Communities in Kenya are currently recovering from the worst drought in 40 years and with support from Concern Worldwide they are working to protect themselves against the next one. For these communities climate change is an everyday threat to their livelihoods, unless they can adapt.
By leaving a gift in your will to Concern you can help families in Kenya and the Horn of Africa adapt to the increasing harsh weather conditions they face.
All of us wish for a bright future for our loved ones. It’s where the urge to leave a legacy gift stems from, a way to protect the ones we love even after we’re gone. Providing such a life-changing gift can help ensure a brighter future for some of the world’s most vulnerable people.
“Concern works with extremely poor populations experiencing extreme hunger and malnutrition,” says Jackson Mekenye who has worked with the Irish humanitarian organisation since 2011.
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The rural communities he works with in arid areas are at particular risk.
“People in these communities would usually experience two rainfall seasons, in March to May and October to December. But between late 2020 and March 2023, not one drop of rain fell,” he explains.
Rainfall supports both pastures and communities, he points out, replenishing rivers and groundwater, and enabling vegetation and crops to grow. To have missed five consecutive rainfall seasons in just over two years is devastating.
The current crisis is simply the most recent manifestation of massively disrupted weather systems.
“Drought periods have been changing in terms of frequency and intensity,” says Mekenye.
“Before the 1990s we were looking at droughts every 10 years. Increasing intensity and shorter cycles between droughts has resulted in these communities having less time to recover.”
The consequences have been catastrophic on the production of crops and livestock such as camels, cows, sheep and goats.
“These populations are mainly pastoralists. Eighty per cent of their living comes from livestock and many lost between 40 and 60 per cent of their animals,” he points out.
“People store their wealth in animals. This size of your sheep and your goat herd is your current account. If you need something, you take a goat to market, trade it for cash, and buy what you need,” he explains. In contrast, camels and cows are considered their long-term savings.
Frequent loss of animals to drought makes it impossible for farmers to maintain their livelihoods. Even in the wake of this Concern works with farmers to improve the condition and welfare of their livestock, in order to achieve the best price possible at market. Also, Concern acknowledges the devastation of climate change and is working with pastoralists to diversify their livelihoods. “Through climate smart solutions farmers are regaining their dignity,” he explains.
Providing climate smart solutions
With a donation in your will, Concern is able to help communities to adapt through its wide range of climate smart agricultural programmes. “It is about conservation agriculture, minimising soil disturbance and ensuring the right seed is planted at the right time, taking climate change into account. It’s about using water in the best way, such as ensuring soil is covered with mulch to protect it from water loss,” he explains.
With temperatures soaring up to 40 to 45 degrees at times, combating water loss is a major issue.
Concern works with farmers to implement new techniques, such as planting seeds in sunken beds, so that water collects around them like a basin. It helps ensure timely access to hybrid seeds that mature fast so that when the rains do come, families can take prompt action.
“Over the years, because people have been losing their livelihoods, they tended to develop negative coping strategies, such as cutting down trees for firewood and to make charcoal to sell at the market. We are helping them to restore the natural resources, such as tree cover, and explore other options instead,” he explains.
Trees provide shade for communities and livestock but do much more besides. They help hold rainwater when it falls, preventing run off and soil erosion. The tree cover helps maintain the moisture in the soil when the rains do come.
Protecting life giving water
For water, rural communities depend increasingly on bore holes drilled deep into the ground. “In times of extreme drought these become extremely saline, which means fewer bore holes can be used,” he points out.
Such bore holes are typically serviced by solar powered pumps. “When these break down, there is no access to water at all. Normally people would expect to walk 1km to 1.5km to get water. That has now extended to 15k to 30km. When they get there, they queue for up to three hours, before walking home with a 20-litre jerry can on their back, which isn’t even enough for an average family to survive on,” he says.
Water collection is done by women. “Previously people would have used donkeys to carry water but they have lost these. If you are in such a situation, getting water is your priority, so girls are taken out of school to help their mothers carry it,” he adds.
Restoration of power to the people
Concern is helping communities to restore their environments through the use of water conservation techniques. These include solar-powered boreholes, that now facilitate the supply of clean water to farms. This irrigates their crops and also reduces the number of bacterial infections from contaminates sources.
Climate resistant seeds produce crops for food to nourish their families, as well as vegetation to keep animals alive.
Concern is working to ensure children here are no longer dying from hunger. Its programmes help people to maintain their livestock which gives them access to an income that can be used to pay for education and to buy essential items such as medicine.
A donation in your will lives beyond your lifetime
Leaving a gift in your will to Concern will have an enormous impact on its ability to action change. “Concern is a non-profit. Our work would not be possible without the incredible generosity of the Irish people,” says Makenye.
“For these families the impact of a gift in your will can be life-changing. It is about helping people, one household at a time, and eventually we will end extreme poverty in the areas in which we work.”
“A legacy gift in your will to Concern means that you are leaving a gift to enrich other people’s lives. That is the greatest fulfilment a person can have,” he says.
To find our more contact Siobhán O’Connor, legacy manager at Concern Worldwide on 01 417 8020 or email legacy@concern.net