This Policy, inspired by the National Climate Change Act 2016, focuses on the interlinkages between sustainable development and climate change. Climate change adversely impacts critical sectors that are important to the County economy and society: Environment, Water and Forestry; Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries; Trade; Extractive Industries; Energy; Physical Infrastructure; Tourism; and Health. This Policy, therefore, elaborates intervention measures that can help to achieve the goal of low carbon climate-resilient development and particularly: improving urban planning and waste management; increasing efficiency in the transport sector; developing clean energy technologies to reduce the use of fossil fuel. The Policy focuses on the three key climate change outcomes: adaptation, mitigation and financial mechanism for implementing the climate change actions. The main goal of this Policy, therefore, is to enhance the resilience of communities and natural systems to steer Turkana County towards a low carbon pathway for sustainable development; the mission is to facilitate the socioeconomic transformation of Turkana through sustainable use of resources to ensure a high quality of life for the people of Turkana County. The Policy defines and explains the following strategic intervention areas with related actions and measures: enhancing the communities' adaptive capacity and sustainable livelihoods; increasing socioeconomic resilience and inclusivity through investment in social protection; mainstreaming gender and supporting vulnerable groups sand youth; strengthening climate-smart agriculture and agroecology to drive food security; implementing an agriculture risk management framework including agricultural insurance to manage the financial cost of disasters to the farmers; development of fish value chain; reducing siltation of the Ferguson Gulf; establishment of fish marketing cooperatives to bargain for best prices in the market; adoption of climate-resilient animal breeds by supporting research and investment; developing a framework for robust community-based animal health systems; strengthening pastoral institutions and resource rights necessary to enhance livestock mobility to facilitate resilience building within the pastoral system of Turkana County; developing a programme for livestock feed supplements especially during droughts; protecting watercourses from human-induced pollution; regulating upstream irrigation and catchment conservation; development of town land-use planning and related waste management system; carrying out land-use planning for more reliable urban development and supporting land tenure security; protecting indigenous knowledge and practices for ecosystem and natural resources protection and for environmental education and awareness; increasing forest cover.
Kenya · 2020-09-01