Goal: To conceptualize impact-driven programs that support Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW), Youth, and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in climate action and sustainable development, with a strong focus on climate-smart agriculture and nutrition.
Kenya’s Lake Region and Sugar Belt areas face significant challenges from climate change, including floods, droughts, and biodiversity loss, which threaten livelihoods and ecosystems. These impacts are exacerbated by unsustainable practices such as deforestation, monocropping, and poor waste management, further degrading the environment and reducing resilience.
Vulnerable groups, particularly adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), youth, and persons with disabilities (PWDs), are disproportionately affected due to systemic socio-economic inequalities and exclusion from decision-making. Social injustices like gender-based violence (GBV), sex for fish, and economic marginalization compound their vulnerability, forcing many into exploitative practices to meet basic needs. According to the Kenya Climate Risk Profile (2021) and the International Water Management Institute (2020), these regions urgently need integrated approaches to address the combined effects of environmental degradation, climate-induced disasters, and social inequalities.
The Climate Change Action Program seeks to tackle these challenges through a holistic approach that integrates disaster risk reduction, climate-smart agriculture, and ecosystem protection and restoration. The program prioritizes empowering AGYW, youth, and PWDs by building their capacity to engage in climate action and promoting sustainable livelihoods. By focusing on climate-smart agriculture, the program aims to provide women with the tools and knowledge to practice sustainable farming techniques that increase productivity while conserving resources. This includes training women in water-efficient irrigation, crop diversification, agroforestry, and soil health management, thus enhancing their resilience to climate impacts.
The program also targets women as key agents of change in the agricultural sector by providing them with access to climate-smart technologies and financial literacy. This empowers women to make informed decisions about their land, crops, and financial resources, fostering economic independence and resilience. By including women in decision-making processes related to land use and natural resource management, the program helps dismantle the gender-based barriers that prevent women from accessing critical resources and opportunities.
Furthermore, the program aims to address systemic social injustices by fostering economic independence and resilience, while enhancing ecosystem health. It aligns with national frameworks like the Kenya Climate Change Act (2016) and the National Adaptation Plan (2015–2030), ensuring that the solution is inclusive, community-driven, and sustainable. Through this integrated approach, the program seeks to mitigate climate impacts, promote gender equality, and ensure long-term, sustainable development for vulnerable populations.
