Kisumu
  4/12/07
 
CLIMATE CHANGE TO HIT KENYA AND UGANDA AS COMMONWEALTH NATIONS FAIL TO COME OUT WITH POSITIVE PLAN

By Leo Odera Omolo

The change of climate have indirect but profound effects on social economic and environmental conditions in Kenya, the United Nations has warned in a report just released.

When the leaders of the Commonwealth Heads of Government held their biennial summit in the Uganda capital, Kampala last month, the CHOGM did not go far enough in pushing rich countries to tackle the climate change.

And even the Prime Minister of a Carribean Island nation menaced by rising sea levels had expressed his concern at what he termed negligible manner in which the CHOGM leader had casually handled this issue of grave concern globally.

A statement, which was issued by the CHOGM club of mostly former British colonies at the end of the Kampala Summit was only in vague language and did not call for binding targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which many members had said earlier they wanted.

The latest UN report, however warned that global worming is likely to increase the frequency and severity of drought.

The report is the new annual edition of the UN its annual Development Report. It says that in turn the situation would lead to higher rates of malnutrition among young Kenyan children.

Additional impediments to development are associated with drought, and this could also be expected to grow more acute as temperatures rise and rainfall fatal fall.

A table included in the 380-page report indicates that the Kenyan districts currently suffering food emergencies during the 2005 – 06 droughts have some of the lowest human development ranking in the country.

Among the districts cited are Garissa, Isiolo, Mandera, Samburu and Turkana all are located in the semi-arid northern part of the country.

In all, some 33 million Kenyans in 26 districts were threatened with starvation as a result of the drought that began two years ago.

Climate change may also worsen gender inequality in Kenya, the report suggests.

‘’In northern Kenya, the increased frequency of drought means that women are walking greater distances to collect water, often ranging from 10-15 km a day,’’ UNDP observes.

‘’This controls women with personal security risks, keeps young girls out of school and imposes an immense physical burden- a plastic container filled with 20 litres of water weigh about 20 kilogrammes.’’

Firewood will also become harder to obtain as climate change leads to an expansion of dry areas. Already women and young girls have to allocate large amounts of time to the collection of firewood, compounding gender inequalities in livelihood opportunities and education.

Warmer conditions could promote deforestation in another way as well.

In accordance with current projections for temperature rise, ‘’In Kenya it would be possible to maintain tea production – but not in current location’’ the UN report says.

‘’Production on Mount Kenya would have to move up to higher slopes currently occupied by forests, suggesting that environmental damage could be a corollary of sustained production.’’

A smaller dynamic might also reset in motion in Uganda, with negative economic as well as economic consequences. UNDP cites estimates that the anticipated increase in average temperature will reduce the land area in Uganda available for growing coffee.

This is a sector that accounts for a large share of cash income in rural areas and figures prominently in export earnings, the report states.

Mosquito borne diseases may also affect larger numbers of East African, as rainfall amount grows more erratic in a worming world.

‘’Changing weather pattern are already producing new diseases profile in many regions UNDP points out. ‘’In Eastern Africa, flooding in 2007 created new breeding sites for disease vectors such as mosquitoes, triggering epidemic of Rift Valley Fever and raising levels of malaria.

Conflicts arising from competition for increasingly scarce resources may be another by-product of climate change, the report suggests. Even seemingly minor disruptions in climate conditions could have direct consequences in East Africa,’’ UNDP indicates.

It further states that a 70 per cent drop in sorghum yields could occur in a section of Sudan where temperatures are projected to rise 1.5 degree centigrade while rainfall totals drop by 5 per cent. ‘’The interaction of climate change with on-going environmental degradation has the potential to exacerbate a wide range of conflict undermining efforts to build a basis of long-term Perce and human security,’’ the study warns.

At the Kampala CHOGM meeting Prime Minister Denzil Douglas of St. Kitts and Nevis had stated that the general view is that the document produced on climate change could have gone further. ‘’We are one of the group who believe that it should have gone further.

Before the CHOGM Summit Britain had called for an unequivocal message on climate change that would urge developed nations to make binding commitment at a world environmental conference in Beli this month (Dec 2007).

‘’We believe that a number of developed countries have not given the commitment we expected, Prime Minister Douglas said, adding, ‘’They are the main contribution to the imbalance in climatic conditions and they should contribute much more.’’

The Commonwealth declaration said global worming was ‘’a direct threat to the very survival of some member states, notably small islands states.

Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com