WHILE WE are constantly soaked in Ireland by rain showers due (we are told) to global warming, we should consider for a moment the implications of cause and effect for the people of Kenya.
Kate O’Donnell, Oxfam Ireland’s livelihoods co-ordinator, has just returned from a trip to Kenya and Uganda visiting Oxfam’s partners who are coping with a situation which is heading towards a severe drought. But despite the scale of the problem, O’Donnell is upbeat about the results of Oxfam’s work over there.
One knock-on effect from the political unrest and violence in Kenya earlier this year is the cost of fuel. “Many of the water pumps are run on diesel,” says O’Donnell. “Also, climate change is causing the rainy season to become more unpredictable, affecting people who depend on livestock.”
This changeability was illustrated with a ferocious and unprecedented hailstorm in Kenya last week, which left an area of 30 acres covered in ice for more than 12 hours afterwards, despite the hot tropical sun.
Part and parcel of Oxfam’s programme in the region is teaching people how to plan for drought so they can cope and get through it.
“We work with drought monitors who help communities to assess what is happening and to respond accordingly, things like following the water,” says O’Donnell.
However, such traditional methods face a new set of problems. “The land the pastoralists traditionally used for their livestock is being taken up by private owners who have been issued with titles to the land,” says O’Donnell.
“The privatisation of land and the increase in borders in this part of Africa are making it increasingly hard for people to access water.”
Oxfam is currently helping the pastoralists in these legal battles over titles in the courts of Nairobi. One other way for a family to weather drought is to destock temporarily and to sell an animal before it loses its condition and its value. “But this means finding a market for that animal,” says O’Donnell.
The onset of drought often means women having to travel 20km in a day to collect water with jerry cans. “If help is needed then it is usually the girls who are taken out of school to do this work,” O’Donnell explains of the knock-on effect such drought can have.
But is there light at the end of the tunnel? O’Donnell says yes – thanks to the power of the sun.
“We are looking at using solar power to operate the water pumps,” she says. “They will have a plentiful source of energy and will be able to provide more power to pump from deeper wells.” In turn, access to water for all will be greatly increased.
