Lodwar, February 10, 2026 (Public Communication and Media Relations)
Deputy Governor Dr. John Erus has urged development partners to align their funding with the County’s identified economic value chains, saying targeted investment would accelerate transition from donor dependence to long-term self-reliance.
Speaking during a consultative meeting with United States Government- Office of Foreign Assistance (USG-OFA), Dr. Erus said the county had already mapped priority value chains with strong economic potential and now required complementary partner support to unlock them.
According to Sarah Ayodi of World Food Program, the meeting marked the start of the USG-OFA team’s evaluation mission in Turkana, where officials are reviewing the impact of previous interventions and assessing current vulnerability levels to guide future support.
The delegation is expected to visit various projects implemented by the key implementing partners UNICEF, WFP, AMREF, World Vision and IRC across the county to gather lessons and assess ongoing needs.
“Now that the County has fully mapped key value chains of great potential, our appeal to partners is to supplement our funding capacity to unlock these areas. In doing so, Turkana will progressively move from the current state of donor dependency to self-reliance,” said Dr. Erus.
He commended development partners for ongoing humanitarian and resilience program, citing the WFP support to the drought response and fisheries value chain as well as other drought-response interventions implemented by IRC, AMREF, World Vision and UNICEF in nutrition, health and social protection.
However, the Deputy Governor warned that the worsening drought situation continues to heighten vulnerability across the county, calling for sustained and targeted assistance.
“Several surveys and reports indicate a sharp rise in vulnerability levels. Our internal assessments also show increasing malnutrition rates and a significant decline in pasture due to prolonged drought. This is where we want partners to step in and respond accordingly,” he said.
Chief Officers Agnes Mana (Promotive and preventive health) Directors Aaron Nanok (Agriculture), Saada Loyokon (Nutrition), Mike Aupe (Partnerships) and Alex Marangach (Social Protection) attended the consultative meeting.
