Empowering pastoralists in Kenya - The 5th DIVA Donate campaign
By Wladimir Weinbender & Benson Njuguna at
We are excited to announce the 5th iteration of the DIVA Donate campaign focused on using web3 technology in delivering anticipatory cash transfers to pastoral communities in Kenya ahead of drought.
We are particularly thrilled to share that this coming season's campaign will take place in partnership with Ripple and will utilize Ripple's new stablecoin, RLUSD, on Ethereum as the payout token, demonstrating its applicability in humanitarian aid and disaster relief. The collaboration with Ripple is a testament to the value of our work and the community's trust in our mission to become the most effective and efficient platform for disaster relief, powered by blockchain technology. We are deeply honored and incredibly grateful for this support! 🙏
Beyond Ripple's contribution, approximately $12,000 in unreleased funds from previous campaigns - sponsored by Mercy Corps Ventures (MCV) and Arbitrum will be rolled into this new campaign, further amplifying the impact.
In this blog post, we will explore the details of the new campaign.
✨ About the campaign
In our 5th campaign, we remain dedicated to providing anticipatory cash transfers to pastoral communities in Kenya which are disproportionately affected by climate-change-induced drought.
Context
Pastoral communities in Kenya live a nomadic lifestyle, grazing animals on open-access pastures and migrating with them in response to seasonal variations. Livestock and livestock products serve as their primary sources of income and food.
However, changing weather patterns induced by climate change are threatening the livelihoods of these communities. Over the past decade, Kenya has experienced severe droughts which have decimated the pastoralists' livestock and put the pastoral communities at risk of starvation.
Kenya's climate naturally fluctuates between rainy and dry seasons. Rainfall during the rainy season stimulates vegetation growth, which provides necessary pasture for livestock in the coming dry season. Sufficient vegetation and fodder at the end of the rainy season are crucial for sustaining livestock and, by extension, the livelihoods of pastoral communities throughout the subsequent dry season.
The long rains season begins in mid-March and lasts until May/June, followed by a predominantly dry period until October, during which vegetation levels gradually decline. The short rains arrive in mid-October and continue through November and December, leading into a hot, typically rainless dry season lasting until March. The start and end of the rainy seasons may experience slight variations of two to three weeks.
The different seasonal phases and the average vegetation conditions during those phases are illustrated below (green indicating improved vegetation during rainy seasons and orange indicating declining vegetation during dry seasons):
Figure 1: Seasonal calendar for Laikipia. Source: NDMA Reports
Campaign goal
The campaign's objective is to assess vegetation conditions using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) end of May 2025, where the NDVI typically peaks (see section on payoff profile calibration below), and disburse funds to participating pastoralists if the NDVI at the end of this period suggests insufficient vegetation to support livestock during the subsequent dry season.
Compared to our previous campaigns and thanks to Ripple's support, we increased our fundraising target to $40,000, which will provide drought relief of $75 to 533 pastoralists residing in the northern part of the Kenyan County Laikipia in the event of drought, sufficient to sustain one livestock for six months.
The location of the Laikipia County is highlighted in below map:
Figure 2: Kenya map. Source: NDMA Reports
Laikipia County has diverse climatic zones due to its varying altitude and topography. The northern region is predominantly arid and semi-arid, with low rainfall and frequent droughts, and is mainly used for pastoralism and wildlife conservation. In contrast, the central and southern parts transition into more fertile highlands with higher rainfall, cooler temperatures, and richer vegetation, supporting agriculture and livestock farming.
Figure 3: Laikipia climatic zones. Source: Second County Integrated Development Plan 2018 - 2022
How it works
- The DIVA Donate team established a blockchain-based programmatic escrow, defining immutable triggers and payout conditions (see payoff calibration section below), including the drought indicator metric (NDVI in our case), expiration, and payoff profile, all transparently recorded and verifiable on the blockchain.
- Donors deposit RLUSD into the escrow, committing to the pre-defined payout conditions.
- Once the campaign expires, an oracle reports the NDVI value as of 31 May 2025:
- If the NDVI indicates drought conditions, the payout is automatically released to beneficiaries.
- If drought conditions are not met, participants can withdraw their funds and roll them into future campaigns.
The possibility to claim back unreleased funds and amplify the impact by redeploying them into future campaigns is one of the key features of the DIVA Donate platform. To illustrate, of the $20'000 initially deposited during the MCV pilot in Q4 2023, $8'400 remained unreleased. These funds have since been redeployed in multiple campaigns, including Mar-May 2024, Oct-Dec 2024, and Mar-May 2025, providing free drought insurance for pastoralists for four seasons.
🧑🎓 Calibrating the donation release profile
We continue to rely on FEWS NDVI data as our trigger metric due to its resilience against cloud coverage and atmospheric contamination. Its public availability also allows for transparent verification by all stakeholders.
Our methodology to determine NDVI-based payout conditions remains consistent with previous campaigns. Specifically, we analyzed historical NDVI values at the end of May, marking the end of the long rain season, and correlated them with on-ground assessments from the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) reports for the first two months of the subsequent dry season. A detailed analysis for the target region is provided below.
Laikipia North
Historical NDVI trends
Examining 13 years of historical NDVI data (2012-2024) reveals the seasonality pattern mentioned earlier: an increase of vegetation during the long rain season (March-May), with a peak at the end of May, followed by a decline over the subsequent months.
Figure 4: Historical eVIIRS NDVI data for Laikipia North. Source: FEWS
The chart below illustrates the distribution of NDVI values on May 31 over the years:
Figure 5: NDVI on 31 May for the years 2012-2024 for Laikipia North.
Historically, the NDVI levels on 31 May in Laikipia North ranged between 0.41 in 2022, and 0.75 in 2024, with an average NDVI value of 0.61.
On-ground drought assessment reports
To assess which NDVI levels are associated with drought stress in the subsequent dry period, we examined the NDMA reports for June and July for the years with the six lowest recorded NDVI years: 2014, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
The vegetation health map for Laikipia North suggests that in 2014, 2017, 2021, and 2022, the region has experienced prolonged drought stress, characterized by moderate to severe drought conditions lasting at least four months after the onset of the dry period in June. In 2019, moderate drought stress was observed only in June, with conditions normalizing in the following months. In 2023, normal vegetation appeared normal in June and July, but deteriorated between August and October.
Figure 6: The VCI measures the average NDVI over a 3-month period, mapping the current vegetation health to its historical range, expressed as a percentage from 0% to 100%. Lower VCI values indicate that vegetation health is near the historical minimum, whereas higher values indicate levels closer to the historical maximum. More specifically, VCI values below 20% mark severe drought conditions (highlighted by a red box), values between 20% and 35% indicate moderate drought (highlighted by a yellow box), and values above 35% reflect normal to optimal vegetation conditions (highlighted by a green box). The presence of yellow or red boxes during the dry season months June, July, August, and September, suggests insufficient vegetation build-up during the preceding rainy season. Vegetation map, see Figure 5 for details. Source: NDMA Report Laikipia, December 2023
The analysis provided in the monthly reports paints a clearer picture on the ground:
| Year | NDVI | Drought conditions | Source reports |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.41 | Severe drought conditions; severe vegetation deficit; pasture condition is poor and completely depleted in pastoral livelihood zones of Laikipia North; the body condition of livestock is well below normal. | June 2022 July 2022 |
| 2017 | 0.48 | Vegetation conditions are way below normal, pasture conditions are poor due to rain deficit during the long rain season and overgrazing; below normal body condition of livestock. | June 2017 July 2017 |
| 2014 | 0.51 | Pasture situation in pastoral zones is significantly below normal due to poor rain performance; body condition of livestock is fair but deteriorating. | May 2019; no reports were available for June and July |
| 2019 | 0.52 | The long rains started late (by a month), resulting in below-normal vegetation and poor pasture in May; livestock body conditions are borderline stressed to moderate. | June 2014 July 2014 |
| 2021 | 0.57 | Vegetation conditions and pasture conditions below normal range and deteriorating in pastoral zones, attributed to below normal precipitation levels; body condition of livestock was fair but showing signs of stress. | June 2021 July 2021 |
| 2023 | 0.60 | Normal vegetation and pasture conditions. | June 2023 July 2023 |
These findings indicate that NDVI values of 0.52 or lower are associated with increased drought stress, while values at or above 0.60 indicate normal vegetation and pasture conditions. Since on-ground data is unavailable for NDVI values between 0.52 (2019) and 0.57 (2021), it is reasonable to infer that values at or below 0.55 (approximately the midpoint) are also likely associated with drought stress. Further, using the long-term average of 0.61 as the level indicating normal vegetation conditions provides a buffer to account for variability.
