Kenya — Publications

HABITABLE: Rethinking habitability from ordinary experience in Kenya

May 2024

The consequences of climate change are particularly pronounced in Kenya, where 80% of the land is arid or semi-arid. Most stakeholders understand the short-and long-term risks for communities.

What critical and constructive perspective can the concept of habitability offer in this context? Based on fieldwork carried out in Kenya for the HABITABLE consortium, the aim of this article is to refine the contextual, in situ definition of habitability, using exclusively qualitative data, supplemented by video-mapping exercises.

Secondly, this paper tests the hypothesis of tipping points, understood as triggers for individual or collective decision-making. Finally, in the last part of our analysis, we propose rethinking socio-ecological systems in a dynamic way and conceiving habitability as both a common good in the making and a critical issue for the men and women living in Baringo, Makueni, and Eastleigh.

Rather than proposing a positivist view of habitability, this article suggests linking habitability more closely to the daily practices, habits, solidarities, and resistances that shape the ordinary lives of community residents and displaced persons.

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Samuel HallMay 16, 2024Kenya, Climate change, Habitability, Qualitative data, Mobility

Equal Partnerships: African Intermediary Cities as Actors and Partners in Urban Migration Governance. City Report: Garissa- Kenya

November 2023

The Equal Partnerships project led by Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Centre for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg, Research on Migration, Displacement, and Integration (MFI), United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa), German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) and Samuel Hall with support from Robert Bosch Stiftung explores the opportunities and challenges of collaborative, urban migration governance in African intermediary cities.

As part of this project, Samuel Hall developed a city report exploring urban migration governance in Garissa, Kenya. Home to approximately 500,000 inhabitants, Garissa is a major economic hub. It holds significance in urban migration and displacement, especially in relation to regional conflicts, economic dynamics, climate change, and environmental decline.

We conducted a stakeholder mapping exercise to take stock of actors addressing migration and displacement . Further, to explore partnerships and cooperation gaps and opportunities, we conducted participatory field research with the county of Garissa and organised a local workshop in June 2022 and February 2023. Our research found that multiple actors cooperate on migration and displacement-related issues.

This report presents the outcomes of the stakeholder mapping, identifies opportunities and challenges of cooperative action on migration, and concludes with concrete policy recommendations for strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships to address migration in the urban context.

Read the city report here

Find other city reports developed as part of this project here.

Read our policy paper here.

East & Southern AfricaSamuel HallNovember 16, 2023Equal Partnerships, report, Migration, displacement, Kenya, Urban

AKF - Implementing the CBC in Dadaab & Kakuma Refugee Camps

October 2021

In Kenya, UNHCR are partnering with the Ministry of Education to improve the delivery of the new Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) in refugee camps and surrounding low-resource settings. As part of this effort, the Aga Khan Foundation tested the Values Based Education (VBE) modules in Kakuma to generate evidence of how this proven approach is relevant for teachers and schools in refugee settings as they strive to deliver the CBC with quality.

Samuel Hall was commissioned to provide a detailed examination into the current status of CBC implementation in Dadaab and Kakuma camps as well as generating initial evidence on efficacy and relevance of VBE in refugee settings. This report identifies the challenges, capacity gaps, and opportunities facing teachers and schools as they implement the CBC in Kenya’s refugee-hosting areas and identifies the potential of VBE to enable teachers to deliver the CBC with quality. The recommendations and learnings can also be considered more broadly across Kenya.

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ILO – Towards decent work for young refugees and host communities in the digital platform economy in Africa

August 2021

Samuel Hall worked with the University of Edinburgh, commissioned by the ILO's Youth Employment Sector and the PROSPECTS partnership, to conduct a study to characterise the nature of platform-related opportunities in Africa. The report focuses on digital labour platforms (gig work) and e-commerce, developing an overview of the level of access, and identifying initiatives that these opportunities. Samuel Hall conducted 36 Interviews in Uganda, Kenya and Egypt to identify the key drivers, levers and constraints that catalyse and/or hold back the growth of the platform economy in Africa in the future. It accounts for COVID-19 implications, with a focus on labour market implications.

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RDPP – Progressive Effects Evaluation of the Regional Development and Protection Programme (RDPP) in the Horn of Africa: 2018-2020

April 2021

The Regional Development and Protection Programme (RDPP) is a European programme to create evidence-based, innovative and sustainable protection and development approaches for refugees and their host communities in Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda. The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs contracted the Learning and Evaluation Team (LET), co-led by Samuel Hall and MDF with Maastricht University and ECDPM, to conduct a progressive effects evaluation over a three-year period, with a baseline in 2018, and an endline in 2020. The RDPP objectives focus on capacity building, protection, integrated services, and socio-economic development for displacement affected communities. The LET implemented a combined quantitative and qualitative evaluation to assess progress on each domain and conclude on the relevance, coordination, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of the RDPP in the Horn of Africa.

