Som i alle lande er nomadefolk nogle af de mest udsatte for vejrliget og klimaforandringer og der bliver ikke gjort meget for at bistå dem – heller ikke i Kenya, men nu får de deres egen radiostation i landets nordlige karrige del.
ISIOLO, 6 March 2013 (IRIN): Inadequate (dårlig) access to information, such as weather forecasts, has hampered Kenyan pastoralists’ ability to respond and adapt to (tilpasse sig) climate change, experts say.
“Lack of adequate information and focus on emergency responses has left communities exposed to the effects of climate change”, Victor Orindi, climate change advisor in the Ministry of State for the Development of Northern Kenya and Other Arid Lands, told IRIN.
“More focus must now go towards ensuring that the communities have the ability to withstand the effects of climate change. Building resilience (modstandskraft) is the way to go,” noted he.
Kenya’s pastoralists face recurrent (tilbage-vendende) devastation from droughts, livestock deaths, loss of livelihood and conflict over resources.
Weather forecasts
A climate change adaptation project has been launched in Garbatulla, in the eastern county of Isiolo, which is inhabited mainly by pastoralist communities.
The project, funded through the Climate Adaptation Fund and developed by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the Kenya Meteorological Department, will establish a radio station to broadcast weather forecasts in local languages.
“Pastoralist are the most disadvantaged group in Kenya. A majority are illiterate (analfabeter), can not read newspapers and do not understand languages used by all the radio and TV stations… which are the same facilities that are used to inform Kenyans about climate change,” Mumina Bonaya, community mobilization manager for the NGO Resource Advocacy Programme, told IRIN.
Badada FM
The radio station, known as Badada FM, is expected to reach almost a million people from the Borana, Gabra, Samburu, Somali, Turkana and Rendile communities in northern Kenya.
The radio station will focus on giving updates on looming (lurende) droughts and floods, as well as information on climate change.
The project will additionally build links between pastoralists and researchers, weather experts, policymakers, government officials and aid agencies.
It will also map grazing fields and community watering points, and will empower pastoralist communities to better manage and utilize these resources.
“Our county’s climate change resilience project, the first of its kind in Kenya, will mobilize resources, researchers and modern technology. We have changed the approach, and linked the herder down at the wards [villages] with key institutions at national and international level s,” Bonaya said.
Through what are known as ward committees, communities can identify initiatives they find promising and request that they be funded. Similar projects are being piloted in five wards in eastern and northern Kenya.
Empowering communities
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http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97603/In-Kenya-information-strengthens-pastoralists-resilience
