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The BBC World Service Trust is the BBC's international charity. It uses the creative power of media to reduce poverty and promote human rights.
The British Council is the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. As well as education, it runs programmes in the arts, science, sport, governance and English language.
Kenya Talks Climate
What do people think about climate change in Kenya? Can communication and media strategies be tailored to support Kenya's response to climate change?
In May 2009, the BBC World Service Trust conducted research in Kenya to gauge public understanding of climate change.
The research consisted of 12 focus group discussions with Kenyan citizens, as well as 17 in-depth interviews with opinion leaders from government, religious institutions, the private sector, the media and civil society.
Findings included:
Drought and food scarcity are causing frustration and despair across Kenya. Farmers, fishermen and pastoralists do not know how they would cope if these problems became worse.
Kenyans have noticed changes in their weather. They say that it is getting hotter, that the seasons have shifted and that the rains are more unpredictable. Most, however, have no understanding of the relationship between these issues and climate change.
Most Kenyans are unfamiliar with the concepts of climate change and global warming. They believe the term “climate change” refers to changes in the weather or seasons and have little knowledge of its global context or the greenhouse effect.
There is a strong tendency for Kenyans to hold themselves individually or collectively responsible for changes in the local environment and weather. There is little understanding that the changes they have witnessed have causes that originate outside Kenya.
While Kenyans believe that tree-planting is the best way to bring back the rains and stabilise the country’s climate, few say that they are actively engaged in the activity. Most depend on trees for their energy needs and say they lack the resources to plant and care for new ones.
Most Kenyans feel there is little they can do as individuals to improve the conditions of the environment in which they live. They say they lack information and resources that would enable them to cope more effectively.
Kenyans are highly critical of the government at all levels for a lack of visible action on the environmental and poverty issues that they face. The government says it is working to improve food and water security and that it has begun to formulate its response to climate change.
Opinion leaders feel that more needs to be done to engage Kenyans in environmental conservation and increase their ability to respond to changing environmental conditions. Aside from tree-planting, there is little consensus about what methods of conservation or adaptation should be encouraged.
Many of the Kenyans familiar with climate change learned about it through the media. despite this, the Kenyan media feel it is a difficult issue for them to cover. They say the complexity of climate change limits its perceived relevance in the eyes of the Kenyan public, and that the media are unlikely to cover an issue that the public knows, or cares, little about.
There appears to be little cross-sector co-ordination and communication about climate change. while links between government and NGOs appear strongest, local community leaders appear particularly isolated from decisions made at a national level.