About
Like many countries in Africa, Kenya is vulnerable to the increasingly severe impacts of climate change. Over the last two rainy seasons, when the rain has failed to come, it has left an estimated three million Kenyans at risk of malnutrition, hunger and starvation, and has decimated agricultural livelihood systems. In Tangulbei, a settlement in Kenya’s Rift Valley, the effects of this climate crisis have been particularly harsh. Communities in Tangulbei are mainly pastoralist and depend of livestock and livestock products for their income and livelihoods.
As is often the case with disasters and crises, the most affected by the drought in Tangulbei are women, the elderly and children. Pre-existing structural and gender inequalities also mean that women lack access to, and control over, important resources and entitlements, which further undermines their ability to cope with the impacts of climate crisis.
We supported women-led advocacy and tracking of county governments’ investment in disaster preparedness, protection and resilience building. And we supported women to engage key stakeholders in the region’s response to drought and climate change, including the county government and the national government, to make sure women’s voices are heard and their needs accounted for.
Impact
In Tangulbei, ActionAid worked with women in communities to build their influence and leadership in response to climate crisis and, in doing so, transformed the current situation of food insecurity into an opportunity to create greater gender equality in the long-term.
