ASSAR's work in Kenya

Factors like gender, age, location, livelihood, and status intersect with social and economic characteristics like household composition, social capital, marital status, income, and educational attainment to determine people’s capacity to effectively respond to climate risks and impacts. Adaptation policies need to consider these intersecting factors explicitly to enable the most marginalised to adapt.

Although decentralisation has enabled local officials to respond to local needs flexibly and effectively, greater coordination between levels and sectors of government, as well as more resources, better alignment of planning and development cycles, and better provision of timely and relevant information, would further strengthen action on water governance and disaster risk management.

Conservancies have benefitted communities with improved governance, more livelihood opportunities, and enhanced social services. To continue to build resilience, further improvements are required to reduce tensions between communities within and outside conservancies, enable more sustainable and equitable approaches to natural resource management and livelihoods, and address ongoing problems associated with human-wildlife conflict.

Recognising that interventions will result in trade-offs, with some people winning and others losing, is important. Including affected populations more concretely in decisions about interventions will help to identify the main trade-offs, support more effective design and implementation of interventions, avoid unintended consequences – especially for the most vulnerable, and help to ensure that the needs of those typically excluded from decision making are heard and valued.