Green Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan 2016–2030.

The Green Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan (GESIP) is a national cross-sectoral strategy and implementation plan applicable to the period from 2016 to 2030. The policy framework for Green Economy is designed to support a globally competitive low carbon development path. It will guide Kenya's transition to a sustainable path in five thematic areas, namely: sustainable infrastructure development; building resilience; sustainable natural resources management; resource efficiency; and social inclusion and sustainable livelihood.
The GESIP targets multiple challenges including infrastructure gaps and food insecurity. Under the thematic area 1, one of the 6 objectives is to develop and enhance agricultural infrastructure, including: i. Increase irrigation using appropriate technologies for enhanced food production; ii. Reduce post-harvest losses by improving efficiency along the value chain (transportation, storage, processing and marketing); iii. Expand roads and other transport infrastructure network in agricultural areas.
The Thematic Area 3: Sustainable Natural Resource Management focuses on the economy-environment nexus to optimize the contribution of Kenya's natural resources to the economy, industrialization and livelihoods. It encompasses agriculture, forestry, water, fisheries, wildlife, land use, and extractive industries. The key strategies cover: Development of a natural resources accounting system; Pursuance of environmental policy measures including Payment for Ecosystem Services, watershed management, biodiversity, conservation, carbon sequestration and storage; Investment in conservation of marine and aquatic resources while advancing benefits of a blue economy; Promotion of application of strategic environmental assessment in integrated land use plans at national, and county level; etc. In addition, under Thematic Area 4: Promoting resource efficiency, one objective is set to manage waste as a resource.
To reduce poverty and sustain Kenya's ecological foundation, GESIP endeavours to expand decent work by providing innovations aimed at improving the safety of the work environment, expanding social protection and health programmes and social dialogue. To achieve this, the strategy pursues a suit of social policy tools and targeted investment in green enterprises, including: Facilitate establishment of green Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) financing mechanisms; Promote green MSMEs procurement incentives; Strengthen gender responsive green economy training pedagogy and andragogy; Promote establishment of nature-based enterprises including eco-tourism and community conservancies especially by youth and women groups and people with special needs; Develop and apply tools on benefit-sharing to support Payment for Ecosystem Services; Strengthen coastal communities' and other stakeholders' capacities to exploit marine resources; Promote community participation in conservation and sustainable land management practices; etc.
Under the thematic area 2. building resilience, the strategies for the specific objectives are set, including: Objective 2.1- Promote efficient management of public finances; Objective 2.2- Promote livelihood diversification for vulnerable communities i. Create access to the market and to relevant infrastructure, ii. Technology development and transfer including promotion of locally available knowledge technologies, iii. Grow fast-maturing, high value trees that have multiple commercial uses, iv. Promote drought-tolerant food crops, v. Enhance social protection mechanisms to cushion vulnerable members of the society; Objective 2.3- Enhance disaster risk reduction measures- i. Mainstream disaster risk management and climate change in sectoral development strategies, ii. Strengthen coordination mechanisms for disaster risk management, iii. Establish an integrated national early warning for early action system for disaster risk management, and iv. Enhance sustainable management of natural ecosystems.