Kisumu bets on ward-level plans to keep climate money out of white elephants

Kisumu County has started a three-year project to protect its most flood-prone and erosion-hit wards from climate shocks. Experts at a Lake Victoria conference warned that the project, like any county climate programme, will waste public money unless residents help decide what gets built.

The warning came at the inaugural Lake Victoria Basin International Conference and Exhibition (LVBICE 2026) in Kisumu.

Under the theme “From Planning to Implementation,” speakers said citizens need a much stronger voice in identifying projects, allocating budgets and tracking implementation, so that counties avoid “white elephant” projects that miss residents’ most urgent needs.

Kisumu’s response is the Integrated Climate Resilient Project, which moves the county from planning into a three-year implementation cycle. It targets the most vulnerable and flood-prone wards through community-led interventions.

Presenting the county’s profile, Judith Oluoch, the county water, environment and climate change executive, said Kisumu hosts Kenya’s third-largest city and serves as a commercial and transport hub for Western Kenya.

Despite that economic potential, she said, the county has a high climate and socio-economic vulnerability index. About 40.9 per cent of its area, roughly 857.8 square kilometres, faces moderate to very high flood and climate risk.

Oluoch said drought frequency has doubled since 2005, from once every six years to once every three. Erratic rainfall since the 1960s has also set a long-term wetting trend, increasing the frequency of severe floods. “This crisis is heavily compounded by climate-induced backflow and rising water levels from Lake Victoria,” she said.

The River Nyando frequently breaks its banks, disrupting livelihoods and investments across lowland areas such as Kano, Chiga and Kolwa Central and East. Urban informal settlements in the city, including Nyalenda, Obunga and Bandani, are similarly devastated.

The project also takes aim at land degradation and soil erosion. Oluoch said heavy rains draining from the surrounding highlands have carved massive gullies that wash fertile topsoil into Lake Victoria, robbing farmers of nutrients and choking the lake ecosystem. Katuk Odeyo in Nyakach is among the worst-affected areas, with a gully system she put at 20 to 45 kilometres long and up to 20 metres deep. “River Kibos gullies and the ones at Omanyi River have also remained a nightmare to locals,” she said.

Oluoch said the project aims to protect infrastructure and local investments through five localised objectives. The first is strengthening community resilience, using urban resilience strategies and ward-level adaptation plans to help residents withstand and recover from climate disasters.

The second is reforestation, restoring and expanding forest cover to sequester carbon, provide ecosystem services and support sustainable livelihoods. The third is sustainable land use management, which involves mapping degraded sites for structural restoration, specifically the Katuk Odeyo, River Kibos and River Omanyi gullies. The fourth is better farming.

“It also focuses on improved agricultural practices by promoting climate-smart agricultural techniques to rebuild soil health and maximise local food security as well as nature-based solutions,” she said.

The fifth is nature-based solutions, including green infrastructure along urban riverbanks where land is highly restricted. “Within the city, this is the best option because of limited land,” Oluoch said. She also called for wetland and ecosystem management.

The objectives have been matched to specific areas. Kisumu East, a highly degraded area, will be supported through afforestation and water resource management. Nyando and Chiga will focus on climate-smart agriculture and flood control, and Kisumu Central on urban nature-based solutions where rivers meet the lake.

In Nyakach, the county is calling for sustainable land use management and siltation control.

The county says the plans were built from the ground up. Using PCRA data, it has formalised distinct Ward Adaptation Plans, so projects are formulated by people at ward level and capture exactly what they need.

Kisumu is drawing on the Financing Locally Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) programme, where residents take part in climate risk assessment, action planning and budgeting.

In Omanyi, residents proposed a strategic bridge along the river to stabilise transit and water flow. “Our findings in all this is that you must engage the community members residing around these places. It’s the only way out,” Oluoch said.

Other speakers said that approach should be the standard. Sylvia Vundi, Deputy Director at the State Department for Devolution, said development planning must be driven from the grassroots rather than dictated by external donors or rigid government agencies, and that citizens’ voices “should not be negotiable.”

She described FLLoCA as an example of communities taking part in development decisions.

“Particularly budgeting allows residents to identify their needs, set priorities and influence how funds are allocated,” she said. To keep projects accountable, she urged community-elected Project Management Committees to oversee contractors, monitor milestones and blow the whistle on poor workmanship.

Climatologist Clifford Omondi urged counties to demystify climate change laws so residents can take part effectively in decisions affecting their areas.

He said counties should involve residents in budgeting, including decisions on local development funds, and carry out proper needs assessments before picking projects. “In some counties, FLLoCA funds are used to dig boreholes despite the community not needing one. Residents should first of all be asked to give suggestions on what they want before a project is implemented,” he said.

Follow our WhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.