When climate change means ACTION

It’s 2009. Famine, drought, water shortages – have been making the news in Kenya the last several weeks.

Last week I returned to my flat to be greeted by terrible murky brown water running through the taps. I was not amused!!! I summoned the caretaker to explain my rather unpleasant experience. His response, “Madam, I am sure you have heard that the dams have run dry. Akuna mvua”. No rain.

As a water expert and a person working on climate change related matters – surely I should have known better. Yes Kenya has been experiencing an unusually dry year, the headlines last month indicated that at least 10 million people in the country faced famine (I honestly think the number could be even higher).

Going back to the situation in my flat – I honestly counted myself lucky. A lot of people out there have no water running out of their taps at all. In some cases – they have no water in the rivers that provide them with water.

Several questions come to my mind – have governments in Africa really learnt to plan around droughts and other climatic impacts despite not having experienced these for the first time in 2009? Why are we never ready? Who informs who and who are we supposed to hold to account when such situations occur?

Our strategy on how we plan to adapt to the changing climate will certainly be critical for Africa as continent. Whether we like it or not – climate change is happening. I am also inclined to think that climate change will be bring some opportunities but at the same time it will result in serious impacts that we ought to be prepared for.

Now that preparedness is what we need to plan very well and start discussing with a higher level of seriousness than ever before.