National Climate Change Action Plan 2013-2017.

This document contains Kenya's National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP), a sectoral instrument addressing climate change issues during the period 2013-2017. The Action Plan lays down specific measures for climate change adaptation and mitigation, giving particular regard to the immporvement of climate resilience. Special attention is given to the poor and groups most vulnerable to impacts of climate change (especially women, children, urban poor living in slums that are flood-prone, rural population). The implementation of the NCCAP as part of the national development policy system requires internalizing low carbon and resilience pathways, including the institutions, systems, tools and instruments that form the foundations of a low carbon climate resilient system and society.
Ensuring food and water security and eradicating hunger due to shocks linked to climate change impacts (such as drought) is one of the objectives of the Plan.
In order to make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable, the following programmes and projects are proposed: (i) promoting irrigated agriculture, conservation agriculture, value addition to agricultural products, developing weather indexed crop insurance schemes, support for community-based adaptation including provision of climate information to farmers, enhanced financial and technical support to drought resistant crops; (ii) breeding animals tolerant to local climatic conditions, weather indexed livestock insurance, establishment of fodder banks, documenting indigenous knowledge, provision of water for livestock and humans, early warning systems for droughts and floods, and vaccination campaigns; (iii) to intensify afforestation, promoting agroforestry-based alternative livelihood systems, promoting alternative energy sources, community forest management, reduced mono-species plantation stands and REDD+ initiatives (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).
Regarding the reduction of rural poverty, the Plan contains a component Threshold 21(T21), which is a dynamic simulation tool designed to support comprehensive integrated long-term national development planning. The T21-Kenya model has been developed to integrate the analysis of the risks and impacts of climate change across the major sectors of the economy, society and environment, in order to inform coherent national development policies that encourage sustainable development, poverty eradication, and increased well-being of vulnerable groups, especially women and children, within the context of Vision 2030.
Measures are also taken by the action plan to enable inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems. In this context, The Plan provides for activities to ensure Kenyan small-scale farmers can deliver crops at a fair price to market in the face of a variable and changing climate.
To increase the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises that affect food security and nutrition, the Plan proposes the following actions: (i) promote up-scaling of available climate adaptive inputs, technologies and production strategies including success stories in relevant agro-climatic zones; (ii) continue to develop through research climate change resilient inputs, technologies and strategies and identify adaptation success stories and support up-scaling in relevant agro-climatic zones; (iii) explore alternative financial instruments for promoting adaptation, e.g. Payment for Environmental Services, carbon finance; (iv) recognize and protect emergency drought reserve areas for livestock keeping; (v) develop buffer areas of crop and forage production as part of contingency planning in drought prone regions of Kenya; (vi) mainstream geographically specific climate resilience strategies into agricultural extension services; (v) contribute to development of climate information sharing and knowledge management systems; (vi) enhance capacity for agro-meteorological information provision and ensure effective service delivery mechanisms including climate smart extension.
Moreover the Action Plan provides for a clear institutional framework to ensure effective implementation of the recommended actions. The establishment of a high-level National Climate Change Council in the Office of the President will ensure that climate change is addressed as a cross-cutting developmental issue. A reinforced National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) in the Ministry responsible for climate affairs would be the lead technical agency on climate change issues. The Action Plan also provides for the strengthening of climate change desk officers in Government ministries and institutions to facilitate implementation. T