This labor market assessment (LMA) explores the existing and potential economic opportunities in the Mandera cluster. Within this context, the LMA reviews the main labor and wage employment sectors across the cluster, identifies the key sectors of growth and potential, the available skills and skills in demand by the labor market, and the formal and informal barriers in the labor market, participation for various groups of people (especially women, youth and traditionally marginalized groups). Further, the LMA analyses of the major value chains and the potential for private sector development in the Mandera cluster.

While agro-pastoralism continues to be the dominant labor sector among the cross-border communities in the Mandera cluster, the impacts of climate change have placed considerable constraints on this source of livelihood. Hence, there are recent shifts towards other forms of labor and wage employment in the cluster (such as agriculture, small-scale businesses, formal employment, etc), albeit with considerable levels of gender disparities, skills mismatch and lack of adequate opportunities (inn business, self-employment, etc). These are some of the issues that the CBCR Activity will have to deal with in the Mandera cluster, in addition to low levels of development in the value chains and the cooperative sector.