Supporting developing countries to integrate the agricultural sectors into National Adaptation Plans: Kenya

Kenya has an advanced suite of national adaptation policies, strategies, laws and plans in place. The Kenyan National Adaptation Plan 2015–2030 (NAP) was finalized in 2015, and was one of the first NAPs to be launched in Africa, and globally, by a developing nation. The NAP supports the 2010 Constitution of Kenya and the Kenyan Vision 2030 for a sustainable future, and features an important aspirations for agriculture in national development.

 

In the long term, NAP-Ag activities in Kenya are oriented towards promoting and implementing climate-smart agricultural practices for the long-term. Short and medium term contributions include: increasing awareness on climate change impacts and assessing climate risk and vulnerability of agricultural value chains; identifying synergies between adaptation and mitigation; promoting uptake of climate-related information for agriculture; and developing and upscaling specific adaptation in the agricultural sub-sectors.

 

In Kenya, results from the NAP–Ag Programme have fed into investment proposals under the NAP Readiness window of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which approved a US$3 million NAP Readiness project to be implemented between 2018 and 2020.

 

The objective of this study was to assess linkages between adaptation in the agricultural sector and sustainable development. The synergies and trade-offs between Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), the NAP and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were evaluated and recommendations were developed.

 

A comprehensive study was commissioned by the NAP–Ag to assess the barriers and incentives to implement Kenya’s NAP in the agriculture sector, and identify strategies to strengthen the institutional arrangements and regulatory framework on climate change adaptation.

 

The NAP–Ag Programme is planning training workshops in mid–2017 for government officials on cost-benefit analysis to help strengthen the evidence base for adaptation.

 

The NAP-Ag supported the consultations and launch of the Kenya CSA Strategy (KCSAS). Its objective is to adapt to climate change, build resilience of agricultural systems while minimizing emissions for enhanced food and nutritional security and improved livelihoods. The specific objectives of the KCSAS are to: (i) enhance adaptive capacity and resilience of farmers, pastoralists and fisher-folk to the adverse impacts of climate change; (ii) develop mechanisms that minimize greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural production systems; (iii) create an enabling regulatory and institutional framework; and (iv) address cross-cutting issues that adversely impact KCSAS. In 2018, the NAP-Ag will support the development of a monitoring and evaluation mechanism as well as an implementation framework, in cooperation with many other regional and international partners.

 

Capacity needs assessments were carried out within the six key Kenyan institutions that the NAP-Ag is working with to identify areas requiring support to ensure the effective implementation of agricultural-related NAP activities in sectoral planning and budgeting processes.

 

Kenya was the first country in the NAP–Ag Programme to conduct a training workshop for government officers on gender, adaptation and the agricultural sectors. The training focused on why gender matters in the context of climate change adaptation policy frameworks, ways to address gender issues during the formulation and implementation of policies, and how to ensure that gender sensitive working approaches are used in practice.