North East MEP Fiona Hall sees impact of climate change on Kenya's poor and calls for action

3.30.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 15th Nov 2006

As UN climate change talks conclude in Nairobi this week, Lib Dem MEP Fiona Hall warns of the devastating impact which climate change is having on poor farmers in Kenya. The Euro MP for the North East recently travelled to North Western Kenya with international development charity Practical Action to visit the remote and deprived area of Alale. Here, Fiona Hall met pastoralist communities to hear how climate change is fuelling poverty and escalating conflict.

Fiona said:

"Climate change is already a devastating reality for poor farmers in Kenya. We must ensure that more European aid reaches the communities who are being hit hardest by droughts. But we must also work together to limit the extent of global warming for the sake of the world's poor.

"Simple changes in lifestyle can cut down on greenhouse gas emissions - as well as saving us money. Poverty will never be made history unless we tackle climate change, and we all have a role to play."

The more frequent and severe droughts caused by climate change are hitting farmers and pastoralists the hardest, who with little irrigation, rely on the rains for growing subsistence crops and rearing livestock. Nearly 80% of pastoralist's livestock was lost earlier this year during a severe drought. The ongoing shortage of water is worsening existing tensions between neighbouring tribes, and disputes over water are more frequently escalating into violence and conflict. The MEP learnt how struggling families are now being forced to take more extreme measures just to survive.

"The communities in Alale are already living in desperate poverty, but the impact of climate change threatens to push people over the edge. Most families I met survive off one meal a day, and women now walk nine hours just to fetch water. Where women used to marry aged 16 only a few years ago, desperate fathers are now pushing them into marriage aged just 11, so that they can receive the cattle dowry" explained Fiona Hall.

The exposure tour was organised by Practical Action to show MEPs how European aid can be better spent on communities who need it most. According to the charity, small scale farmers and pastoralists represent the majority of the poor in the continent, yet European aid is currently failing to support them.

Stuart Coupe, the Practical Action's Project Manager said

"European aid is not getting to small scale producers in Africa, and instead is focused on developing agro-business and commodity crops that are grown by better off farmers. The only aid which areas like Alale see is emergency food relief during the droughts. But if the European Commission is serious about reducing poverty in Africa, it must ensure more its aid is spent on supporting small-scale farmers and pastoralists through long-term development assistance, and not wait until the next emergency."

Fiona Hall will be pressing the European Commission to ensure more of its aid reaches pastoralists and farmers in rural areas like Alale. She highlighted the role that everyone can play a part in reducing the impact of climate change.