PASTORALIST COMMUNITIES CALLS FOR INNOVATIVE CLIMATE FINANCE SOLUTIONS
The Pastoralist groups in East and Horn of Africa call for innovative climate finance solutions, advocacy, campaigns, and, communication lead at the African Coalition of Communities Responsive to Climate Change due to the continued losses of livelihoods among them.
Speaking while addressing a community meeting in Turkana County on Friday, Mr. Henry Lari noted that while pastoralists are losing hundreds and thousands of heads of livestock, there is no existing mechanism within our governments nor at the African Union where they could be compensated.
While African civil society groups are clamoring for loss and damage, there exist pockets of what could be called climate funds around Africa. Even the other day, the African Development Bank received close to 4 million dollars from Ireland and Austria in support of its Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF). But is AfDB innovative enough as to disburse support to grassroots communities affected by climate crisis?” Asked Mr. Lari.
Mr. Emmanuel Tika of the ACCRCC lamented the lack of grassroots mechanism through which communities could claim for compensation when they lose livestock of crops.
So far, the governments have not come out with ways of documenting livestock losses, neither do crop farmers have anyone visiting them to record the crop failures as a result of failure of rainfall. While governments get taxes from farmers for farm input, losses are bore by individual farmers. This is disheartening and needs to be addressed,” said Tika.
Micheal Ebenyo, a resident called for national and local authorities to establish mechanism where communities could be recording and documenting losses. This, he said will help when finally the west decide to establish compensation for losses and damages due to climate change.
Kenya is in its worst drought situation in years now. Every passing day, residents in 23 out of 47 Counties most affected by drought report of deaths of hundreds of livestock. Ebenyo’s neighbourhood no longer have food and have to depend on food relief from well-wishers.
The meeting in Lokichar brought together communities from the grassroots, the faiths, the ACCRCC and representations from the local authorities.
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