<p>Extreme weather events such as floods and droughts annually affect thousands of people in Kenya disproportionally affecting the poor, elderly, disabled, women and children. Currently, natural disaster response is frequently reactive rather than proactive resulting in increased suffering among the most vulnerable, high response costs and duplication of efforts among humanitarian actors. Forecast based financing (FbF) can play a critical role in mitigating disaster impacts. Less evidence however, is documented about the effectiveness of implementing FBF compared to traditional emergency response. In 2019, Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) in partnership with National FbF Technical Working Group (TWG) began developing National Flood and drought Early Action Protocols (EAP). The goal was to minimise potential damage and loss of life by acting early, before the hazard reached its peak. In 2021, the drought EAP was activated after attaining trigger thresholds indicating below average seasonal rainfall for October-November-December rains. This provided a good opportunity for real-time testing of effectiveness of the selected/prioritised early actions.</p> <p>This paper presents findings of a study conducted to compare the effectiveness of FBF to emergency response a case study of West Pokot County where the drought EAP was activated. The study adopted quasi-experiment approach to measure different outcomes between beneficiary households of AA and Control group/Emergency Response beneficiaries of similar vulnerability.</p> <p>A total of 388 respondents participated in the survey where 260 were beneficiaries of AA while 128 were non-beneficiaries. With regards to food security, 24.6% of the AA beneficiaries sampled obtained food from own production compared to 17.2% non-beneficiaries. Few (8.5%) AA beneficiaries borrowed food from relatives compared to 13.3% of the non-beneficiaries. More (41.8%) children under-five from AA beneficiary households had three meals and some food/snack in between compared to 31.6% from non-beneficiary households. Very few (25.4%) adults from AA households ate only one meal compared to 35.2% from non-beneficiary households. The coping strategy index for the AA beneficiaries was (3.1) while for the non-beneficiaries was (3.8).</p> <p>In addressing water scarcity, more (11.6%) beneficiaries’ households had access to borehole water compared to 7.7% non-beneficiaries. Distance to water sources was higher among the non-beneficiary where 52.5% non-beneficiaries spend between 30 mins-1hour to collect water compared to 43.0% beneficiaries. Beneficiaries noted changes that came as a result of the AA in water to be: reduction in water borne diseases cases (5.0%); access to cleaner/safer water (96.7%); reduced amount of money spent on water (8.3%); meals prepared regularly (12.4%) and improved hygiene (38.8%).</p> <p>Lessons documented included: Community participation and stakeholder coordination are essential for the successful implementation of AA. To ensure timely implementation of AA, it is necessary to combine community knowledge of seasons with scientific forecasts and streamline institutional readiness. Flexible funding is the most effective way to take early action in the window of opportunity between forecast and disaster.</p> <p>Study findings show that anticipatory actions have a positive impact on reducing the effects of drought on water scarcity and food insecurity. Furthermore, AA have a higher benefit to cost ratio, indicating their cost-effectiveness and return on investment.</p>

1. Introduction Corona viruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) (WHO, 2020b). In December 2019, a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown aetiology was reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and on 9 January 2020, China CDC reported a novel corona virus (COVID-19) as the causative agent of this outbreak (WHO, 2020a). This disease has since spread globally resulting to 2019-2020 corona virus pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. The Kenyan Ministry of Health (MOH) in collaboration with other in-country partners launched the COVID-19 Taskforce to implement initial prevention and mitigation measures. Following first case detection of COVID-19 in Kenya on 13 th March 2020, unprecedented measures were adopted to control the rapid spread of the ongoing COVID-19 in Kenya. This measure includes; closure of all schools and learning institutions, closure of all international airports and banning of incoming flights, placing incoming passengers on a mandatory 14-day quarantine, burning of mass gatherings including in places of worship and promoting intensified hygiene and hand washing practices. To provide for the required physical distance, a work-from-home order for citizens and a partial curfew was instituted except for those delivering essential services, additionally, movement cessation in and out of the hot spot regions was also enforced. Human being is otherwise irrational and people's adherence to control measures is affected by their knowledge, attitudes and perceptions towards COVID-19. Given the deficit of knowledge on the influence of behaviour on prevention and control efforts in Sub Saharan Africa and specifically in Kenya, an online survey was rolled out to collect data on knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) related to COVID-19 among people living in Kenya. This survey was intended to answer the following questions:  What are the current knowledge levels and attitudes related to COVID-19 outbreak in Kenya?  Is there knowledge, attitude and behaviour gaps amongst gender?  What is the information needs of Kenyans and the preferred mode of communication and awareness creation?  What are the main worries of Kenyans concerning COVID-19 outbreak?  What are the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 experienced by Kenyans? The findings of the study will be used on an ongoing basis to inform response plans, offer important insights to fight the corona virus and also provide a basis for learning and sharing. This will inform the development and planning of behaviour change campaigns, COVID-19 tracking, and other interventions as needed throughout the pandemic.