Anticipatory Action Expert (Consultant) – Karamoja Strong Programme

Engagement type: Independent consultancy
Assignment period: Late November 2026 to 31 December 2027
Level of effort: Up to 40 days: 5 days in late November–December 2026 and up to 35 days in 2027, including about 20 field days (see the breakdown under Deliverables). More intensive around each PSP round.
Location: Based in Kenya, with travel to Lodwar, Lokiriama (Turkana), Alale (West Pokot) and Moroto (Uganda).
Field travel: February community validation workshops (about 3–4 days) and two PSP rounds (about 8–9 days each), following Samuel Hall's field and security procedures
Reporting to: Deputy Project Director, with technical guidance from the Project Director
Core focus: PSP/ITK forums and community advisories, anticipatory action input to learning, and engagement with meteorological services
Reporting requirement: Monthly invoice with timesheet, agreed monthly deliverables and a short progress update

About Samuel Hall and Karamoja Strong

Samuel Hall is a social enterprise that conducts research, evaluates programmes and designs policies in contexts of migration and displacement, with offices in Nairobi and across East Africa.

The Karamoja Strong Programme is a three-year, Danida-funded consortium (2025–2027) led by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) with APaD, African Women Rising and Samuel Hall. It builds community resilience to climate- and conflict-related shocks in the Kenya–Uganda borderlands of Turkana, West Pokot and Karamoja.

Samuel Hall leads the programme's research and learning, and co-leads cross-border climate policy engagement with DRC. This includes participatory scenario planning forums that bring together indigenous traditional knowledge (ITK) and seasonal forecasts to produce community advisories ahead of each rainy season.

What the work builds on

Two PSP/ITK rounds were held in 2026 (March and September) in Lokiriama, Alale and Moroto, each producing three community advisories.

• Process: elders' and seers' ITK is combined with seasonal forecasts from KMSA, county meteorological services and Uganda's meteorological services. Sector groups chaired by government technical officers turn these into an integrated climate and conflict advisory with a "who does what" action plan.
• Why it works: where ITK and science agree, communities trust the advisory more, and ITK adds a conflict lens that scientific forecasts lack.
• Dissemination: Caritas Lodwar (Kenya) and Karamoja Herders of the Horn (Uganda), with government departments, share advisories through local FM radio, barazas, places of worship, market days, WhatsApp/SMS and the KALRO KAOP app.
• To strengthen in 2027: women's participation in the forums, and tracking how far advisories reach and who acts on them.
• Policy context: Samuel Hall's 2026 review of climate adaptation governance (about 70 documents, 20 key informant interviews) found that the main gap is turning forecasts into action, which PSP helps bridge. Kenya's Meteorology Act 2026 requires KMSA to integrate indigenous knowledge with modern science in forecasting.

Purpose

The consultant will be Samuel Hall's technical lead on anticipatory action and PSP/ITK in the programme's final year. They will make sure each forum produces timely, usable community advisories, and that the programme builds evidence on whether advisories are taken up, what stops communities and institutions from acting early, and what this means for policy and institutional engagement.

Scope of work

A. Participatory scenario planning (PSP/ITK) forums

• Co-design two PSP/ITK rounds with DRC and partners (indicatively March and September 2027, ahead of each rainy season), including timing, sites, participants and a target for women's participation.
• Co-facilitate forums in Lokiriama (Turkana), Alale (West Pokot) and Moroto (Uganda) with county and district governments, meteorological services, CBOs, elders, women and youth. Each round is about 8–9 field days.
• Bring together elders' ITK forecasts and seasonal forecasts from the Kenya Meteorological Service Authority (KMSA) and Uganda's meteorological services.
• Draft the three community advisories for each round immediately after the forums, with clear guidance on who does what.
• Collect and analyse evidence of advisory uptake after each round: who received the advisories, through which channels (partners, local radio, barazas, market days, digital), what households, groups and institutions did as a result, and with what results, by gender and location. Lead joint partner debriefs after each round.

B. Anticipatory action technical support

• Provide the anticipatory action lens to the programme's learning: the early warning and action findings of the Outcome and Learning Assessment, quarterly learning reports and consortium learning sessions. This includes analysing barriers to anticipatory action (timing and format of forecasts, trust, access for women and youth, resources to act, mobility and conflict) and drawing lessons for policy and institutional engagement with county and district governments, meteorological services and cross-border structures.
• If confirmed with DRC and agreed as additional days: support the design of a mechanism that links indigenous knowledge with scientific forecasting.
• Support engagement with KMSA and Uganda's meteorological services on embedding PSP in forecasting, in line with Kenya's Meteorology Act 2026.
• Facilitate the Outcome and Learning Assessment community validation workshops in Kenya and Uganda (January 2027) as the research person in the field, with materials prepared by the learning team. Other inputs to learning products are short written contributions and comments.
• Attend quarterly cross-border climate coordination meetings to present forum findings.

C. Communications and dissemination

• Provide technical input to a video story on early warning and anticipatory action, and to a webinar on PSP and anticipatory action learning.

D. Initial assignment (late November – December 2026, 5 days)

• Review the early warning and action findings of the 2026 Outcome and Learning Assessment and contribute to the report.
• Review how the September 2026 advisories were shared and used during the short rains.
• Prepare the joint partner debrief and the design of the March 2027 PSP round.

Management and working arrangements

• Reports to the Deputy Project Director, with technical guidance from the Project Director.
• Works closely with the Project Coordinator, the data and learning lead, the operations team, who handle field logistics and travel to each forum, and the Communications Coordinator.
• Works alongside DRC's programme and anticipatory action teams and implementing partners, including Caritas Lodwar and Karamoja Herders of the Horn.
• Submits a short monthly workplan and progress update, and flags risks or changes to timelines early.
• Follows Samuel Hall's safeguarding, consent and data protection procedures, and the programme's approval process for external products.

Profile and requirements

Essential

Master's degree in climate science, disaster risk reduction, meteorology, environmental science, development studies or a related field.

• At least 5 years' experience in anticipatory action, early warning–early action, disaster risk reduction or climate services, ideally in arid and semi-arid lands or pastoralist settings.
• Hands-on experience facilitating participatory scenario planning and producing community advisories.
• Experience bringing together indigenous knowledge and scientific forecasts, and working with county governments and meteorological services.
• Proven gender-responsive and conflict-sensitive facilitation with diverse groups (elders, women, youth and government officials), including creating space for women and youth to contribute in mixed forums.
• Strong qualitative analysis and clear, concise writing in English: advisories, analytical briefs and short notes.
• Willing and able to travel regularly to remote areas of Turkana, West Pokot and Karamoja.
• Fluent English and Kiswahili.

Desirable

• Knowledge of Turkana, Pokot or Ngakarimojong.
• Experience with cross-border programming between Kenya and Uganda.
• Familiarity with anticipatory action frameworks: triggers, anticipatory action plans, forecast-based financing and cash.
• Experience with outcome harvesting or other methods for tracking uptake and contribution.
• Basic GIS or remote-sensing skills.
• Experience working in INGO-led consortia and contributing to learning or MEAL products.

How to apply

Please visit our career portal ⁠https://samuelhall.zohorecruit.com to submit your application. Your application should include:

• A CV (maximum 3 pages).
• A cover letter (maximum 2 pages) describing your anticipatory action and PSP experience and your availability from late November 2026.
• One writing sample, such as a community advisory, brief or short report.
• Two professional references.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Samuel Hall is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to safeguarding; all candidates are subject to reference and background checks.