Africa Climate Conversations.

Located in the Rift Valley, Lake Bogoria National Reserve is a stunning place. It is adorned by a pink cloud of flamingos and geysers bubbling with the most spectacular hot water volcanic springs. But unfortunately, James Kimaru, the Lake Bogoria National Reserve Senior warden, told the Africa Climate Conversations that the lake has increased by more than 10 kilometres, and 90 percent of these hot...

Today we are talking about the Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program in Low-Income Countries (SREP) funded by the Strategic Climate Fund. the Strategic Climate Fund is one of the two Climate Investment Funds (CIF). The funds are channelled through five multilateral development banks. SREP has been financing the scaled-up deployment of renewable energy solutions aimed at increasing energy access and...

In Kenya's Baringo County 22 schools have either been wholly submerged or destroyed following the swelling of Lakes Baringo, Bogoria, and lake 94. Jacob Chepkwony, the Baringo County deputy governor, says the county requires nearly 550 million shillings that is nearly a 4.5million US dollar for the education sector to recover. Chepkwony says the administration challenge now is balancing resettling...

Today for the Financing change in Africa series, we feature the $5.4 billion Clean Technology Fund (CTF). One of two multi-donor trust funds under the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) Danny Morris, the clean energy lead coordinator for the CTF tell us all about the CTF, what is the fund has achieved in Africa and future. We also talk to Fatima Hamdouch, the Director of Strategic Steering Moroccan Ag...

Have the persons displaced by the 2020 flooding Kenya's Rift Valley Lakes been forgotten? As Kenya rolls out a Covid-19 vaccination drive amid the country struggling with the third wave, communities displaced by the flooding of Lake Baringo, Lake Bogoria, and Lake 94 among the swelling Rift Valley Lakes spend a sleepless night. Nearly a year on and with long rains starting, parents staying in tent...

The  Climate Investment Funds (CIF ), a multilateral climate finance mechanism, has been working with the continent's premier financial development institution, the  African Development Bank (AfDB ) - CIF's implementing entity - renewable financing energy, forestry, and resilience solutions in Africa. Of about $8billion funding, Africa receives one-third of the total funding. In today's...

Mental health problems in Kenya and Africa are often interpreted from either a religious or traditional perspective influenced by a person's cultural perceptions. These perceptions impact not just the provision of care but also determines access. The World Health Organization (WHO) says a growing number of people with mental illness are not receiving mental health care and treatment. Estimates ind...

Starting coming Thursday, 1st April 2021, the Africa Climate Conversations is collaborating with the African Development Bank and the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) for an 8-part series on Financing Change in Africa. Since 2010, the continent's premier financial development institution plays an essential role as a CIF implementing entity, advancing a growing portfolio of renewable energy, forestry...

This week, we are still staying in Murang'a county. Today, we talk to Joseph Mbai County Executive Committee member in charge of Health Murang'a County. He ascertains that three people are dying every week due to substance abuse. Why? Why are the youth and young adults are making about 70 percent of the population engaging in drug and substance abuse? What are some of the county's challenges deali...

In many countries, some landslide-prone areas are known. But often, communities seem to be caught unaware when these landslides hit.  How do you ensure policymakers pay special attention to the future landslide in their locations? Michael Ngugi, a geographic information system (GIS) expert from the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) based here in Nairobi, develop...

Today's episode features a family, victims of a landslide from Gitugi village in Mathioya, Murang'a County in central Kenya. About three years ago, a landslide struck in the middle of the night. Taking away 39-year old mother of four, Mary Wambui, entire livelihood. Her family, still traumatised to return and settle at the affected farm, was evicted from a vocational school they have called home s...

Kilifi county in Kenya has three practicing mental health specialists against a population of about 1.4 million. Mental health is allocated less than 0.5% of the general health budget. In Kenya, out of 47 counties, only 22 have a mental health specialist. "Understanding your mental health, gives you a better standard of life. But though Mental health is part of the general health system, very litt...

