Descriptions

This project aims to highlight the health impacts of climate change on vulnerable populations in the East African drylands through research, public and policy engagement to catalyse climate policy and practice change. Specifically, we analyse historical climate, ecological and nutritional status data to quantify climate impacts on nutritional status, conduct primary research to document communities’ lived experiences with climate change impacts on nutritional status and mental health, and model future scenarios and costs of the impacts. In the project we engage policy and practice actors to catalyse appropriate climate action.

The expected outcomes of the project are
1. Framework for attributing impacts of climate change on nutrition
2. Estimates of undernutrition and mental health burden for vulnerable populations in Eastern Africa attributable to climate change.
3. Case studies of lived experiences of vulnerable populations in Kenya with impacts of climate change on nutrition and mental health.
4. Quantification of future health burdens from undernutrition and mental health that could be avoided in vulnerable populations in Eastern Africa Countries by adopting different policy/ecological scenarios to adapt to climate change, and cost thereof.
5. Improved understanding of the concepts of climate change and its impacts and on factors that contribute to vulnerability to climate change impacts, and empowerment of communities in drylands in Eastern Africa to apply adaptation measures.
6. Adoption of context-specific and scalable climate change policies and practices in Eastern Africa’s drylands.