AltaVerde Consulting project with IUCN in Kenyan Drylands
AltaVerde Consulting is honored to have worked with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on a proposal to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for drought management work in Kenya. Critical issues facing the pastoralist communities of Kenya’s arid lands include how communities could adapt to persistent drought events, how rangelands could be restored, and how livestock management and value chains may need to be modified in response to climate change impacts.
AV acted as the editor, co-author, and co-workshop facilitator of the proposal, working closely with IUCN’s East Africa office in Nairobi, and alongside key Kenyan government agencies and consultants.
Kenya has experienced severe droughts for about half of the 51 years from 1960 to 2011. Dryland pastoralism needs to find ways to become more resilience to climate change impacts being felt in Kenya’s 23 arid and semi-arid counties. To achieve national goals and the completion of Kenya Vision 2030, stronger policies and capacity for drought management is essential.
Climate-driven higher variability rainfall and drought are huge concerns across the drylands of Kenya, along with 19 other Sub-Saharan African countries that also contend with drought. In Kenya, drylands cover 89 percent of the country, and host 36 percent of the country’s population, 90 percent of the large animals that drive international tourism to Kenya, and 70 percent of the national livestock herd. In arid areas, livestock contributions account for 80 percent of the household incomes, while in semi-arid lands in Kenya, livestock contributions account for 65 percent of household incomes.
Drought emergencies currently reduce economic growth in Kenya by an estimated 2.8 percent per year, and 72 percent of the economic losses from drought events are concentrated in the livestock sector. A climate-resilient model of rangeland management in pastoral areas, along with market development across the country, is urgently needed.
Pastoralist communities need to build their capacity to react to and manage climate-driven drought events. They could consider, for example, landscape restoration, alternative livestock management best practices, more-inclusive community governance arrangements, and developing markets for livestock products, among other potential interventions.