The Trans Nzoia County government has trained 250 Ward Climate Change Planning Committee (WCCPC) members to boost the implementation of climate change measures through the scaling up of community-driven livelihood projects and programmes. The one-week capacity-building event was organized by the Department of Water, Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change in conjunction with the national government and World Bank’s Financing Locally-Led Climate Action Programme. The training involved participants who were drawn from the county’s 25 wards It took place at Mabanga Agricultural Training Centre in Bungoma County and ended on Wednesday. The WCCPs are made of representatives of varied categories, including Persons Living with Disabilities, youth representatives, Faith-based organizations and women representatives. Addressing the participants, County Environment CEC Patrick Gacheru said the trained WCCPCs would act as a crucial link between both public and private agencies and community members to enable proper coordination and implementation of programmes and projects geared toward addressing climate-related challenges. ‘Besides coordination of programmes and projects rolled out by the government and stakeholders, the WCCPCs will be in charge of mobilizing members of the public within their respective wards in various activities including designing ward-specific climate change response strategies, initiating campaign awareness programmes on climate change management strategies,’ highlighted CEC Gacheru. He assured the locals of the devolved unit’s adequate support for what he described as the greening of Trans Nzoia County through various initiatives. ‘We currently have several initiatives supported by both national and devolved units. These are aimed at mitigation, adaptation and resilience to the adverse effects of climate change,’ remarked Gacheru who cited the government’s rallying of Kenyans to plant 15 billion trees by 2032. He lauded the 15 billion tree initiative, which he said seeks to combat the devastating effects of climate change, including droughts, floods, diseases, and unpredictable rainfall patterns, by reducing greenhouse emissions and addressing varying climate changes.

Source: Kenya News Agency