PDA is a registered Kenyan NGO dedicated to empowering pastoralist communities across Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands. We implement integrated, sustainable programs focused on eight key areas: Climate Change Mitigation, Education & Capacity Building, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), Agro-Value Chain Development, Primary Health Support, Wildlife Conservation, Peace and Security, and Women & Youth Empowerment. Our goal is to build holistic community resilience for a self-reliant future.

Founded in Isiolo County in 2010, we have grown to operate across 16 counties in Kenya’s ASAL regions. Our work is community-led and tailored to the specific environmental, social, and economic contexts of each area we serve.

Sustainability and community ownership are core to our model. We never impose solutions. Instead, we partner with local communities from the initial design stage. We build upon indigenous knowledge, train local champions, and support the formation of community-based management committees for projects like water points or tree nurseries. This ensures solutions are culturally appropriate, maintained locally, and have lasting impact.

We welcome partnerships! You can support us in several ways:

• Institutional Partnerships: NGOs, government agencies, and private sector companies can collaborate on specific programs or funding.
• Donations: Financial contributions directly support our field projects in water, education, livelihoods, and more.
• Volunteering: We offer skilled volunteering opportunities in areas like monitoring & evaluation, agriculture, and community training.

Please visit our “Contact Us” or “Partner With Us” page to get in touch and explore opportunities.

Our climate change mitigation work is two-fold: adaptation and resilience-building. We promote climate-smart practices like regenerative agriculture and drought-resistant crops. We also implement ecosystem-based adaptation, such as constructing sand dams for water security and leading landscape restoration through community-led tree planting and grassland management to combat desertification.

We address the root causes of conflict, which in pastoralist areas are often competition over scarce resources like water and grazing land. Our peace and security work facilitates inclusive dialogues between communities, elders, women, and youth to establish shared resource management agreements. We also support cross-border peace markets and train community peace ambassadors to foster long-term stability.

Women and youth are not just beneficiaries but central agents of change in our programs. We design specific initiatives for their empowerment, including leadership training, entrepreneurship support in agro-value chains, and education scholarships. Empowering these groups leads to more equitable decision-making, diversified household incomes, and stronger, more innovative communities.

We have a robust Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) framework. We track both quantitative data (e.g., number of water points built, trees planted, households with improved income) and qualitative outcomes (e.g., community perceptions of peace, women’s participation in leadership). We train community members as data champions to collect local data, and we regularly share findings with communities and partners to ensure transparency and adaptive learning.

Site visits for genuine partners, donors, or researchers can sometimes be arranged with prior notice and planning to ensure our community work is not disrupted. Please contact us through formal channels to discuss the purpose and feasibility of a visit.

Our work is funded through a mix of grants from development partners, partnerships with international NGOs, corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, and individual donations. We are committed to financial transparency and accountability in all our operations.