By Matilda Atieno
To tackle climate change Kisumu County has started its urgent and ambitious climate actions committed to supporting mitigation and adaptation efforts towards scaling up development through financing climate resilience investments funded through the county revenue fund.
Currently, Kisumu is showing promising progress as the county government increasingly accounts for climate risk investment operations as communities’ devise plans to build back better, after disasters hit. Practical solutions are underway to help communities with more systematically designed adaptation actions to the impacts of climate change making them better at improving resilience.
In Nyando Sub-County for instance, community participation in climate-resilient investment to address disaster risk in collaboration with the county government is underway. Due to the community’s acknowledgment of climate impacts, the expansion of SISO intake for the rice irrigation scheme kicked off as Smallholder farmers and adjacent communities stand to benefit from the expansion efforts set to build farmers’ resilience.
The targeted adaptation interventions are essential in reducing future adaptation investment needs especially the most vulnerable communities and people.
A successful adaptation and resilience requires a community and government approach to ensure stronger regulations, especially for land use and new infrastructure as emphasized in the Kisumu County Climate Change Adaptation Policy Framework that draws attention to the principle of community-led adaptation and the centrality of locally relevant and appropriate climate adaptation measures. The frameworks also prioritize initiatives that focus on promoting climate-resilient agriculture, supporting community-led conservation efforts, establishing early warning systems to mitigate impacts such as floods, droughts and pest infestations, and strengthening disaster management measures.
The on going expansion of SISO intake is one of the investments that upholds evidence in action set to build community resilience in the county. Nyando is one of the most vulnerable Sub Counties to the impact of climate change and has been a forerunner in climate change adaptation and disaster risk preparedness.
To enhance coordination, the County Directorate of Climate Change established the Ward Climate Change Committee as a community-led platform put in place to monitor the implementation progress of the county climate-resilient investments, provide guidance on and solutions to the problems for implementing strategies and consider implementation of decisions taken during the community visioning and planning exercise.
