How did Kenya come to this pass?

KENYA IS going through its worst weather-related crisis since independence. The rains have failed for four years in a row, and 10 million people — a quarter of the population — are now in need of food aid.

Water levels in dams on the Tana, where the bulk of the country’s electricity is generated, are at their lowest in 60 years and a punishing power rationing regime is in place.

In the national parks, wild animals are dying in their thousands of starvation, while in the country’s cities and towns homes are going without water for weeks, even as food prices climb ever higher.

Just how did things become so bad? And how can Kenya avoid similar emergencies in the future? There is, obviously, no single silver bullet to end the emergency.

The situation, after all, has come about due to the confluence of several complex factors including global warming, environmental degradation, poor government planning and failure to innovate.

For Kenya to avoid a similar humanitarian emergency in the future, the country must adopt well-thought out multisectoral programmes that mitigate these challenges.

In this new proactive regime, environmental conservation and restoration of water towers such as the Mau, Mt Kenya and the Aberdares must, for example, go hand in hand with better public policies on water harvesting and irrigation.

It is ridiculous, for example, that in Nairobi city by-laws prohibit residents from harvesting rainwater, despite the fact that the City Council itself cannot satisfy demand.

Similarly, in the power sector, Kenya must rationalise its generation mix to relieve pressure on hydro sources, which account for nearly 70 per cent of the country’s capacity.

In agriculture, programmes promoting good seed and stock husbandry must go together with efforts to improve farmer education, crop diversification and market dynamics. This should help reduce Kenya’s reliance on one crop — maize — which takes too long to mature and is highly vulnerable to rain patterns.

On the international arena, Kenya must add its voice to those forces calling for a reduction in the production of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that cause global warming.

It is unacceptable that the developed world continues to spew millions of tonnes of these gases into the atmosphere while poor countries suffer the effects of higher global temperatures such as extreme weather, drought and famine.