Kenya targets climate change with grassroot funds
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Nairobi — Exposed to both drought and flash floods, Makueni was one of the first counties in Kenya to set up its own fund to help small-scale farmers cope with worsening climate change impacts, and dedicate local resources to tackling the problem.
Inhabitants of this water-scarce region southeast of Nairobi have often faced hunger during long dry periods, while heavy rains inundate its low-lying savannah with little notice.
Sometimes the two extremes hit the county at the same time.
“We had to think of a quick, locally led solution for our people,” said Mary Mbenge, Makueni’s chief officer for natural resources, environment and climate change.
That led to the establishment of the Makueni County Climate Change Fund in 2015, with Makueni among the first five Kenyan counties to pass the legislation needed to create such a fund.
Those five are now up and running, and the model is being scaled up to seven other agricultural counties, including Kisumu, Nandi, Kisii, Kakamega and Narok.
Some, including Makueni, are seeking to work with national and international agencies to tap into global sources of climate finance, such as the Green Climate Fund, to expand local projects.
Mbenge stressed that donors would only be interested “if you have already shown some initiative in utilising climate change money to implement some investments on the ground”.
About 1% of Makueni County’s development budget is earmarked for measures to tackle the effects of a warming climate. That spending is channelled through the local climate fund, averaging about 60-million Kenyan shillings ($554,000) a year.
The fund has a strong focus on community-run projects to improve water supplies for arable and livestock farmers, boosting their incomes and making them more resilient to an increasingly harsh climate.
Some, for example, are breeding fish in earth dams built to capture and store rainfall in the barren landscape.
Sowing seeds
Other activities include providing climate information and advice on how to plant suitable crops and fruit trees, as well as giving warning of anticipated flooding.
More than 95% of farmers working with the fund have planted trees such as mango, orange and avocado, which encouraged a fruit-juice factory to move into the area.
“Our young people are making good use of this water by way of starting tree seedling projects, which earn some cash for them,” said Robert Ndetu, youth co-ordinator for the climate fund’s planning committee.
Decisions about which projects to ...
Inhabitants of this water-scarce region southeast of Nairobi have often faced hunger during long dry periods, while heavy rains inundate its low-lying savannah with little notice.
Sometimes the two extremes hit the county at the same time.
“We had to think of a quick, locally led solution for our people,” said Mary Mbenge, Makueni’s chief officer for natural resources, environment and climate change.
That led to the establishment of the Makueni County Climate Change Fund in 2015, with Makueni among the first five Kenyan counties to pass the legislation needed to create such a fund.
Those five are now up and running, and the model is being scaled up to seven other agricultural counties, including Kisumu, Nandi, Kisii, Kakamega and Narok.
Some, including Makueni, are seeking to work with national and international agencies to tap into global sources of climate finance, such as the Green Climate Fund, to expand local projects.
Mbenge stressed that donors would only be interested “if you have already shown some initiative in utilising climate change money to implement some investments on the ground”.
About 1% of Makueni County’s development budget is earmarked for measures to tackle the effects of a warming climate. That spending is channelled through the local climate fund, averaging about 60-million Kenyan shillings ($554,000) a year.
The fund has a strong focus on community-run projects to improve water supplies for arable and livestock farmers, boosting their incomes and making them more resilient to an increasingly harsh climate.
Some, for example, are breeding fish in earth dams built to capture and store rainfall in the barren landscape.
Sowing seeds
Other activities include providing climate information and advice on how to plant suitable crops and fruit trees, as well as giving warning of anticipated flooding.
More than 95% of farmers working with the fund have planted trees such as mango, orange and avocado, which encouraged a fruit-juice factory to move into the area.
“Our young people are making good use of this water by way of starting tree seedling projects, which earn some cash for them,” said Robert Ndetu, youth co-ordinator for the climate fund’s planning committee.
Decisions about which projects to ...