Climate change: Tales of Nyandarua Through a Gender Lens
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I am in Nyandarua county, in a town called Njabini. I am ready to learn the culture here, given that it’s my first time in Nyandarua county and for the love of me, I still cannot get over the trip to Njabini.
Like any good story, it began with an early morning set-up. I am a lousy packer, for one who aspires to be an avid traveler, you would think of all things, my packing game would be tight right?
Lousy! I’m lacking some essentials, because I forgot to …you know. Pack… but like any good soldier, I am determined to improvise. It’s my first time since covid, using public means, and I must say. I’ve missed all the hustle and bustle that comes with it.
Kenya does have a robust “matatu” culture, that you can’t help but feel the pride of being a real Kenyan in a matatu. It takes another hour for the matatu to fill up, and the journey to Nyandarua county begins… which brings me to what I cannot get over.
I am seated at the front, (there is always some VIP status for people who do seat at the front, and as a backbencher, this is my one-time shot at VIP-ness, so I grab it! Some things you just need to feel for yourself.
It's the small things guys! It’s the small things! The front seat also makes you privy to the untold experiences of a driver on a Kenyan road.
As our journey starts, I see the driver, pull out some notes, small notes of Sh200, and line them up like some experienced banker (which I actually feel he may be) and as our trip continues, the police stops begin - and I finally make sense of the wad of notes.
With each police stop, a handshake ensues, an exchange happens. Indeed Eric Wainaina was right, we are nchi ya kitu …
Nyandarua county, originally named the Aberdare ranges - means “the drying hide” The renaming was in honor of Lord Aberdare, president of the Royal Geographical Society.
County 018, as it is popularly known to its residents boasts of rich and fertile soils and good ecological conditions as it is surrounded by the Aberdare ranges, thus crop production is favorable all year round.
The major natural resources in the county include eight permanent rivers with Lake Ol’bollosat, being the largest water body in the county, and you guessed it, I am here for the rivers!
The effects of rising global temperatures and climate change are no longer abstract issues but a reality also affecting Nyandarua County as of September 2022.
This time around, I am not in a household, but I am taking a walk in Njabini, in search of the rivers.
If I knew how long that walk would end up being, I would have opted in going to a household, but then again, what is that one thing that they say?
We live and … As I begin the walk, it’s clear to see the effects of the drought in the county. The water bodies are dry, with minimal water trickling in, and some are completely dry.
My guide is a county official and is happy to tell me the county's innings. Agriculture is the main income-earning activity and employs about 69 percent of the people in the county, which in turn contributes to about 73 percent of the household incomes.
I can’t help but wonder if this percentage would drop, with the recently proposed Finance bill.
The food poverty rate in the county stands at 39 percent and is worse in urban populations with respect to rural populations.
Female-headed households are the most affected because of a lack of production inputs resulting from cultural practices that marginalize women in terms of asset ownership.
Agriculture in the county is largely rain-fed. As such, climate change and variation pose serious risks to the sector
2022 situation
In September 2022, Nyandarua Governor Moses Ndirangu Badilisha, emphasized the need for sustainable climate interventions which bring all stakeholders together.
“We are witnessing these changes everywhere and as the home to one of the most critical water towers in Kenya, the Aberdares, we see escalating effects of human and environmental activities which pose a real danger to this ecosystem, and in many other places in the County,” the Governor observed.
Despite the 2022 KDHS report that shows Nyandarua being among the two counties reported with the least number of teenage pregnancies at 5%, the statistics as of 2023, tell a different story.
According to data collected from health facilities across the county, over 6,000 teenage girls have fallen pregnant in Nyandarua in the last three years. Some of the girls were as young as 14 years.
“These figures are only for those girls who visited health facilities in the county. The figure might be higher considering there are those who did not visit hospitals and so their data is not captured,” said Samuel Maina, an official in the county’s health department.
Impact
Climate change is a “threat multiplier”, meaning it escalates social, political and economic tensions in fragile and conflict-affected settings. As climate change drives conflict across the world, women and girls face increased vulnerabilities to all forms of gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence, human trafficking, child marriage, and other forms of violence.
Case in point, Nyandarua remains known for its ‘culturally-tied’ FGM practice. The prevalence of FGM among locals remains worrying with most women and girls facing violence and hostility if they refuse to comply. A situation that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic that left many girls and young women highly vulnerable to being subjected to the practice.
Becky Kabaiko, an advocate against Gender-Based Violence working in Nyandarua county, said the practice would be carried out by a handful of women within the county while the younger girls are sent to their grandmothers in Murang’a County to undergo the rite.
Once a woman undergoes the cut, their husband pays the bride price again because she is now a ‘real woman’, she added.
But married women are not the only ones being pressured to get the cut. Unmarried single women are also being advised to undergo the cut so they can secure a husband. The narrative goes, "If you are not getting married, it is because your ancestors are not happy with you being uncut. You need to pay your grandmother's debt with blood.”
Case Examples (FGM)
“I have had to rescue women in their 50s who are married to a man who demands they must undergo FGM failure to which they are beaten into submission,” stated Becky Kabaiko.
While some cases may come to the limelight, many are secretly circumcised and hidden without trace despite increased surveillance by authorities and heightened advocacy against FGM in the country.
“It is not in accordance with Kikuyu beliefs to wake up ancestors and pay their debts. Our culture has never entertained spirits that disturb the living. Those are no longer ancestors, but demons,” Nyeri businessman Wambugu Nyamu added.
Image: Handout
The sentiments were supported by the National vice chairman of the Kikuyu Council of Elders David Muthoga who argued that cultural groups should only carry forward practices that have meaning in society.
“FGM is an outdated practice that has no place in modern society, and anyone using culture as an excuse to carry out this rite should be condemned. Let us not go backward. It was fashionable then but it is longer relevant. People circumcising women in central Kenya should go back to school,” he stated.
Surprisingly, Nairobi-based historian Leah Kimathi argues that clitoridectomy or circumcision of women in Central Kenya never stopped — it simply never received the same attention as happens in say Kisii, Northern Kenya or Maasai land.
“The Kikuyu have been one of the most culturally debased communities due to colonial disruptions. So cultural revivalism, which goes hand in hand with political consciousness, is very attractive to relatively young people,” says Kimathi.
She added that other cultural practices such as bride price and polygamy are gaining ground, but circumcision of women is the most controversial.
Kenya remains a leader in addressing climate change and was one of the first countries in Africa to enact a comprehensive law and policy to guide national and subnational climate action. The Climate Change Act of 2016 and the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP) 2018–2022.
However, the NCCAP 2018-2022 is too generalized in its approach to addressing gender issues on climate change.
The Policy document mainly focuses on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and so there is a need to consider other climate mitigation opportunities.
There is a need to develop a government scorecard on climate change finance and aid effectiveness BY THE STAR
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