The government has launched an ambitious climate action program aimed at growing more than a million trees every month countrywide.
The initiative to be spearheaded by all the 3,950 chiefs at location level is part of the country’s effort to grow 15 billion trees by 2032 in line with President William Ruto’s directive.
Interior PS Raymond Omollo presided over the national launch of the initiative called Chief’s Climate Action Day at Nderi Primary School in Kikuyu subcounty on Monday.
He decried the adverse effects of climate change, including prolonged droughts and recurring floods.
Omollo said climate change poses serious threats to national security and undermines peace initiatives.
“Indeed, we recognise that peace, security and climate change are closely linked. In Kenya, we face numerous climate-related risks to peace and security,” he said.
Omollo said prolonged droughts had caused conflicts among communities due to intensified competition for scarce resources such as water, pasture and food.
The arid and semi-arid regions like North Rift, Northeastern and Upper Eastern had witnessed conflicts as a result of harsh climatic conditions.
He said climate-induced migration had caused social tensions, citing Nairobi, where recurrent flooding along the Nairobi River had forced people from their homes.
Such movements placed pressure on resources and increased the potential for unrest, he said.
Omollo said the chiefs-led initiative is part of the government’s response to the pressing need for tailored early warning systems and information networks to address the country’s unique climate-security challenges.
In the new scheme, the Interior ministry will support each chief to mobilise their communities and coordinate the planting of at least 250 tree seedlings on the first Friday of every month.
“This initiative activates the invaluable leadership of our chiefs across the nation, who will mobilise and coordinate at the grassroots level to ensure the success of climate interventions within their communities,” the PS said
Omollo said all chiefs will monitor and report progress, using standardised tools to ensure trees are well-cared for.
The administrators, he said, would be recognised as climate champions in the effort “demonstrating how localised action drives real impact."
He said the launch marked a shift in how the government engaged chiefs in national programs focusing on innovative methods that prioritised results and tangible outcomes.
Omollo said chiefs were best placed to support the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, which places the most basic units of society at the centre of all state interventions.
“Chiefs are at the heart of our strategy as National
Government Administrative Officers, coordinating
resources and efforts at the most local level,” he said.