Download Endline LET Executive Summary

Download Endline LET Synthesis Report

Download Endline LET Report (Ethiopia)

Download Endline LET Report (Kenya)

Download Endline LET Report (Somalia)

Download Endline LET Report (Sudan)

Download Endline LET Report (Uganda)

Download Baseline LET Report (Consolidated)

Download Baseline LET Report (Ethiopia)

Download Baseline LET Report (Kenya)

Download Baseline LET Report (Somalia)

Download Baseline LET Report (Sudan)

Download Baseline LET Report (Uganda)

ILO/UNHCR - Doing Business in Dadaab

January 2019

Contrary to many popular perceptions, Dadaab is an area of opportunity with existing strengths that can be harnessed. This market systems analysis identifies these strengths as well as areas to build further, and provides the foundation for building opportunities to strengthen job creation and linkages between host and refugee communities as well as with private sector employers in Garissa county as well as with the capital.

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EUTF/Samuel Hall - Mid-Term Review of the EUTF Regional Development and Protection Programme in Kenya: Support to the Development of Kalobeyei

November 2018

In 2018, Samuel Hall in collaboration with the EU reviewed the Kalobeyei Integrated Socio-Economic Development Plan (KISEDP) project to assess whether objectives had been achieved, and where obstacles and opportunities exist to inform future iterations of the project.

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Open Society Foundations - Free and Safe Movement in East Africa

October 2018

A multi-region study analysing migration policy and practices in Central, East and Southern Africa. This report reviews findings at the East African sub-regional level at a time of growing attention to fostering mobility and mobility’s gain for protection and development.

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HIF/Samuel Hall - Innovating Mobile Solutions for Refugees in East Africa

February 2018

This study takes a significant step towards deciphering the degree to which mobile phone coverage, access to smartphones, awareness of mobile-based services and technical literacy affect the role mobile technology can play in supporting refugees.

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IOM/DFID - Setting Standards for an Integrated Approach to Reintegration

January 2018

This report, prepared and conducted by Samuel Hall under the IOM DFID-funded MEASURE Project, outlines recommendations to support sustainable reintegration of migrants who return to their home countries in the framework of AVRR programmes.

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British Council - Youth Employment in Kenya

December 2017

Samuel Hall provided the British Council and other interested stakeholders with a comprehensive overview of the current employment challenges and opportunities for Kenya’s 10 million youth. In addition to clear and evidence-based policy recommendations, the final report also featured precise suggestions for future research endeavours, which informed subsequent actions of the Next Generation project in Kenya.

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EARF - Understanding Intra-Regional Labour Migration in the East Africa Community - Literature Reveiw

July 2017

The aim of this study, commissioned by DFID and Sida and conducted by Samuel Hall, Maastricht University and the University of Oxford, is to generate new evidence to support government and development interventions aimed at eliminating poverty and reducing vulnerabilities in the EAC by exploring the potential of labour migration across five countries: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

Download the Literature Review

Resilience, East & Southern AfricaSamuel HallJuly 28, 2017DFID, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, labour migration, Sida, EAC, EARF

HelpAge International - Older People in Situations of Migration in Africa: the Untold Story

February 2017

This briefing for HelpAge tells the untold story of older people in the migration ecosystem in Africa. It highlights the importance of including older people in migration policies and practice – whether they are left behind, on the move, or returning to their country of origin. It identifies the key challenges facing this generation, explores policy options and calls for more thorough research to improve understanding of the capabilities and needs of older people in situations of migration in Africa.

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DRC/AAH/UNHCR - Kakuma Market Assessment

June 2016

This report provides an evidence-based strategy for increasing employment opportunities and skills development for protracted and recent refugees in Kakuma refugee camp. By focusing on economic integration and capacity development, it directly contributes to the durable and transitional solutions agenda.

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UNHCR/Samuel Hall - Towards Durable Solutions: Expectations vs. Reality - Perceptions of Unassisted Returns to Somalia

December 2015

In 2015, Samuel Hall conducted a study to document conditions of unassisted spontaneous returns of Somalis. Starting with decision-making processes up to the conditions of returnees post-return, the study provides a cross border, longitudinal view of spontaneous return as a process that begins in Kenya.

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IOM - Kenya Migration Profile

September 2015

Ongoing policy developments are shaping migration management, and Kenya’s role and strategic location in East Africa highlight political evolutions that continue to structure migration systems in Kenya. Data collection and analysis and preparation of the report were undertaken on behalf of IOM by the African Migration and Development Policy Centre with extensive technical support by Samuel Hall in the preparation, final drafting and capacity-building phases of the project.

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ReDSS - Devolution in Kenya: Opportunities for Transitional Solutions for Refugees

July 2015

This report examines the case studies of Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps while taking stock of the political and security context framing refugee affairs in Kenya.

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DRC - Great Lakes Civil Society Project

December 2014

Samuel Hall was commissioned by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in October 2014 to conduct a mid-term review of the second phase of the Great Lakes Civil Society Programme (GLP), a regional programme implemented since January 2010 by DRC with funding from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).

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