Approaches to Ameliorate the Impact of Climate Change to Women’s Health in Northern Kenya
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Date: Thursday, October 17th, 2024
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The pastoralist communities in Northern Kenya are among the most vulnerable populations to the impact of climate change due to intensifying droughts that are threatening the livelihoods of the people in this region. While climate change has significantly impacted pastoralists communities as a whole, women, in particular, are disproportionately affected by these impacts as they play crucial roles in the livelihoods of their communities. The prolonged series of cyclic droughts have altered traditional livestock production patterns causing shocking levels of food insecurity, waves of inter pastoralists’ communities’ conflicts, and significant health burdens that heavily impacted the wellbeing of the local populations.
In order to address the urgent and live saving needs of vulnerable women who lost their livestock and with very limited sources of livelihoods, a group of community members from Wajir region in Northern Kenya formed and established a community-based organization – ALPC to provide support and help mitigate the pressing climate induced crisis in their own communities.
Using a ground up community-oriented approach, Alternative Livelihoods for Pastoralist Communities (ALPC) identified unmet health needs as a result of the climate crisis as a significant health issue by employing innovative and alternative health solutions for ameliorate the suffering of the vulnerable members of the local community.
ALPC will share the data and lesson learnt of its unique interventions, presents evidence on health outcomes, and engage partners with the aim to build synergies and improve sustainability of the program in the next phases of implementation.