Nairobi, Kenya, has recently experienced a number of flooding events as a result of heavy rainfall. For the citizens, these events have been made worse by litter blocking drainage systems, which has meant that flood waters have reached peoples’ homes.
To try and prevent this from happening again the people of Nairobi, along with the Kenya Meteorological Department, are working together on the Developing Risk Awareness through Joint Action (DARAJA) project under the WISER East Africa Program, funded by UKAID and the UK Met Office.
DARAJA has enabled the Kenya Meteorological Department to train local communities to better interpret weather information so they can plan ahead for heavy rainfall events by, for example, ensuring their drainage systems are kept clear.
The purpose of the DARAJA project is to co-produce weather and climate information services, which are particularly relevant to urban informal settlement communities in Tanzania (Dar es Salaam) and Kenya (Nairobi). The project will also assess the availability and access to climate information in the target communities.
The project is being delivered by Resurgence, which is working with intermediaries in Nairobi (Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI)) and Dar es Salaam (Centre for Community Initiatives (CCI)) to build their expertise and the range of tools available to them. Together they will create a framework and toolkit to underpin a new communication system for the creation, flow and use of weather and climate information in East African urban centers.
*This video has been produced by Ondivow Photography and Habari Kibra as part of the DARAJA project under the WISER East Africa Programme funded by UKAid and UK Met Office.