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Climate change is a major threat to arid and semi-arid regions. It disrupts rain patterns, raises temperatures, and reduces water availability. This affects agriculture and livestock rearing, both crucial for food security in these areas. As climate change intensifies, building adaptable food production systems (value chains) is essential to keep people fed.
The authors investigated the relationship between climate change impacts and nature-based value chains in arid and semi-arid areas. The interplay of climate-related hazards with the exposure and vulnerability of pastoral communities and environmental systems accentuates the risks of climate-related consequences.
The study also examined the potential climate change risks that may affect rangelands, as well as how value chains are exposed to the dangers and their vulnerability in four arid and semi-arid counties of Kenya. The objective was to assess climate risks across various value chains and identify adaptation interventions necessary to enhance resilience. This involved focusing on both current and future climate risks, analyzing their implications for value chain activities, and evaluating different strategies to mitigate negative impacts.
The study underscores the significant adverse impacts of climate change on nature-based value chains in arid and semi-arid regions, focusing on rangeland adaptation in Kenya. Utilizing the VC-ARID approach, it reveals that climate change exacerbates risks such as reduced water availability, increased temperature variability, and altered precipitation patterns, all of which threaten the sustainability of these value chains.
These climate-induced challenges are compounded by limited access to reliable climate information, inadequate financial resources, and insufficient supportive policies. The study highlights that these factors create a complex web of vulnerabilities that can destabilize value chains, leading to diminished productivity, economic losses, and heightened food insecurity.
Consequently, the study stresses the necessity of integrating climate resilience into value-chain interventions. This involves designing tailored strategies that consider the unique ecological and socioeconomic contexts of arid and semi-arid regions. Effective adaptation requires active collaboration among government agencies, non-governmental organizations, private sector entities, and local communities. Investment in climate information services is crucial to provide accurate and timely data, enabling value chain actors to make informed decisions.
Project / The IMARA program aims to increase the resilience of marginalized households to climate-change-related shocks.
SEI report / This report highlights the challenges and opportunities for enhancing sustainability in the avocado value chain in East Africa.
Media coverage / SEI Africa contributes technical expertise to the deployment of air quality sensors around Nairobi, to monitor air pollution and green house gas emissions.
Media coverage / SEI Africa collaborates with UNEP and KMD to install air quality sensors in Kenya's capital, Nairobi and begin analysis of air pollution levels in the city
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