Clean Energy Business Information Centre (CEBIC) Visit 24TH -26TH JULY, 2017, Lesidai, Samburu County

Photo on superstructure walling and steel fixing to columns ongoing during site inspection

Access to  timely  and  up-to  date  information  like  market  information  especially  in marginalized  areas  is  a  critical  element  for  spurring  economic  development  given  the dynamism  of  some  sectors  like  agriculture  that these  communities  heavily  depend  on. Under  the  second  Medium  Term  Plan (MTP  II)  of  Vision  2030,  the  Government  of  Kenya prioritizes on inclusive economic growth and job creation through supporting the creation of Small and  Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that can play a key role in improving livelihoods. Access to climate  change  information  in  relation  to  adaptation  and  mitigation,  is  one  innovative approach of enhancing resilience for vulnerable production systems and households - since it helps communities to prepare in case of unforeseen negative eventualities. It  is  against  this  background  that  the  Low  Emission  and  Climate  Resilient  Development (LECRD) Project is facilitating the establishment of a Community Education Business and Information Centre (CEBIC) in Lesidai, Samburu County. The Centre which is currently under construction is expected to offer multiple services including; a meeting facility, cultural centre for displaying of indigenous technologies, a library, shop that will sell various products including household renewable energy technologies and agro-vet products, and Information Communication Technology (ICT)  facility. The Centre will serve the community around Loosuk which is one of the 5 wards in Samburu West Sub-county with a geographical coverage of 690.8 Km2, a total population of approximately 20,000 persons-while the whole Sub-county has a total population of 92,676.

A site inspection visit and community meeting was held on the 24^th and 25^th of July. Participating in the visit were officers from the LECRD project and USAID which was represented by Mr. Enock Kanyanya. Construction works were found to be progressing well, as the substructure works were complete and the superstructure walling and steel fixing to columns ongoing. It is expected that the Centre construction and equipping will be complete by November, 2017. During the community meeting, it was affirmed that the centre will offer great benefits to the community whose main livelihood is pastrolism and is often greatly affected by climate change. The Community members expressed that their expectation was that the Centre will be used for community empowerment through poverty eradication and peace dialogues for both the Samburu and the neighbouring Pokot community. It was further proposed that the Centre be managed by the County, in this regard it was proposed that the Village Administrator be domiciled at the Centre and offer County services from this facility. During previous meetings with county officials it had been proposed that the county provide a budgetary allocation for the operation of the centre. It is expected that a stakeholder validation meeting will be held in the month of September to validate the CEBIC operational model that has been developed by the LECRD Project through Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN).

INAUGURAL CLIMATE CHANGE FUND TASKFORCE WORKSHOP HELD AT KEFRI MUGUGA ON 18TH-20TH JULY 2017

Photo: Inaugural Climate Change Fund Taskforce Workshop at KEFRI –Muguga 18th-20th July 2017 

Kenya’s Climate Change Act was enacted in May 2016. The Act provides for a regulatory framework for enhanced response to climate change and the mechanisms and measures to achieve low carbon climate development. The Act stipulates that a Climate Change Fund shall be established which shall be a financing mechanism for priority climate actions and interventions defined in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), approved by the Government. In order to operationalize the fund, a task force with fourteen (14) members awaiting gazettement has been established. The task force will be charged with the development of the structure; regulations; resource mobilization strategy; and Monitoring, Reporting and Verification tools of the Climate Change Fund. Through the Low Emission and Climate Resilient Development (LECRD) Project, an inaugural workshop was held at KEFRI –Muguga from the 18th-20th July 2017. The workshop was attended by all the appointed task force members drawn from the National Treasury; Office of the Attorney General; Commission for Revenue Allocation (CRA); the Climate Change Directorate (CCD) and Council of Governors. There was also representation from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and LECRD Project staff. The workshop aimed at developing a common understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the taskforce members including the necessary supporting policy and legal frameworks; consensus building of the vision and modalities of the fund; developing a work plan and budget of the taskforce and preparing and finalizing the Terms of Reference (TORs) for local and international consultancies to work closely with the taskforce to support the design and operationalization of Kenya’s Climate Change Fund. By the end of the workshop, the team had understood the policy and legal frameworks that gives them operational mandate; developed TORs for the taskforce and consultancies. In addition, formulation of the work plan for the task force was successfully completed. As a way forward, the task force agreed to: (i) Engage representatives from civil society and the private sector into the taskforce, followed up by the taskforce gazettement (ii) Procure a consortium rather than individual consultants (iii) Advertise the TORs of the consortium, to initiate procuring process of the consortium by UNDP. A fully operationalized Climate Change Fund will provide Kenya the opportunity to transform the economy, to identify near term low carbon opportunities and draw from NDCs submitted to UNFCCC as well as the long term goal of the Paris Agreement that requires retaining the mean temperature of earth to well below 2˚ C.