Lucy Lemashisha: The Face of Resilience for Kenya's Maasai Community

This case study describes the efforts of Lucy Lemashisha and the Rural Women Network (RWN) to build climate resilience among the Maasai community in Kajiado County, Kenya. It highlights the establishment of the Climate Resilience and Learning Center, which empowers local women to adopt alternative livelihoods and climate-smart agriculture to combat recurrent drought and famine.

• Kajiado County has experienced a cyclic pattern of drought and famine over the last 30 years, transforming pastures for indigenous Maasai cattle into dry plains. This environmental shift has led to erratic rainfall, high rates of childhood malnutrition, and increased human-wildlife conflicts as animals move from national parks into Maasai pastures.
• In 2014, Lucy Lemashisha mobilized three women's groups—Kaseri Olera, OLokirdingai, and Najire—to establish the Climate Resilience and Learning Center. Supported by funding from the Global Resilience Partnership (GRP), Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF), and International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), the center provides training in beekeeping, conservation agriculture, and small-scale farming of crops, indigenous chicken, and small stock.
• The initiative has shifted traditional power dynamics in a patriarchal society by placing women in leadership roles, including appointments to county government task committees such as the climate justice and Anti-Female Genital Mutilation committees. Over 560 women from eight groups have participated in training and replicated these skills in their households.
• Several barriers hinder the scaling of these local solutions, including a lack of sustainable funding for expert engagement, low literacy levels in the community, and a lack of available public sector extension and advisory services. Additionally, there is a need to translate written materials from English into the local language and establish more centers to reduce travel distances for community members.

APA

Kariuki, P., & Kamangu, C. M. (2022). Lucy Lemashisha: The Face of Resilience for Kenya's Maasai Community. Global Resilience Partnership. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/lucy-lemashisha-the-face-of-resilience-for-kenyas-maasai-community/

Chicago

Kariuki, Pauline, and Charles Mbuthia Kamangu. Lucy Lemashisha: The Face of Resilience for Kenya's Maasai Community. Global Resilience Partnership, 2022. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/lucy-lemashisha-the-face-of-resilience-for-kenyas-maasai-community/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kariuki |first1=Pauline |last2=Kamangu |first2=Charles Mbuthia |title=Lucy Lemashisha: The Face of Resilience for Kenya's Maasai Community |publisher=Global Resilience Partnership |date=8 September 2022 |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/lucy-lemashisha-the-face-of-resilience-for-kenyas-maasai-community/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kariuki2022lucy, author = {Kariuki, Pauline and Kamangu, Charles Mbuthia}, title = {{Lucy Lemashisha: The Face of Resilience for Kenya's Maasai Community}}, institution = {Global Resilience Partnership}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/lucy-lemashisha-the-face-of-resilience-for-kenyas-maasai-community/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }