Reporting
Kilifi: Where drought and flood devastates at the same time
This week’s episode takes you to Kilifi, Kenya – home to Watamu and Malindi’s sandy beaches. The only permanent river – River Sabaki – emanating from Kenya’s Aberdare Ranges west of Central Kenya floods each time it heavily rains upstream. Now, the 2018 Kilifi County Drought contingency plan notes that the drought return period has reduced to two to three years from every five to seven years in the last decade.
Also read: How the changing climate could be affecting you mental health
Between 2016 to 2020, Kilifi County experienced a devastating drought that leads to massive pasture loss and cattle deaths, with nearly half a million people affected. With the county alternating between droughts and flash floods, what impacts does this have on communities? Listen to their voices.
The episode is part of the mental health and climate change series, made possible by a grant from the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists.