Foreign economic-aid-related services

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This is a Prior Information Notice (PIN) Only: Publication and Call for Competition will be conducted once scope of work is fully defined and approved. Background — Drought is the single most important natural hazard in Kenya, a threat to prosperity for all. Kenya and the UK cannot afford for ASALs to be left behind. The arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) are highly vulnerable to cyclical drought, climate change and food insecurity. These areas account for 80 % of Kenya's land mass; 25 % of its people; almost 50 % of its counties; 70 % of its livestock; and 50 % of Kenya's agricultural GDP. In the past, Kenya's drought responses have focused on costly and often late humanitarian disaster appeals. In the past 12 years, the Government of Kenya (GoK) has spent on average 32 000 000 GBP (m) per year on disaster relief funding. This rose to 72 000 000 GBP during the 2011 Horn of Africa crisis. Decades of neglect mean the ASALs remain significantly poorer and more marginalised than the rest of Kenya. On average 74 % of their population live below the poverty line (up to 94 % in Turkana), compared to 47 % nationally. The ASALs also have Kenya's worst human development and poverty indicators nationally (on a par with Niger). Despite being the home to Kenya's extractive resources, they are still under-served in terms of infrastructure and services. Their largely mobile pastoral population move across large and porous borders with 4 countries (Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia), and is not only affected by drought, but also by conflict and terror attacks (e.g. in Mandera and Wajir). HSNP helps to reduce poverty, hunger and vulnerability in Kenya's four poorest counties. HSNP Phase 2 (81 590 000 GBP, 2013-17), expanded to reach up to 100 000 HHs (600 000 chronically poor people). HSNP provides regular, timely electronic CTs (c. 40 GBP every 2 months), paid directly into the fully functioning bank accounts of almost 100 000 of the poorest HHs (reaching up to 600 000 people). Payments are accessed using a bank card via biometric or PIN recognition, through a network of over 300 pay agents. Against targets: 99 % of HHs have opened accounts; 97 % of those accounts have valid IDs and have been paid. Currently 581 184 people (60 % women) are benefiting from regular payments of 2 700 Kshs (c.20 GBP a month) every 2 months DFID is currently designing the 3rd phase of the Hunger Safety Net Programme with the GoK. This will run from April 2018 - March 2022 KNBS (2007). Basic Report on Well-Being in Kenya: Based on Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey 2005/06. Ministry of State for Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands (11.10.2012). Sessional Paper No 8 of 2012 on National Policy for the Sustainable Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands: ‘Releasing Our Full Potential’ UN OCHA Borderlands power-point 2015, quoting Oxford University's multi-dimensional poverty index for Kenya. See: http://www.ophi.org.uk/research/multidimensional-poverty/ Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey 2005. The next survey is expected to deliver results in 2017.