Why weather is key in economic growth agenda

A motorcycle taxi operator ferries a passenger on a flooded road in Mombasa following heavy rains last month. There is a need to integrate extreme weather in economic planning to mitigate against negative effects. FILE 

By Justin Ecaat
 

 

Recent floods that wreaked havoc across Kenya, coming in the wake of other devastating weather related events such as the long drought of 2009, may be perceived to result from the much talked about climate change and its impacts.

However, for those  familiar with the flood and drought history in Kenya, there is no doubt that the country has experienced recurring cycles of the two calamities in recent years, thus  the most recent floods could well be part of the recurring and regular pattern of annual heavy rains over the decade.

While many could be inclined  to believe that such extreme flood and drought cycles could be normal events resulting from the ever recurring pattern, and could argue that it may be too soon to conclude that these events are a direct consequence of climate change, the recent National Climate Change Response


Strategy for Kenya (2010) concluded that “the evidence of climate change in Kenya is unmistakable”, while the National Climate Change Action Plan asserts there is scientific evidence that the frequency of droughts, floods, and other extreme weather events has increased in recent years.

Devastating drought

Whether linked or not to the effects of global warming, many in East Africa and Kenya in particular can still recall the devastating drought of 2009 that left nearly 80 per cent of the cattle dead in some areas.

The recent floods make one thing certain — that we increasingly need to factor these phenomena into our development planning and decisions.

As we witness many roads, bridges, farmland, crops, and housing washed away, families displaced, lives lost and livelihoods interrupted at such an alarming scale, the aggregate impact on the economy caused by such devastating floods and droughts requires a re-evaluation of how planning can internalise these phenomena so that their impact on the overall economy and livelihoods can be minimised.  

According to recent media reports, the havoc caused by the rains continues, with people losing their lives in landslides, families left homeless after their houses were destroyed, while many more remain vulnerable should heavy rains persist.

Furthermore, besides causing destruction to existing assets, the floods have disrupted productive human activities including transportation and farming in most of the affected areas. For example, farmers have been forced to delay planting.

Education has also been disrupted with several cases reported of how schools have been  submerged, books destroyed, learners displaced and where still intact, school infrastructure is  used as shelter by displaced people. Development planners can draw lessons from these events.

As the country continues on its path to develop and aspires to attain a two digit growth rate, with many infrastructure projects already under design and/or implementation in various parts of the country, the fact that such projects are vulnerable to the devastating impacts of extreme weather events needs to be considered in development planning.

As has been experienced, floods swept away bridges, submerged newly built roads and interrupted transportation  along highways linking commercial hubs and countries.

The floods also carried excessive silt into reservoirs and dams or washed away crops and irrigation systems in which significant  resources were used to establish.

Without argument then, there is a need to increasingly internalise these phenomena and to factor in the possibility of such extreme weather events when designing infrastructure or other projects. 

Interventions that can be employed include designing bridges with larger culvert sizes, promoting catchment area management programmes and strengthening community capacity to undertake adaptation measures to respond to either extreme droughts or floods.

For example, while most areas of the country could be classified as water stressed, we should nevertheless not lose sight of the fact that infrastructure, such as roads, in those areas should be designed with a real possibility of extreme floods occurring.   

For rural communities, it may be essential to re-evaluate settlement in low lying flood prone areas as well as on steep slopes susceptible to landslides during peak rainy periods.

Under the new administrative system, which devolves governance to the county authorities, additional responsibilities may include programmes such as tree planting, besides ensuring infrastructure projects are designed to withstand extreme weather events.

Strengthening of early warning systems and disaster risk management capacity will surely be required to avert the devastating effects of similar events in future.

In Kenya, the government has shown some level of preparedness and considerable commitment to respond to these disasters, but more could be done to strengthen the capacity to respond to similar events and to build community resilience.

There is also a need to allocate additional  resources to monitor  and generate information that will enable better understanding of the current trends in extreme weather events especially as we enter an increasingly climate constrained world.

Mr Ecaat is the principal environmental safeguards specialist at the African Development Bank based in the East Africa Resource Centre, Nairobi.