By Kepher Otieno

Margret Ogonyo, 57, and Alice Aomo, 47, have lived for decades in fear of floods.

Each rainy season, floods destroy their crops, sweeps away their livestock and houses, and most critically endangers their lives and those of other residents of Kano plains in Nyando River basin.

Ogonyo and Aomo say the floods have trapped them in a vicious circle of poverty. Many residents of Kano plains are small-scale farmers who cannot afford land.

However, flooding may soon be a thing of the past in the Kano plains after the Japanese Government released Sh580 million in grant money to build flood evacuation centres.

This follows a feasibility study done in the area to find out the technical assistance the Asian country could offer Kenya to deal with the floods’ menace.

The studies explore a number of plans along Nyando River basin, which needed to be factored in to help in with agricultural revival strategy in the region.

The programme has established a flood management system by implementing structural and non-structural measures and the residents have now embraced best agricultural practises aimed at containing floods.

Japan carried out the studies between November 2008 and February 2009 and reviewed the viability of the structural measures.

It then agreed to set up four centres covering 24 villages each with a capacity to house up to 500 families and their property at a go.

The centres are stationed in central Kolwa, Rae, Kanyaila and Ofunyu.

Japanese Ambassador to Kenya, Toshihisa Takata, inaugurated the centres this week and assured Kenya of further support. Mr Takata says the centres will supplement the country’s disaster management efforts.

He says although Japan has been hit by a number of natural disasters, they still felt deeply touched by countries troubled by floods.

In March, Japan experienced an earthquake and tsunami that killed 20,000 people and left thousands of families homeless. Takata said most countries faced threats of recurring floods due to ever changing climate.

"Kenya’s geographical position right on the Equator makes it vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change," Takata pointed out. "We are willing to help Kenya to manage disasters by sharing our knowledge and expertise."

Cases of floods are also common in Budalang’i in Western and the Coast provinces.

Bernard Aluga, chairman of the community flood organisations, asked for more support to put up additional evacuation centres.

So far the group have built, culverts, footbridges and weirs, which initially were destroyed by torrential rains, thanks to the Japanese support.

According to Regional Water Resources Management Authority manager, Margaret Abira, they have appropriate plans for floods mitigation.

With agriculture using up to 70 per cent of the ecosphere’s freshwater resources today, experts are keen to help flood victims cope with its effects.

And the primary step towards climate security is ensuring farmers and the world’s poor will be able to feed themselves, Takata says.

Abira says they have prepared various educational activities and capacity building workshops to empower farmers on flood management.

　

Kenya experiences extreme climatic and weather conditions such as drought and flooding. This can be attributed to rising temperatures that subsequently alter weather patterns leading to rise in ocean or sea levels round the globe due to global warming.

Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are just a few greenhouse gases, which most industrial nations emit in the air. They cause heat to be trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere similar to the way a glass ceiling traps heat inside a greenhouse.

This is happening even as the 1997 Kyoto Protocol comes to an end next year in December.

Kenya ratified the Kyoto protocol in 2005 and is the first African country to engage in carbon trade.