Three Kenyan Climate Change Fellowship recipients from the CCAA-START programme attended a recent AfricaAdapt Meet and Greet in Nairobi. They told us about the research that they have been conducting on adaptation to climate change.
Dr. Ayub Macharia of The National Environmental Management Authority in Kenya
This project seeks to shed light on pastoralists' vulnerability and coping strategies with respect to climate change in Turkana and Mandera districts, Northern Kenya.
About 13% of Kenya's 30 million people are pastoralists, herding their livestock in the arid and semi-arid lands that constitute about 75% of the country's land mass. These areas are prone to rainfall variability and extreme drought. This project seeks to shed light on pastoralists' vulnerability and coping strategies with respect to climate change in Turkana and Mandera districts, Northern Kenya. Researchers will examine indigenous technologies, best practices and existing institutional arrangements for adapting to climate change. Policies to date have tried to restrict herd movement and settle pastoralists, but with limited access to critical resources. In a changing climate with increased drought, herd movement will become even more important as an adaptation strategy. The project will seek practices that improve herd movement, such as livestock corridors, while securing pastoralists' right to water and forage.
Dr Andrew Githeko, of the Kenya Medical Research Institute, talks about his work transferring an epidemic prediction model to western Kenya in relation to the influence of climate change and the spread of malaria.
