Vulnerability is a multihorned concept that comprising of various factors, in the context of disaster risk and human resilience. It encompasses state of susceptibility of individuals, communities, and systems to harm due to a range of factors including economic, social, cultural, institutional, political, and psychological influences.

The community where the NGO is located is faced by multifaceted factors some of which are described below:

a) Food insecurity: The residents of this area are food insecure. Its not easy to find families that can afford three meals a day. A majority may have a cup of porridge and then supper. Lunch is not available for most of them. Their children in primary schools have to do without lunch, a situation that means they hardly concentrate on studies in the afternoon due to hunger.

b) Low farm productivity: Whereas most of them are small-scale peasant farmers, the overall seasonal production is 1-2 (90Kg) bags of maize. The crop does not do well due to low input use. They plant recycled seeds, do not apply fertilizers (inorganic and organic) against heavy infestation of weeds like striga Spp. The farm sizes are also diminishing by the day (average 1 acre) against large family sizes (average 5 children).

They are equally technologically backward. They lack skills in farming through the various segments in the value chain. Extension workers are few and therefore these farmers are on their own in terms of extension services.

c) Nutritional insecurity: Its noted that there is also nutritional food insecurity, whereby the single meal in the evening includes ‘ugali’ and kales. Ugali is cooked maize flour. This meal comprises of starches and a lot of fibre. That means the families lack proteins and vitamins leading to malnutrition and vitamin deficiency.

d) Water Scarcity: Water is not available readily for domestic use. Infact the women have to trek 2-3km in search of water in dams and streams. The water itself is not portable since it is shared with cattle that also depend on the dams. Portable, tap water is a rare commodity.

e) Poor Health: The area lacks basic health facilities. The nearest facility is a level 3 health centre which is headed by a nurse and which lacks medicines and other basic facilities. This implies that if anyone is sick, they have to be taken to Bondo Hospital, 6km away. If they fall sick in the night then their life is at risk since there may be no vehicle to drop them. Boda Boda(Motor bikes) are main mode of transport especially in the night.

Endemic diseases like malaria are common in the area. Although the Government encourages the use of mosquito nets, the prevalence of malaria is still common. Many families cannot afford anti- malarial drugs and deaths often occur as a result of malaria.

f) Education of the children: Although the Government provides free compulsory education for all, many children find it untenable to remain in school. Girls lack sanitary towels and pants, boys lack pants and uniforms. Its commonplace to find boys with shorts torn and their buttocks exposed since they lack inner wears. Many of them go to school without shoes, they walk bare footed. This poses the risk of infestation by jiggers, which is a common phenomenon among boys.

g) High numbers of widows and orphans. There are many homes headed by women, most of them are widowed. This means the widow is the bread winner and they find it very difficult to fend for the families and also educate the children. Many of these otherwise bright children who are orphans end up dropping out of school due to lack of school fees.

h) HIV and AIDS: The prevalence rates for HIV and AIDS remains high in such communities. Many of the widows may have lost the husbands from the disease yet they continue to be sexually active. In a community where wife inheritance is permitted, this increases multiple infection.

i) Environmental Degradation: Tree planting has not been a regular practice. As a matter of fact, felling of indigenous trees to make charcoal is still a common practice to sell the charcoal and make a living. Furthermore, most families cook using firewood and charcoal so trees are in danger against limited forestation efforts.

j) Poor Housing: Its commonplace to come across grass thatched houses. Where there are iron sheets, the walling is muddy and sometimes at risk of falling down especially during extreme weather conditions (windy and rainy seasons).

k) Lack of income: Given that they do not have an economic activity that would earn them an income, they live below a dollar per day. This means they cannot afford even basics needs for the large families.