You have probably seen photographs online of carcasses, dry and cracked grounds, mothers carrying children on their backs while rolling jerricans in search of water or half-naked hungry and emaciated children.
Most of these photos were taken in the arid and semi-arid lands (Asals) of Kenya.
Asal regions cover close to 80 percent of the country’s land mass, meaning a large part of Kenya remains underutilised and inaccessible.
These counties have remained highly vulnerable to the worst impacts of climate change, giving rise to some of the most dehumanising experiences for communities there.
For a long time, the regions have faced the worst impacts of global warming, manifested by persistent droughts, deadly floods, disease outbreaks and other resultant issues like resource-based conflicts and displacements.
These conflicts are a result of competition over scarce water and pasture, as the communities in Asals are predominantly pastoralist.
Coupled with the existing challenges, the disputes make the situation worse, leading to high levels of poverty and vulnerability.
The situation will not get any better soon. A State of the Climate report by the World Meteorological Organisation(WMO), released at the UN Climate Conference (COP 30) in Belem, Brazil, late last year revealed that greenhouse gases responsible for climate change reached record observed levels in 2024 and continue to rise even this year, meaning we are not out of danger of the effects.
Asal regions will most likely continue to be impacted by the adverse effects of this climate change phenomenon.
As all this happens, there is a heated debate on why the regions continue to lag in development, evidenced by the low standards of education, malnutrition – especially among children – insecurity and other endless tragedies witnessed and reported every year.
Coupled with these are the many questions around the flow of funds to counties in these regions, with indications showing that trillions of shillings have been sent there to improve socio-economic welfare of communities.
For many decades, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have camped in these counties, pumping in massive amounts of money and other resources to improve lives and livelihoods.
With these realities, why do Asals continue to lag behind other regions in Kenya in terms of development?
What should be done now and urgently to secure a dignified and sustainable future for these communities?
There is need for an urgent shift of Asal development to climate-resilience focused, which includes deliberately investing in renewable energy like solar and wind; tourism; and even climate-smart livestock.
All these must be backed by strong policies that support pastoral economies and strengthen value chains.
Take the case of climate-smart livestock systems. Animal breeds can be modernised and strengthened, coupled with better rangeland management, veterinary and water infrastructure.
If early warning systems are put in place and innovative ways are developed to share timely climate information, there will be an automatic reduction of losses and deaths of camels, goats, donkeys, sheep and cattle during floods, droughts and related calamities.
Livelihood diversification is a necessity as that will help move the communities beyond traditional pastoralism.
These and related interventions are transformational in intent and design.
Without strengthened governance accountability and coordination to ensure investments deliver short and long-term outcomes, Asal regions will continue to experience poverty, disease outbreaks, deadly conflicts and other preventable suffering.
Whether NGOs multiply or new sources of funding are realised, the regions will remain the least developed in Kenya, denying the country the much-needed contribution to the GDP that could be easily carved from their solar energy, tourism, lakes, minerals and livestock value chains for leather, milk and meat.
Perhaps, the challenge facing Asal development can best be captured by Chinua Achebe’s central argument in The Trouble with Nigeria: it is a failure of leadership.