10 September 2019, Nairobi, Kenya – Thirty stakeholders from Government ministries and departments, research institutions, universities, civil societies and the UN convened to reflect on the key results achieved, best practices and lesson learnt from the three-year National Adaptation Plan (NAP-Ag) project implemented in Kenya. The project aimed to identify and integrate climate adaptation measures for the agricultural sectors into relevant planning and budgeting processes.

Kenya’s agricultural sector contributes 10 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and plays a major role in the economic prosperity of the country. In 2016, Kenya developed its own nationally validated NAPs and several other national climate change policy documents and regulations to help guide its adaptation and mitigation efforts.

The closing workshop gave partners the chance to discuss the lessons learned from the NAP-Ag project that in turn, could help guide the future work of adaptation planning of the country. Members from the global NAP-Ag team delivered presentations on project’s formulation, implementation, and milestones achieved from the NAP-Ag process in Kenya.

Ms. Veronica Ndetu, the Climate Change Representative from Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, presented key achievements supported by the NAP-Ag project, “ Overall, Kenya’s NAP-Ag project not only met its targets but also surpassed them through successful implementation together with each partner (FAO, UNDP and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries) taking a lead role in overseeing the activities.”

Several key studies were commissioned throughout the project to take stock of capacities, main barriers and inter-linkages, such as in-depth capacity assessments for key sectors and Assessing Institutional Barriers to NAP Implementation in Kenya’s agriculture sector. The NAP-Ag project then built its support to the Government of Kenya on these to strengthen capacities of decision-makers across key sectors through trainings on cost-benefit analysis, vulnerability assessments and the climate proofing of agriculture investment projects. The programme also enhanced the capacity development for gender mainstreaming at both national and country levels and worked to leverage climate finance for adaptation planning and implementation in Kenya.

The main goal of the NAP-Ag was to advance national climate change strategies and implementation frameworks for the agriculture sectors. For Kenya, this came to fruition through the development of an integrated roadmap for climate smart agriculture (CSA) through two products, The Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Strategy and its Implementation Framework and the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Implementation Framework.

To further improve the evidence base for adaptation in the agriculture sub-sectors, the project supported verifiable research on the economic analysis of various CSA interventions in Kenya, most notably sustainable water conservation and agroforestry practices. Aligning with the strategic objectives of the global programme, the Ministry of Agriculture also developed a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework for the Strategy with support from the NAP-Ag project.

The programme focused on building a body of knowledge of climate change adaptation through case studies and critical assessments. The case study produced on Kenya’s experience was part of a larger series drawing upon a suite of activities developed or implemented at the national and county level. To bridge the awareness gap identified in the agriculture component of the NAP, advocacy dissemination was deployed at national climate change conferences, NAP Expos, SBSTA and COP side events.

One of the implementing strategies of the project was to mobilize additional resources to ensure the project’s sustainability. For example, through the project, an additional USD 3.1 million for climate change adaptation planning was leveraged from the Green Climate Fund and the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) for climate change learning. From a learning perspective, this was crucial because Kenya is considered a pace setter for climate action in Africa. The UN partners in NAPs will continue to implement Green Climate Fund Readiness projects where they can integrate best practices from Kenya’s experience for successful replication. This will ensure that the achievements and dialogue created through this project are sustained and the stakeholder engagement is maintained to strengthen Kenya’s resilience.

Kenya is one of the 11 partner countries of the Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans project (NAP-Ag), funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU) through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and implemented jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.