Kenya
“Restoring Hope Through Mangroves - A Story from the Philippines” most directly connects to the following SDGs: SDG 13 (Climate action), SDG 14 (Life below water), SDG 15 (Life on land), SDG 5 (Gender equality) and SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth). Indeed, environmental restoration links to broader issues of poverty reduction, gender equality and resilience. The new community initiatives that arose during the restoration process led to creation of employment for women and the effect further spills to affect the education sector in the community.
Different from the Philippines, Kenya is faced with a broad range of natural hazards. The most common phenomena are drought and floods. The droughts are more frequent in the arid and semi-arid parts of the country which constitute 70% of the country. Additionally, the country’s 1,420 km of coastlines faces the threat of rising sea levels. All these are as a result of climate change. Similar to the Philippines, the occurrence of these disasters in the country leads to loss of life and extensive socioeconomic impacts on livelihoods and the economy at large. The impacts of the droughts to the communities living in the arid and semi-arid areas include loss of crops and livestock. Other effects include forest fires and damage to fisheries. In order to cope up with drought events, communities have opted to grow crops that are more drought resistant and reduce the number of livestock they keep. In the event of these droughts, the local communities get support from the Government in coordination with the county governments, the Kenya Rec Cross and UN Agencies. The response is oftentimes a combination of immediate relief and long-term resilience-building mechanisms such as provision of food and cash assistance, water provision and livestock support programs.