the areas where additional support or investment may be required.
From documentation to planning and budgeting
The development of the CAAP is particularly significant because it creates a structured way of documenting community priorities before the 2027/28 planning and budgeting process progresses further.
Issues identified through the process can help inform discussions during public participation, allowing community members to advocate for interventions based on documented needs and evidence.
This creates an important pathway:
Community experiences → Context analysis → Documented priorities → Community Adaptation Action Plan → Public participation → Planning and budgeting
The intention is to move beyond simply identifying challenges. The process seeks to ensure that the priorities of Bukhayo West are clearly articulated and available for consideration in the spaces where decisions on development interventions and resource allocation are made.
A community-owned process
The first day demonstrated the value of bringing community members and duty bearers together to build a shared understanding of the ward.
As the four-day process continues, participants will build on the context analysis to identify and prioritise adaptation actions that respond to the realities of Bukhayo West.
For Baridi Kwa Baridi Women CBO, participation in this process provides an opportunity to support a community-led approach where local voices, experiences and priorities are documented and strengthened for engagement in development planning and public participation.
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