- Douglas Mwadori, a local artist from Matsangoni ward, who is also a climate change committee member, praised the county for involving communities in the campaign
- He said during the training, they identified a nursery project and environmentally friendly charcoal (made from coconut waste) project
Image: ALPHONCE GARI
Kilifi government has rolled out an aggressive climate mitigation campaign in the grassroots.
The campaign targets all the 35 wards and seeks to train residents on best ways to come up with sustainable projects.
Environment chief officer Zamzam Ali said they have started to conduct trainings in 14 wards.
She said part of the training is to review the Participatory Climate Risk Assessment report and get climate-smart priority projects in every ward.
“We want to appreciate Governor Gideon Mungaro for his support and commitment towards environment and climate change projects, his encouragement and also resource mobilisation,” Ali said.
She spoke at the end of a five-day conference at Dream of Africa.
Ali said the campaign will support projects that are not only aligned to climate change but strictly based on community choices.
She urged local communities to come up with good projects and strategies.
“I am encouraging everybody at the ward and subcounty level to participate fully and help us mitigate effects of climate change,” Ali said.
Douglas Mwadori, a local artist from Matsangoni ward, who is also a climate change committee member, praised the county for involving communities in the campaign.
He said during the training, they identified a nursery project and environmentally friendly charcoal (made from coconut waste) project.
“These two projects will help solve climate change problems and will stop communities in Matsangoni from burning charcoal and collecting firewood at Arabuko Sokoke and Mangrove forests,” Mwadori said.
He said the projects will also create job opportunities.
As an artist, Mwadori will also compose songs to advocate for mitigation of climate change effects.
IUCN programme manager Francis Okalo thanked the community for its cooperation.
"Communities are supposed to be at the forefront of climate mitigation. I hope we will continue working together," he said.
Dabaso Ward youth leader Mwambire Kazungu said trainings help communities learn how to adapt to climate change processes.
Youths in Dabaso are working on projects such as mangrove planting to increase forest cover.
"We now know how to plant climate-smart crops to address climate change,” Kazungu said.
Environment director Jimmy Yaa said those trained now know what climate change is.
The week-long training brought together ward climate change committee members, who came wit project ideas.
"Kilifi generally depends on rain-fed agriculture. Right now it is a bit difficult for farmers to know when to plant due to climate change effects. The situation has also affected terrestrial forests and marine ecosystems," Yaa said.
Currently, there is massive beach erosion along the ocean line in the county.
Mohamed Almasi a Climate Change Planning Committee member from Shella Ward said the ward's project is a kitchen garden and waste management.