This blog is part of a series of country spotlights as the world gears up for the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28). USAID has a portfolio of climate change programs, partnerships, and expertise in more than 45 countries around the world. Here, Climatelinks is putting a spotlight on Kenya.
Climate change presents a challenge for reaching Kenya’s sustainable development goals. The country’s economy is largely dependent on rainfed agriculture and tourism, which are both susceptible to climate variability and change. Severe weather events like increasing heat and recurrent droughts contribute to severe crop and livestock losses, leading to famine, displacement, and other threats to human health and well-being. At the same time, sea level rise threatens Kenya’s predominantly low-lying coastline and surrounding islands, impacting the fisheries sector and storm surge protection efforts.
Kenya was one of the first countries in Africa to enact a comprehensive law and policy to guide national and subnational climate action, with several policies now in place to guide the country’s low-carbon and climate resilient development. Kenya’s climate and development priorities include adaptation, reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, afforestation and reforestation, landscape restoration, climate-smart agriculture, geothermal and clean energy development, energy efficiency, and drought and flood risk management. USAID supports these priorities through programs and partnerships that address climate adaptation and resilience building, renewable energy, and natural climate solutions. USAID also has supported the development of the Government of Kenya’s key climate action policy documents.
Climatelinks’ Kenya Resources
Climatelinks houses over 250 reports, blog posts, and photos related to Kenya, including a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Fact Sheet and Climate Risk Profile.
How Improved Sanitation Can Mitigate Climate Change
When considering urban sources of GHG emissions, sanitation is not usually the first sector that comes to mind. USAID’s Mission in Kenya was one of the first Missions to make the connection between sanitation and climate change, and has since been working to mitigate methane emissions. The Mission is working with three Kenyan private sector partners to expand safe fecal sludge management.
Pilot of Food Loss and Waste Value Chain Selection Guide in Kenya
The Fresh Produce Consortium of Kenya was the first organization to pilot the ‘Food Loss and Waste Value Chain Selection Guide’ for two weeks in January 2022, with technical support from Agribusiness Associates Inc. The guide was developed in 2020 with technical support from USDA and funding from USAID to help various agriculture stakeholders select value chains to work in based on the greatest potential to reduce food loss and waste.
A Bright Spot in Meeting Water Needs: Using Solar to Scale for Success in Northern Kenya
The USAID Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Finance activity supported water service providers in Northern Kenya to meet critical needs and build climate resilience at scale. These efforts can help meet human, economic, and ecosystem needs while also providing hope for addressing climate change.
Key Climate Indicators
Resources listed below summarize existing information from Climatelinks’ Kenya Country Page on climate change impacts, greenhouse gas emissions, and USAID climate and development programs in Kenya.
Vulnerability is the measure of a country's exposure, sensitivity, and capacity to adapt to the negative effects of climate change. A lower vulnerability score means higher vulnerability. Findings from the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) rated Kenya’s vulnerability as medium overall, but areas of its food, health, and human habitat sectors are much more vulnerable and therefore require urgent action. For example, the country’s agriculture capacity scored worst (meaning extremely vulnerable) within the food sector, the medical staff score was worst within the health sector, and paved roads scored worst within the human habitat sector.
Kenya’s GHG emissions growth from 2015-2019 was 5.63 percent, according to the World Resources Institute’s CAIT Climate Data Explorer. This represents the annual growth in GHG emissions across all sectors, including land use.
According to the Global Forest Watch, the average annual emissions of CO2 from deforestation in Kenya was -1.71 percent between 2017-2021–demonstrating the country’s progress in its efforts to remove carbon.
Ariel Schindler
Ariel Schindler is a Communications and Knowledge Management Specialist on USAID’s Advancing Capacity for the Environment (ACE) contract, supporting Climate in her main role as Climatelinks Community Manager. Ariel has a Master’s in Strategic Communications, with a focus on social impact and advocacy, from American University, and a BA in Environmental Science and Policy from Eckerd College.
