The UC Berkeley Center for Global Healthy Cities recently partnered with Slum Dwellers International (SDI) Kenya and Muungano wa Wanavijiji to create The Kisumu City Community Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for Kisumu, Kenya
These partners and Maseno University carried out research to identify the vulnerabilities to climate change across seven wards in Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya. Key to this was climate change vulnerability mapping: community members mapped their ward, denoting the locations of climate-related hazards, potential risks, and the community’s current coping strategies.
The report has six sections, one for each of the six key climate vulnerability issues, which were those most frequently identified by the community: floods, rising temperatures, droughts, lake-level rise, strong winds, and fires. Each section presents the extent of the issue’s effects (Data from household surveys), the wards with the highest risk, its impacts (i.e. infrastructure damage, contaminated water, high food prices, etc.), and responses and initiatives (i.e., flood barriers, reinforcing of roofs, etc.). An series of maps & community stories comprise a detailed appendix.
This report will support Muunganowa Wanavijiji and SDI-Kenya in partnership with six organizations in implementing the five-year program of Voices for Just Climate Action, which aims to support community leaders in creating locally-relevant and inclusive climate solutions as part of the global response to the climate crisis and to support the people of Kisumu in creating a just transition to climate change.