Kenya looks set for a challenging future and the world is taking notice

Like many developing nations around the world, Kenya is facing a massive increase in its population.

Estimates have suggested that by 2050, the Republic of Kenya will almost double its current population and will stand above 95 million.

This is a daunting figure, but thankfully ours is one of the few countries in the world to not only have a plan of action to manage this growth, but that is actually on the way to implementing it.

The National Climate Action Plan 2018-2022, which is based on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, is President Uhuru Kenyatta’s answer to the great challenges facing the Kenyan future, especially those accentuated by climate change.

President Kenyatta’s government has invested hugely in disaster risk management, energy, transport, food and nutrition security, water and the blue economy, tourism, forestry and wildlife.

The recent 2019 Climatescope Index released by the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF2019) has ranked Kenya fifth in the world in green energy sufficiency, way above its neighbours and peers in sub-Saharan Africa.

President Kenyatta fully understands that we need to think big and anew if we are going to be able to meet the future’s challenges.

In a recent op-ed, President Kenyatta wrote: “As the global population rises to 10 billion in coming decades, our demand for seafood will rise. One of the most pressing questions of our time is how we can continue to source sufficient food and nutrition for everyone in a resource constrained world. Yet it looks like the ocean, once again, could provide some answers.”

While this op-ed, written for SeaFoodSource magazine, was specifically about how we can continue to provide sufficient protein to a rapidly increasing population through accelerating the development of marine aquaculture, known as mariculture, it is clear that President Kenyatta is preparing for the predicted scenarios in a thoughtful and educated manner.

With the recent disappointment and global frustration surrounding the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP25, President Kenyatta is almost a lone voice in seeking long-term solutions for challenges relating to climate change. This distinction is also having another important trade-off.

Some are now seeing in President Kenyatta’s global leadership and increased preparedness for the twin threats of climate change and population increase, someone who deserves a seat at the top table of global decision-making.

As Kenya seeks and lobbies to secure a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) seat in June 2020, many nations are increasingly attracted to the idea of placing President Kenyatta and his representatives at the forefront of major global decisions.

Nations like China and Namibia have already thrown their weight behind President Kenyatta’s gambit, and they were joined last month by EAC member states.

It is fitting that Uganda, Burundi, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Rwanda fully support Kenya’s bid for a UNSC seat, because as neighbours they have much to gain from our government’s prominence, especially on issues relating to the effects of climate change, which do not recognise borders or nationality.

In fact, massive population increases will be felt across our region, and when coupled with a diminishing of resources could lead to friction and conflict, both between nations and within them.

Everything from peace, security and prosperity is bound up in these fraught questions, they are existential for many in the region and beyond.

Unfortunately, too many nations and their leaders look at the short term and do not seek protracted solutions that will have no bearing on whether they get re-elected or not. This short-sightedness is arguably one of the reasons our planet is in the dire situation it finds itself in.

Thankfully, in Kenya we have a leader who doesn’t let the long term nature of the challenges we face deter him from tackling them head on for the sake of our children.

This is not only vital for a brighter Kenyan future; it is also turning heads in the international community. A leader with such strategic vision is one that should be leading not just their nation, but the world.

Kenya is blessed that at this precipitous moment, in a sea of unpredictability, we have President Kenyatta steering our ship to calmer and more stable waters.