In today's episode, we talk to Elias Fondo, the Kilifi County Mental Health Clinical officer, Leonard Nasoro, a mental health specialist, and a nurse at the Kilifi County Hospital. They tell us that uncertainty due to changing weather leads to anxiety and fear, dragging communities deeper into poverty. How?. In a country where one out four Kenyan's suffers a mental illness once in their lifetime,...

This week's episode takes you to Kilifi, Kenya - home to Watamu and Malindi's sandy beaches. The only permanent river - River Sabaki - emanating from Kenya's Aberdare Ranges west of Central Kenya floods each time it heavily rains upstream. Now, the 2018 Kilifi County Drought contingency plan notes that the drought return period has reduced to two to three years from every five to seven years in th...

In Kenya, one out of every four Kenyans suffer a mental illness in their lifetime. Natural disasters like flooding are becoming prevalent, and, in some counties, communities are struggling with disasters interchanging between flooding and drought, not giving them enough time to recover. How is the changing climate affecting mental health? Listen to Dr. Pamela Kaithuru a counselling psychologist an...

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports indicate 2020 was one of the three warmest years on record after 2019 and 2016. In today's episode, Dr. Abubakar Salih Babikier, a climate scientist from IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Center (ICPAC), tells us that since tropical storm Sagar flooded most of Somaliland in 2018, at least a tropical cyclone has hit Somalia once or twice a y...

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has said that 2011-2020 was the warmest decade on record, in a persistent long-term climate change trend. 2016, 2019, and 2020 are recorded as the top three warmest years on record. The series explores how the rising global temperature, flooding, increased landslides, rising sea levels, warming oceans, and droughts impacting communities mentally.

We started the podcast journey last year in June 2020. What are some of the issues we have talked about and where are the plans for 2021? 

It is a festive season, though with a difference this time due to COVID19. I do not know how you celebrate during festivals, the many African cultures, and honestly, beyond Africa, food is essential. But food wasted and dumped in landfills is heat up by the sun. Over time, it emits greenhouse gases that warm up the planet we live in. As a result, contributing to droughts, floods, landslides, warmi...

It's December, and the holiday season is here. Unfortunately, this year's festive season occurs amid a global crisis that keeps us from coming together with our large extended families. But we will still eat and hence generate a lot of household waste, especially from our kitchens. Dudu Dunia, a Kenyan based organisation specialising in composting kitchen waste says 60 percent of Nairobi waste cou...

Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and is the primary source of the Nile. Deadly intense thunderstorms build up on the lake at night as fishermen go fishing. The International Red Cross estimates that between 3,000 and 5,000 fishermen per year lose their lives in Lake Victoria's violent storms. How does availing weather information to fishers on how the lake weather will look the following day...

How can Africa and the world economies build better given the tremendous impacts Covid 19 has had on economies? And not to forget the climate change emergency crisis that UNEP 2019 emission gaps tell us we are already on 3 degrees warmer world pathway. I talked to Davinah Milenge Uwella, the principal program coordinator of the climate change and green growth department at the African development...

On today's podcast, James Kinyangi, the coordinator for the climate and development special funds for Africa at the African development bank and Mohamad Bamba Sylla, a lead author at the intergovernmental panel on climate change – IPCC - and currently the research chair in climate change science at the African Institute for mathematical sciences Rwanda tacks us through the status of the investment...

Every year, world leaders meet under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) to forge a global response to the climate emergency.  During COP 25 held in Madrid, Spain, last December, Africa did not achieve much. But as the world prepares for COP26 now scheduled for the 1st to 12th November 2021 in Glasgow, UK, Arona Sou...

Flooding, droughts, landslides, and cyclones are becoming intense and more frequent. Adaptation offers an alternative solution in addressing these climate change impacts affecting communities, and economies, especially those with limited coping mechanisms and capacity.  In this episode, the African Development Bank Group managers Al Hamdou Dorsouma -  Climate Adaptation and Green Growth...