In the framework of the European Union–funded Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Evidence for Policy (MECLEP) project, the Republic of Kenya (hereafter Kenya) is one of the six pilot countries. The country was selected as it is prone to extreme events. In fact, since 1964, a total of 58.66 million people were affected by droughts, floods and related epidemics, and the frequency of events has escalated in the last two decades and a half.
This report compiles information from an extensive number of sources, including academic and working papers, publications and reports conducted by national and international organizations, research institutes and NGOs, as well as government policy documents. It offers two main and complementary outcomes: (a) presents human mobility patterns due to environmental change, creating Kenya’s migration-environment map; and (b) offers guidance for Kenya’s policymakers by analysing the legal framework related to environmental migration. This report also offers insights for a coherent policy development framed on the National Climate Change Action Plan’s (NCCAP) agendas.
It was concluded that the existing national policies do not provide a coherent framework to address the linkages between environmental and climate change with migration in the country. Furthermore, given the diversity of livelihoods in Kenya, a set of approaches to enhance environmental and climate change resilience for different scenarios is crucial. It was also found that enhancing the adaptive capacity of Kenya’s population to environmental and climate change, especially for the poor, would reduce the high levels of poverty in the country. In this context, a common platform for inter-agency and interministerial coordination is needed to enhance coherent policies for migration as adaptation and prevent forced migration in the context of environmental and climate change.
This publication is one of six national assessments to be published under the MECLEP project. Assessment reports have been published on the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Papua Nueva Guinea. The reports on Mauritius and Viet Nam are forthcoming.