Donation release profile
Based on the on-ground drought assessments, the donation release profile for Laikipia is structured as follows:
| NDVI range | Payout description |
|---|---|
| NDVI ≤ 0.55 | 100% payout to beneficiaries (observed in 2014, 2017, 2019, and 2022) |
| NDVI ≥ 0.61 | 0% payout (observed in 2015 and 2016, for instance) |
| NDVI between 0.55 and 0.61 | Linear payout scale, ensuring a gradual increase in payouts with increasing drought stress; in 2021 (NDVI: 0.57), 67% of the contributed funds would have been disbursed to pastoralists. |
The payout profile is depicted below (Note: For technical reasons, the NDVI value is shifted by +1 for final calculations):
Figure 7: Donation release profile for Laikipia North.
💡 How to participate
Participating in the campaign is simple if you have a browser wallet funded with RLUSD on Ethereum. Just visit divadonate.xyz, connect your wallet, enter the amount you wish to contribute, click "Deposit" and confirm the transaction in your wallet.
Note that you may be asked to "Approve" the transfer first in order to grant DIVA Protocol, the smart contract powering DIVA Donate, the permission to move RLUSD on your behalf. For a step-by-step guide, you can check out the video tutorial produced for a previous campaign (make sure to select the "Pastoralists Mar-May 2025" campaign, connect your wallet to Ethereum and have RLUSD in your wallet).
For those new to crypto, there is a one-time setup process to go through to set up a wallet and convert your local fiat currency into cryptocurrency. Refer to our FAQs for more guidance. If you need support, head over to the diva-donate channel in our Discord and ask your questions.
🏆 Rewards
Consistent with previous campaigns, participants will receive a digital certificate (POAP) to commemorate their contribution. Donations of $75 or more will receive the golden-ring POAP. Smaller contributions will be rewarded with the silver POAP.
🔢 DIVA Donate Statistics
Below provides the since inception statistics of the DIVA Donate initiative (excluding the new campaign):
- Number campaigns: 4
- Contributed: $46'510
- Donated: $11'744 (25%, meaning that every dollar contributed provided drought relief coverage for four seasons on average)
Now also available in our docs.
💎 Join the cause
The DIVA Donate team is actively seeking partners who share our vision of harnessing blockchain technology to provide effective support to vulnerable communities affected by climate change. Given the versatile nature of DIVA Protocol, the smart contract-based infrastructure powering DIVA Donate, the donation payout can be linked to virtually any metric and adapted to many different use cases. If you represent a charity or NGO passionate about this concept, reach out and join forces to provide more efficient and effective support to those in need.
🌔 Conclusion
The 5th campaign emphasizes our continued commitment to mitigate the impact of climate change on pastoralist communities in Kenya. We are grateful for the continued support of our donors and partners and look forward to making a meaningful difference in the lives of those we serve. Together, we can continue to empower communities and foster resilience against the challenges posed by climate change.
🍀 About DIVA Donate
DIVA Donate is an innovative platform that leverages blockchain technology to enable parametric conditional donations for disaster relief. It is a joint initiative between two entities united around the mission of empowering vulnerable communities affected by climate change:
- Fortune Connect: A digital resilience provider specifically targeting microfinance customers in Kenya which provides economic and climate resilience ecosystem digitally driven solutions that have reached 50k+ customers including small-holder farmers and pastoralists.
- DIVA Technologies AG: Developer of DIVA Protocol, a smart contract-based system for creating and managing custom derivative contracts peer-to-peer.