Building Resilience in Kenya's Arid and Semi-Arid Regions
Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) are a particularly unique and challenging context in which to achieve resilience outcomes. ASALs face multiple stressors that increase the vulnerability of communities. Over the past century, these areas have been undergoing an accelerating process of change. Rapidly shifting land use is leading to fragmentation of rangelands, driven by socio-economic factors including population growth, globalisation, competition for land, intensification of production and political pressures. Ecosystem service flows are also being affected as these systems undergo social and ecological change, with implications for the resilience of those whose livelihoods depend on them.
Increased climate variability and frequency of extreme weather events adds a further layer of complexity. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change provides evidence that climate change will interact with non-climate related drivers and stressors to increase the vulnerability of Africa’s ASALs, with high confidence. In Kenya, where less predictable rainfall and environmental stress are already acting on vulnerabilities, the increased extent, duration and frequency of drought are having negative impacts on the resilience of livelihoods and food security. However, there are also significant opportunities to work with Kenya’s ASAL communities to build resilience to extreme events and climate variability.
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ECHO/Martin Karimi