PROGRAM: DIPLOMA IN SOCIAL MINISTRY

INSTITUTION: TANGAZA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE [CUEA]

NAME: CHIAWO VERONICA ACHIENG`
ADM. NO: 13036s
DATE: 0!10!013
CLUSTER: THE CHURCH SERVING THE SOCIETY
COURSE: THE WORD O" GOD AND SOCIAL
TRANS"ORMATION
LECTURER: #OSEPHAT MWANGI
MODULE: DSM 11
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INTRODUCTION
The paper presents a discussion about climate change, the root causes, the people
affected, stake holders and a biblical passage used for reflection. The discussion was carried out
with the community leaders and three NEMA Staff members from the district commissioners
office from angchieng location, !achuonyo "istrict, #oma$ay county. Amos program was
used to facilitate the session.
%limate change is the a&erage weather conditions of a gi&en location obser&ed o&er a
period of '( years. The climate of an area is defined by the interactions of &arious factors
including an e&en distribution of solar heating, specific responses of the atmosphere, oceans and
land surface. As such climate plays an important role in contributing to socio)economic
de&elopment of the country as it determines, a&ailability and distribution of resources like water,
ildlife and forests. The earths climate is dynamic and always changing through a natural
cycle. The changes that are occurring today ha&e been escalated by human acti&ities such as
reduction in mountain glacier, landslides, loss of &egetation co&er, flooding, sea le&el changes,
temperature &ariations of seasonal rainfalls, fre*uent and prolonged droughts, resurgence of pests
and diseases and loss of biodi&ersity.
%limate change is caused by two main categories+ natural causes and human induced
acti&ities. The natural causes include &olcanic acti&ity, continental shift, and earths tilt and ocean
currents.
The &olcanic acti&ity causes massi&e erupts that release large &olumes of sulphur
dio,ide, water &apor, dust and ash into the atmosphere, The presence of large &olumes of gases
and ash influence climatic patterns for years e&en though it may take place for only a few days.
The gases are capable of reaching the upper atmosphere from a single eruption. The gases and
dust particles partially block the incoming rays of the sun, thus acting as efficient reflectors of
sunlight and screening solar radiation and energy ordinarily recei&ed from the sun causing
cooling effect in the lower atmosphere hence the lowering of temperatures. %hanges in
atmospheric circulation patterns causes climate change.
%ontinental drift has an impact on the climate because it changes the physical
features of the land mass, their position and the position of water bodies. The separation of the
land masses changes the flow of ocean currents and winds, which affects the climate. The drift as
was notified by the group continues e&en today.
The earths tilt is a result of the earths one full orbit around the sun each year. -n one
half of the year, the northern hemisphere tilts towards the sun resulting to summer conditions
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while in the other half of the year, the earth is tilt away from the sun causing winter. -f there was
no tilting we would ha&e not e,perienced seasons. %hanges in the se&erity of the earths tilt
determine the e,tremity of the weather. Therefore more tilt causes warmer summers and less tilt
leads to colder winters.
.cean currents contribute a great deal to climate systems globally. They co&er about
/01 of the earth and absorb about twice as much of the suns radiation as the atmosphere or the
land surface 2SoE report 3((45/6. .cean currents are caused by winds pushing hori7ontally
against the sea surface creating &arious patterns of ocean currents. They ha&e been to change
direction or slow down releasing heat. The heat released is water &apor which comprises the most
abundant greenhouse gas on earth. ater &apor also contributes to the formation of clouds which
shed the surface and ha&e a net cooling effect.
Man made causes include emissions of green house gases into the atmosphere
leading to global warming and subse*uent change of climate. 8reen #ouses 8ases 28#8s6 are
generated by industrial acti&ities and e,haust fumes form motor industry with the de&eloped
countries contributing to the emissions of large &olumes of 8#8s due to high le&els of
industriali7ation. #uman acti&ities occurring today ha&e also increased climate change. The
industrial re&olution in the 09th century stimulated large scale use of fossil fuels for industrial
acti&ities.
The industries triggered economic growth, the increased burning of fossil fuels has
o&er the years contributed significantly to the emissions of green house gases into the atmosphere
thus causing global warming and subse*uent change of climate. :eople mo&e from rural areas to
the cities in search of better li&elihoods, a trend that has continued to date. ;arge tracks of land
once co&ered with &egetation ha&e been cleared to make room for settlement, industrial
e,pansion and other infrastructure de&elopment thus reducing natural purification system referred
to as carbon sinks.
The high population growth has been marched by a marked increase in the use of
natural resources primarily for construction, industry and transport. %hanging consumptions
patterns has also led to wasteful utili7ation of natural resources and generation of waste and poor
waste disposal leading to the physical accumulation of solid waste in the en&ironment and
matching emission of green house gases in the atmosphere.
%limate change is likely to affect millions of <enyans particularly those with low
adapti&e capacity with an increase or decrease of en&ironmentally relate diseases such as malaria,
yellow fe&er, cholera, meningitis, dysentery, T$ among others.
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#uman settlements ha&e been affected by climate change e&ents like floods,
earth*uake, drought e.t.c compelling people to mo&e from hostile to percei&ed safer areas. This
has caused rapid urbani7ation of affected areas leading to increased homelessness and
proliferation of informal settlements. This has resulted to increased po&erty le&els, inade*uate
infrastructure and ser&ices+ declining resources+ increased insecurity and &iolence. ith the onset
of climate change, there is an increasing population of poor people li&ing in slums thus making
them &ulnerable.
%limate change has affected global hydrological cycles with ma=or impacts on
regional water resources. A change in the &olume and distribution of water affects both ground
and surface water supply for domestic and industrial uses. -t also affects water supply systems
and the ability of water resource manager to respond to population growth and change in demand,
technology, economic, social and legislati&e conditions. %limate change may cause minimal
effects on water sources in some areas, and in other cases it may cause substantial economic,
social and en&ironmental cost, particularly in regions that already are water limited and where
there is considerable competition among users.
;i&estock production is greatly affected by changes in climate pattern. Specific
changes ha&e been obser&ed in their distribution, production and the fre*uency of diseases and
pests. At production le&el, amount of rainfall dictates the a&ailability of feeds for li&estock. The
ma=or climatic conditions influencing the sector include rainfall, temperature, humidity, wind
and atmospheric pressure. ;i&estock distribution is influenced by changing climate. ;i&estock are
concentrated in areas with climatic conditions fa&oring pastures and fodder production as well as
water a&ailability. ;i&estock mo&ement is pre&alent during periods of shortages of pasture and
water as a result of prolonged drought. ;i&estock disease out break and pest infestation is
associated with changes in climatic conditions. >or e,ample the !ift ?alley >e&er 2!?>6 is more
pre&alent during rainy seasons while foot and mouth disease is closely linked to dry seasons. This
usually causes great loss of li&estock. :eople are also affected agriculturally in that 9(1 of
<enyans li&ing in rural areas deri&es its li&elihood directly from land. The low rainfall that
coincides with high e&aporation rate limits the a&ailability of water for agricultural acti&ities. -t
has been recogni7ed that due to climate change, the high potential land is increasingly con&erting
into arid and semi arid lands 2ASA;S6. This has affected human settlement and land use hence
widespread agricultural failures, resulting in millions of casualties and massi&e loss of assets.
The stakeholders 2global actors6 include Multilateral En&ironmental Agreements
2MEAS6 and policies such as energy, land, agriculture, water, fisheries, industriali7ation, health
and safety, draft national disaster management among others. They address issues related to
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climate change especially adaptations and coping mechanisms in different sectors as well as
socio)economic aspects. The national policy on natural resources -nformation management,
pro&ides the platform for collection of rele&ant data from different ecosystem which enables the
prediction of occurrence, land use changes, different patterns and trend. This has enabled better
en&ironmental go&ernance and alle&iation of ad&erse effects of climate changes.
The energy policy ad&ocates for the pro&ision of ade*uate, reliable, cost effecti&e and
affordable energy supply to meet de&elopment needs, while protecting and conser&ing the
en&ironment and this makes the sector a key stake holder in mitigating climate change through
appropriate strategies and actions.
The land policy calls for immediate actions to addressing en&ironmental problems
that affect land such as degradation, soil erosion and pollution. >or instance, the policy
instipulates the principle of conser&ation and management of land based natural resources+
principle of protection and management of fragile and critical as well as promoting en&ironmental
assessment and audit as a land management tool.
Agriculture is the mainstay of the countrys economy. The sector is ad&ersely
affected by se&ere climate change e&ents especially drought and floods which interfere with crop
production and food insecurity therefore the agriculture policy recogni7es the need to promote
&arious measures to adapt and mitigate effects and impacts of climate on agriculture like use of
drought and pest resistant crops, promotion of irrigation agriculture, soil conser&ation
inter&entions and promoting the use of organic manure.
The water policy recogni7es the need for urgent mitigation measures such as
rehabilitation of water catchments areas and safeguarding biodi&ersity, construction of dams in
the dry areas to enhance rain water har&esting, sinking boreholes and embracing efficiency
methods of water use.
