The Significance of Grassroot Actions In The Wake Of Climate Change in Kenya.

Kenya and indeed Africa is grappling with the effects of climate change. From drying rivers threatening the overly relied upon hydropower generation, drought spanning over 3 years, poor agricultural yields are evident from the inconsistent weather patterns.

The natural resources are largely constrained in the wake of a climate disaster. In the last streak of drought that affected the country for 3 years, there was existential threat to human livelihood stemming from constrained natural resources and production.

It is estimated that the pastoralist community lost animals worth 173m. According to the North Eastern Development Initiative-NEDI, compensations worth 173m were paid out to pastoralists communities along the Northern Eastern region as part of their initiative towards sustainable development by improving equity and reduce poverty in the region by investing in infrastructure and supporting sustainable livelihoods.

But it does not end there....

Barely had this compensation been made , than the blue economy was yet again subjected to an imminent loss. Fishermen in the Lake Victoria region suffered millions of losses in terms of investments when they fish suffocated owing to the changing aquatic environment in the Lake Victoria region.

In the Central Region in Kenya, farmers who largely rely on subsistence farming barely harvested. When the drought struck, crop production was greatly affected reducing agricultural yields, adding immense pressure on consumer spending and alternative importation of grains.

Climate Change has exterted pressure on biodiversity seeing that locusts and other invasive insects leaving their habitats and causing immense damage to crops leading to huge losses to farmers.

“They came like dust, wind, and fire in April last year,” says Surora. “They ate all the grass that is pasture for our livestock and when the grass got finished, they ate all leaves on trees. We depend on meat for food, so that was food lost. In this area there is not enough rainfall to sustain farming.”.

The spread of COVID-19 since 2020 has led to a delay in the supply of farm inputs to her area. With late planting, she says, the little rain there was did not help her crops.

“I sold my cows and sheep to embrace farming using drip irrigation. I did not want them to die from drought.”

”The droughts destroyed my food crops. I had planted maize, beans, sweet potatoes and tomatoes but all were destroyed by prolonged drought,” Says Surora.

Climate change has had a significant impact on Kenya's economy, which is highly dependent on agriculture and tourism. Kenya is also highly exposed to natural hazards, including: Floods, Droughts, increased rainfall intensity along the coastline, Sea level rise, and Loss of glacial volume.

Here are important statistics on the loss resulting from climate change in Kenya.

• Economic losses: Climate hazards have caused an estimated 3% loss of Kenya's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).?
• Drought damage: A drought from 2008 to 2011 caused an estimated $12.1 billion in damage.?
• Food insecurity: Droughts from 2014 to 2022 affected approximately 3.4 million people.?
• Loss of livestock: Kenya has lost 2.5 million head of livestock.?
• Loss of elephants: Between February and October 2022, 205 elephants perished because of drought.?

In the updated National Determined Contributions, Kenya has lost 3-5 % of the GDP annually from 2010 to 2020 due to adverse climatic change. Some of the exposure areas or vulnerable include 80% Arid or Semi-Arid Land, poor infrastructure and development related challenges such as technological innovation output, private sector participation in government policy making and community engagement.

In 2023, Kenya made a huge milestones with the signing in of the National Climate Change Action Plan. In this plan, the private sector is invited to incentivise and develop innovations, inventions geared towards climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The National Climate Change Action Plan seeks to:

• Reduce risks to communities and infrastructure resulting from climate-related disasters such as droughts and floods.
• Increase food and nutrition security through enhanced productivity and resilience of the agricultural sector in as low- carbon manner as possible,
• Enhance resilience of the Blue Economy and water sector by ensuring access to and efficient use of water for agriculture, manufacturing, domestic, wildlife and other uses,
• Increase forest cover to 10% of total land area; rehabilitate degraded lands, including rangelands; increase resilience of the wildlife and tourism sector,
• Mainstream climate change adaptation into the health sector; and increase the resilience of human settlements, including improved solid waste management in urban areas,
• Improve energy and resource efficiency in the manufacturing sector.
• Climate-proof energy and transport infrastructure; encourage electricity supply based on renewable energy; encourage the transition to clean cooking; and develop sustainable transport systems.

At LEAVE A SMILE ,we are committed towards transforming communities that support human endeavor. In the wake of climate disaster, our team consciously engages the stakeholders , the local communities in a way that supports the existing guidelines and policy. In doing so, we align with the sustainable development goals , embracing local solutions and community participation by harnessing the power of community actions and the indigenous knowledge.

Visit our website today and interact with us. We are open to collaboration within the scope defined by our vision and mission.

https://www.leavesmiles.org/