Boost bad weather response – Daily Nation

The delayed onset of the long rains has been a source of agony for farmers as they stare into an uncertain future, not sure of reasonable harvests this year. Some have had to replant their crops but with the shorter period of rainfall, this could turn out to be an exercise in futility. There could be no firmer signal of food scarcity as our agriculture remains largely rain-fed.

It could turn into a double tragedy for the people at the coast: The weatherman has warned of heavy rains and flash floods in several areas in the next few days. This has been linked to the devastating cyclones in southern Africa. Heavy rains and strong winds are likely to unleash storms in the Indian Ocean, wreaking havoc with the fishing industry.

The weatherman has, in recent years, turned in fairly accurate forecasts and advised on safety. Thus forewarned, the people should take precautions to mitigate the dangers and losses.

But the weatherman is not only a bearer of bad news; other parts of the country, like western, Rift Valley and central Kenya regions, will receive average or above-normal rainfall this month. Farmers had better go for quick-maturing or hardy varieties.

However, the tragedy of our times is our continued vulnerability to weather and climatic changes. Kenyans are largely at the mercy of the increasingly erratic weather. But our seemingly hapless situation is, of course, not due to lack of knowledge. There are elaborate policies on how to deal with the perennial challenges. First, there is very little irrigation going on, and rainwater harvesting is minimal, and most of it goes to waste. Second is the failure to harness technology by building dams for water storage.

Kenya has the capacity and expertise to come up with programmes to break the people’s vulnerability to the elements. We must stem the consequences of natural calamities.