%limate change affects the a*uatic en&ironment which affects the distribution,
conser&ation and use of the water within the earth surface. The <enyan fisheries are particularly
&ulnerable to future increases in temperature and rainfall changes for both coastal and inland
fisheries. The policy seeks to promote and coordinate fisheries research in disaster areas and
changes in rainfall and coastal current systems. -t also seeks for enhancement of fisheries
information and promotion of regional and international cooperation. The policy e,plores
strategies to consistent fisheries production at all times despite changes in climate.
-ndustriali7ation policy ad&ocates for sustainable industrial de&elopment and
adoption of cleaner production technologies. -t seeks to establish harmony between
en&ironmental conser&ation and de&elopment of industries for sustainable de&elopment. -t also
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calls for the preser&ation of indigenous knowledge and associated technologies in order to
enhance the sur&i&al of local communities.
#uman health is closely affected by natural processes that are influenced by climate
and weather &ariability. The health policy recommends inter&entions to monitor these impacts
through proper management of health ser&ices. To impro&e efficiency of the ser&ice deli&ery the
policy promotes increased decentrali7ation into districts.
The National "isaster Management policy has been de&eloped to ser&e as a
pre&enti&e strategy to address preparedness, institutional framework, legislation and coordination
mechanisms. The policy recogni7es the climate change and the need to adopt strategies in order
to in control the effects. -t also calls for systematic obser&ations of related natural disasters in
order to enhance preparedness.
The local actors include the communities around who ha&e understood and agreed to
participate in playing a role in climate change after &arious meetings, seminars and workshops as
well as public barazas at the local le&el which ha&e been held by &arious stake holders in the
changing to ha&e a solution in climate change. They work together with N8.s to rehabilitate the
degraded forests. The people ha&e taken initiati&es in combating some of the manifestation of
climate change like desertification, drought, and floods. Minority of the people try to plant trees
where they ha&e been cut for domestic purposes as fuel)wood and charcoal. These are the ma=or
sources of fuel used in the county indicating enormous wood consumption and thus high
deforestation rates throughout the county. -t is one of the challenges that the go&ernment and the
local community face in combating desertification in the area. Their capacity is limited to combat
the problem but the struggle is on and they ha&e not gi&en up. .thers ha&e also begun to plant
other types of pastures to substitute with grass for their li&estock. This to some e,tent has helped
to reduce the rate of o&ere,ploitation of &egetation co&er in some areas.
The local community as the local actors to climate change still do not participate
fully in playing their role and it was disco&ered by the people themsel&es that a lot capacity
building at all le&els is needed to mobili7e the community in resources management.
8enesis 0@34)'( was the passage scripture chosen by the group because it was found
to be more appropriate and inspiring for the reflection. 8od made man in his own image and
likeness and delegated him authority o&er the rest of creation. e ha&e recei&ed 8ods blessings
that empower each and e&ery one of us to transmit the life we ha&e recei&ed from 8od, which is
to participate fully in his work of creation through taking good care of what he has created. -t was
clearly disco&ered by the people that the en&ironment is a gift which 8od has entrusted to us and
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we are to use and maintain it in a such away that all li&ing creatures can co)e,ist in a harmonious
relationship that promote the gift of life that we ha&e been gi&en freely by 8od. The group
reflected further and reali7ed that care for the en&ironment is a uni&ersal duty and it represents
challenge for all humanity. All are called to be responsible for the good care of the en&ironment
and must feel the commitment to protect it from all kinds of abuse.
CONLUSION
The main conclusion drawn from the discussion was that climate change is a reality in the
country =ust like in other parts of the world. -t has already caused se&ere social)economic impacts
including loss of human life, death of li&estock, and damage to infrastructure, poor crop yield
leading to food insecurity, migration and displacement. -t has also led to resource use conflicts
e,perienced in different parts of the country+ the effects are more se&ere in de&eloping countries
as they lack resources making them particularly &ulnerable to ad&ersities. -t is hoped that all the
stakeholders 2both local and global6 will help mitigate the effects of climate change in the country
while endea&oring to slow and e&entually a&ert the same.
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RE"ERENCES
N7ioka, $. 23((A6. <icking the #abit@ !educe Air :ollution Sa&e ;i&es. Nema News Maga7ine)
Bune)August 3((A, pg. 0C)0D.
State of En&ironment !eport, <enya. 23((45/6@ Effects of climate change and coping mechanisms
in <enya. NEMA
The African $ible@ :aulines :ublications Africa.
aste Management !egulations 23((46. -nformation #and book financed by European Enion,
NEMA

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