New program in Kenya

Devolution and Climate Change Adaptation – a new program in Western Kenya:

SustainableEnergy has been engaged in Kenya since 2006 with projects in Kisumu and Nairobi. In 2014 SE decided to expand the number of partners in order to become a more robust frame organisation. The decision was combined with a strategic choice to start a gradual move away from capitals (e.g. Nairobi and Maputo) towards up-country provinces. In Kenya, the water catchment areas and counties bordering Lake Victoria to the west were selected as SE’s future intervention area. Moreover, the new ambitious devolution act introduced in Kenya following the adoption of the new constitution provides good opportunities for civil society organisations to influence climate and development policies as well as subsequent distribution of funds.

After one year of preparation SustainableEnergy’s new program Devolution and Climate Change Adaptation, DaCCA was launched in Kisumu in December 2015. Finn Tobiesen who is responsible for SE’s program in Kenya says: “The DaCCA program breaks with SE’s single partner strategy as it involves four partners organised in a Program Coordination Committee, which will design and implement projects within the frame of DaCCA. We envisage that this set-up will create a stronger and less fragile organisational structure with more muscles to impact the direction of public funds”.

The program targets poor and vulnerable communities whose living conditions have deteriorated due to noticeable climate change in the region such as shifts in rainy seasons, frequent floods, decline in crop yields etc. The program will support these vulnerable communities for the next four years, so that they, through their organisations and likeminded networks, will be able to influence decision makers to improve conditions through the devolution act.