Beyond the Dam: How Mwache Families Are Rebuilding Their Livelihoods

LIVELIHOOD RESTORATION PROGRAM

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For Mbeyu Mwakale, losing farmland to the Mwache Multipurpose Dam Project in Kwale County meant losing a source of food and a way of sustaining her family. Her farm had provided maize, cassava, cowpeas and beans. Finding another piece of land to continue farming was not easy.

Today, she is preparing to embark on a different enterprise: poultry farming. Through the project’s Livelihood Restoration Programme (LRP), a poultry shed has been constructed, with support planned for 100 chickens, feed, medicine and a water tank. It is a new beginning for a family whose livelihood was disrupted by the dam’s construction.

Mwakale’s experience reflects the challenge facing families whose land and economic activities have been affected by the project—and the effort to help them rebuild.

From lost farmland to new opportunities

Compensation for acquired land is essential, but it does not automatically replace the income, food and security that land provides. Recognising this, the World Bank-funded Mwache Dam Project incorporated the LRP into its Resettlement Action Plan to help eligible Project-Affected Households (PAHs) restore their livelihoods to levels equal to or better than those enjoyed before displacement.

“Livelihood restoration is a way of also mitigating the impacts of displacement,” explains Millicent Dzombo, a sociologist with the Mwache Dam Project.

The programme offers three broad pathways: crop production, livestock rearing and non-farm enterprises. Through participatory needs assessments, affected households identify their preferred activities and the support required to establish or rebuild them.

For Jimmy Ngondi, farming was already familiar territory. He initially wanted to combine crops and livestock through mixed farming, but when households were required to select one enterprise, he chose vegetable production. The support planned for his venture includes small dams and other components to help sustain vegetable growing.

His choice demonstrates how livelihood restoration can build on existing experience while helping families adapt to changed circumstances.

Building on what people know

Livestock rearing offers another route to recovery. Kache Sawa Mbovu chose goat farming because he already understood the enterprise and its potential to generate income. He explains about the value of keeping goats and selling them to help support his family. 

“I chose goat farming because it is something I know well. I understand how to rear goats, and I know they can be sold to generate income and help me support my children,” says Kache Sawa Mbovu, a goat farmer participating in the Livelihood Restoration Programme.

For Mbovu, the choice builds on his existing experience, giving him an opportunity to develop a familiar livelihood as he adapts to the changes brought by the Mwache Dam Project. His story illustrates the programme’s approach of helping affected households pursue enterprises that match their skills and experience.

The programme also extends beyond farming and livestock. Rodgers Mangale, a fisherman who depended on the Mwache River, explains that his group faced losing access to its traditional fishing grounds. After discussing their options, the members proposed establishing a fish pond and obtaining a boat to support fishing at sea.

Their proposal reflects a collective effort to find alternative ways of earning an income while adapting to the changes brought by the dam.

A legacy measured in livelihoods

The LRP forms part of the project’s commitment to addressing the economic impacts of land acquisition and involuntary resettlement, in line with the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Standard 5.

Its success will ultimately depend on whether supported enterprises become viable, generate sustainable income and enable affected families to meet their needs. The stories emerging from Mwache show both the opportunities being created and the importance of following through on support.

As Millicent observes, “The dam cannot talk. The community is the one that tells the story.”

At Mwache, that story will be told through productive farms, thriving livestock enterprises and new businesses and through families rebuilding their economic security beyond the land they lost.