Flood Havoc in Kenya Underscores Climate Adaptation Need

The floods in Kenya and across East Africa in April and May this year have caused massive devastation to these countries. The WRI article says that although the government expects heavier rains due to the El Niño phenomenon, the storm’s intensity is much stronger than what it has anticipated and prepared for.

Intense rains and floods have destroyed homes, infrastructure, and properties, claimed many lives, and displaced thousands. The damage and devastation are much worse in those living in informal settlements in the urban areas.

The Kenya Red Cross data shows that the 2024 floods have killed 294 people with 162 people still missing, displaced more than 55 thousand households, destroyed 68 roads, killed more than 11 thousand livestock,  damaged more than 65,000 acres of farmland, and damaged 45 health facilities, and many others. These devastations to the country’s lives, essential services, infrastructure, and livelihoods have resulted in a humanitarian crisis.

The devastation in Kenya shows how climate change can strengthen storms and cause catastrophic outcomes, making the need to bolster climate resilience and rebuild better in Kenya imperative.

Kenya’s vulnerabilities to natural disasters are also opportunities to build resilience

The article points out the factors contributing to Kenya’s vulnerability to extreme natural events, such as deforestation and degradation of its forests, poverty, government failure to implement its development and spatial plans, poor urban planning, informal settlements, and lack of proper garbage collection.

The deforestation of the country’s most important rainforests—the Great Rift Valley and the Aberdare Ranges—causes flash floods. Denuded forest prevents it from absorbing and dispersing heavy rains, resulting in rapid runoff into rivers and dams, which overflow and cause flash floods in urban areas like Nairobi and surrounding areas.

Poverty is also a problem in the country. More than a third of the country’s population is considered poor, and in cities, this figure is even higher, at 60%. Poor residents tend to live in areas most prone to floods and landslides, such as along river banks, informal settlements in cities, and dangerous steep slopes, making them more affected by floods and natural disasters.

While the country does not lack development plans such as conservation in water catchment areas, climate-proofing infrastructure, and introducing early warning systems, the problem is in implementation and slow government response.

Garbage collection is also a severe problem in Kenya’s large cities, including Nairobi. In areas without garbage collection, waste spreads everywhere, even up to its rivers.

For Kenya to build back better after this year’s devastating floods, the article proposes the following actions the country can take:

• It must restore its ecosystem, and applying nature-based solutions like wetland restoration, floodplain reconnection, and building riparian buffers will improve its resilience and mitigate flooding and its impacts. The government needs to implement urban planning and protect its green spaces.
• It must secure adaptation financing from advanced economies and institutions to help rebuild the country’s infrastructure. Improving its climate risk assessments and plans will help the country widen its access to adaptation financing opportunities.
• The country needs to establish and adopt effective early warning systems. Providing timely and accurate information can make a big difference in helping communities prepare and evacuate safely, significantly reducing fatalities and losses.
• The government needs to improve engagement with local communities to raise awareness about flood risk, build capacity for preparedness and response, and empower residents to take proactive measures to protect themselves and their properties.
• Kenya must act now to implement all these recommendations.

A nationwide behavioural change is needed in the country, starting with proper waste disposal practices, curbing corruption and greed, and strictly following building regulations to prevent destruction and fatalities when calamity strikes.

Kenya’s Climate Adaptation Plan

The need for climate adaptation in Kenya is urgent. Over 80% of the population relies on agriculture for their livelihoods, and the industry is susceptible to climate change effects. Kenya finalized its National Adaptation Plan in 2015 and was one of the first NAPs launched in Africa and globally by a developing country.

Kenya’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP 2015-2030) is its first plan for climate adaptation. It outlines the country’s response to climate change challenges and demonstrates its commitment to mainstreaming climate adaptation across all sectors in the national planning, budgeting, and implementation process.

The NAP also gives an overview of the country’s climate vulnerabilities and the current and future climate trends. It also elaborates on institutional arrangements, including monitoring and evaluation processes.

Kenya’s climate trend is influenced by the El Niño Southern Oscillation, which has caused periods of drought and flooding in the country over decades. The El Niño and La Niña episodes have disastrously affected the country’s economy and infrastructure, causing loss of lives and damage to livelihoods, properties, and infrastructure.

Future climate trends based on Global Climate Modelling (GCM) data show that its annual temperature will increase between 0.8 and 1.5°C by 2030, 1.6°C to 2.7°C by 2060, and up to 3°C by 2100. Rainfall variability will also increase, particularly heavy rainfall events, from 2% to 11% by the 2060s and 2% to 12% by 2100.

To achieve the overall goal, the NAP identified the following strategic objectives:

1. Highlight the importance of adaptation and resilience-building actions in development;
2. Integrate climate change adaptation into national and county-level development planning and budgeting processes;
3. Enhance the resilience of public and private sector investment in the national transformation, economic and social and pillars of Vision 2030 to climate shocks;
4. Enhance synergies between climate adaptation and mitigation actions to attain a low carbon climate resilient economy; and,
5. Enhance the resilience of vulnerable populations to climate shocks through adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies.

The proposed actions will be phased in over three time scales – short-term (one to two years), medium-term (three to four years), and long-term (more than six years) – across 20 sectors in the country. These include devolution or decentralising the NAP into the county and local levels, energy, science, technology and innovations, public sector reforms, human resource development, infrastructure, land reforms, education and training, health, environment, and other key sectors. These actions acknowledge that all industries are susceptible to the impacts of climate change, even though the effects may differ across different industries.

You can read the Kenya National Adaptation Plan 2015-2030 by clicking the link in the “Source” section below.