Cows drink water in a drying river in Isiolo County, Kenya. Photo ILRI/Geoffrey Njenga
Kenya media giant triggers climate-smart conversation ahead of COP27
The first pull-out in "The Road to Egypt" series published by Kenya's The Nation focused on climate-smart agriculture and features AICCRA's work with The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).
The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) was one of the flagship contributors and used the opportunity to highlight its ongoing work in co-creating and implementing climate-smart solutions with Kenya's government.
No matter where you are in the world, spurring changes in policy and actions to address the climate crisis requires the buy-in and involvement of a wide range of actors.
These include, for instance, high-level policymakers who craft national strategies and regulations, private companies that are innovating and adopting climate-friendly practices, development actors that create and implement climate-smart solutions and farmers who are given the training and tools to adopt crop varieties or livestock breeds that can adapt to a changing climate.
In Kenya, where headlines are dominated yet again by severe drought, some media outlets are seizing the opportunity to use their platform to power change. The Nation Media Group—Kenya’s largest independent media house—recently partnered with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Co-operatives to launch a public awareness and education campaign focusing on climate adaptation solutions.
They are producing a series of pull-outs called “The Road to Egypt” featuring climate adaptation solutions from different sectors in the run-up to the upcoming 27th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP27).
The first pull-out was published on 12th June, focusing on climate-smart agriculture (CSA). The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) was one of the flagship contributors and used the opportunity to highlight its ongoing work in co-creating and implementing climate-smart solutions with the Kenya Government.
‘‘We see this as a strategic effort to push out to a broader audience the climate-smart solutions and technologies that are in development or already in use in Kenya – not just by ILRI, but also by others,” said Laura Cramer, climate change policy researcher at ILRI and theme leader for Policies and Priorities for CSA under AICCRA.
”The majority of people–politicians, company executives, consumers and farmers–consume a lot of their information through mass media channels. These are the very people we want to influence –those in the policy and investment spaces, and the ones who are in a position to adopt these innovations to accelerate climate action.”
Laura Cramer, ILRI/AICCRA
The pioneer group of contributors to the first pullout are members of Kenya’s Climate Smart Agriculture Multi-Stakeholder Platform (CSA MSP), which was established in part with support from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).
The platform is responsible for coordinating climate-smart actions that contribute toward the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Implementation Framework (KCSAIF) 2018-2027.
Part of the incentive for the Nation Media Group to take on this initiative was the fact that this year’s World Climate Summit is taking place in Africa. This poses an unprecedented opportunity to generate greater awareness and engagement across the continent.
“The climate crisis is worse in Africa because of the continent’s low adaptive capacity and lack of adequate technical knowhow and financial resources to adequately respond to the crisis,” said Simon Mugo, from the Nation Media Group’s Advertising & Marketing team.
“Our objective in this climate action series is to highlight the various adaptation measures that the ministry, development partners, and non-state actors are undertaking to cushion the sector from the negative effects of the crisis, as well as to identify and take advantage of the emerging opportunities.”
Simon Mugo, Nation Media Group’
Mugo recognizes that the conversation around climate action will need to be continually fueled and expects that this won’t be a ‘one-off’ effort for the media outlet.
“Our main and enduring objective is to provide a platform for mobilization, through relevant content, for enhanced inclusion of young people, women and marginalized communities and their voices in the COP27 conversations, which we hope to continue even beyond the COP”, Simon added.