"The biggest challenge we face presently is the openness of our compound. Livestock belonging to neighbours can enter our compound freely. The fence is not well reinforced. This has led to destruction of our crops and vegetables. This has really affected our ability to grow. We have piped water which could have relieved us the burden of buying most of our household items. Having good fencing around our compound could help a lot."

"The main challenge that we face is the biting drought that has greatly impacted our lives. It has been 3 years since we had good rains and because of this it has led to unproductivity in our farms. At the moment I have lost much livestock to the drought due to a lack of water and pasture. This has affected me financially as it is my only source of income. I have two children Brian and Sylvia who are in secondary school and depend on my livestock for their tuition fees. Since some of my livestock died I have not been able to pay for their school fees. The drought has also led to a lack of food in our household since our farms have not produced any crops in the past 3 years and we are forced to go without food sometimes. Life has been difficult for me and my family."

"I have been sheltering in a grass-thatched house for years, during which I had to replace the grass almost every month. My dream was to rebuild my house using more durable iron sheets. I could not afford them but currently, through the monthly transfers, I want to buy at least one iron sheet every month. Having an iron-roofed house will relieve the stress of replacing the roof every time, which is tiresome. My goal is to buy a total of 20 pieces of iron sheets as I continue receiving the transfers."

"The persistent drought has been a challenge. For the past three years, we have never harvested from our farms due to a lack of sufficient rain. As a result, we purchase food for consumption and also for livestock. It is very expensive to raise the money as we depend on livestock keeping to earn a living yet it fetches low prices because of deficiency."

"I have never had peace of mind for the past two years due to debts. Due to the distance, we cover to fetch water, we borrowed $800 from a microfinance bank to purchase a motorbike for transporting it. We have repaid only $200 and raising the full amount has been a challenge for us. My husband is the breadwinner and is employed as a cobbler in a nearby town. His income is unpredictable hence we have not been consistent in repaying the loan."

"Though I have had several goals, I have singled out to pursue a driving course this year. It is a work in progress, and I hope to accomplish it before the year ends. I consider undertaking this course because it will help me acquire skills that can help to secure a job in a transport company. As a result, I will have an opportunity to work and supplement our household's income. Since it is the first course I have taken since completing my primary education, I am looking forward to its completion."

"The challenge I'm faced with at the moment is the lack of food and other basic needs. It has been 3 years since we had enough rain which have led to a lack of food and also livestock deaths. Because of the drought, I have not been able to plant my farm and therefore I don't have food. In addition to this, because of the drought life has become hard and I don't get casual work that I depend on to purchase basic needs. This has made my life difficult since I cannot meet all my needs and sometimes I'm forced to go hungry due to lack of food."

"I face many challenges in my life but the most pressing challenge that I'm faced with is the drought. Our village has not experienced heavy rains for the past 2 years which has led to a lack of water and grass for our livestock. This has forced me to go a whole day looking for leaves for the livestock to eat which has made life very difficult. I sometimes have to go hungry because of the lack of food since we've not had productivity on our farms for a long time."

"Every day presents its challenge and we are faced with them almost on daily basis. Mostly we are faced with the scary and insurmountable challenge of food insecurity, it is a struggle to survive in our area since it is arid. The scorching sun and the prolonged drought had ravaged almost the entire vegetation and made a life here to be unbearable. We have had a successive 3 years of failed rains and therefore we had not been able to harvest the millet and sorghum that we depend on. This has made us food insecure and we are forced to buy foodstuffs at high prices which sometimes is unaffordable. This is happening at a time when the high cost of living has shot up, we are between a rock and a hard surface, and there is nowhere to turn to."

"We are a family 9 and we depend solely on charcoal burning to survive. It is a hard task to access the market because we live in an interior part of Marigat where the transport network is poor and so sometimes we sell at a throwaway price just to get a little money to purchase food. Food insecurity has been so severe due to prolonged drought that ravaged the vegetation and affected the productivity of our livestock. The situation has been further worsened by the ever-increasing cost of living that has made life unbearable. We struggle so hard to afford a Kg of maize flour that retails at $0.9 up from $0.4 which is double the initial price."