About Climate Change

Bomet is a multi-ethnic county predominantly occupied by the Kipsigis sub-tribe of the Kalenjin tribe with its headquarters located in Bomet town. Lying between latitudes 0º 29′ and 1º 03′ South and between longitudes 35º 05′ and 35º 35′ East, Bomet boast of favorable climatic conditions for tea farming, dairy farming, horticulture and poultry.

The Bomet County Government Coordination Act, 2014 established Sub-County, Ward, Community and Village administration. Bomet County has five parliamentary constituencies, Bomet Central, Bomet East, Chepalungu, Konoin, and Sotik and 25 electoral wards, 66 locations, 177 sub-locations and 1,977 villages.

Bomet borders four counties: Kericho to the north, Nyamira to the west, Narok to the south and Nakuru to the north-east covering an area of 2,037.4 Km2.  The county is the source of Amala and Nyangores rivers, major tributaries to Mara River which flow into Lake Victoria.

Bomet economy is highly dependent on the natural resource base thus highly vulnerable to climate variability and change including rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns. This increases the frequency and intensity of extreme weather patterns events such as droughts and flooding that pose a threat to the sustainability of our development.

Bomet’s economy is highly dependent on the natural resource base, and thus is highly vulnerable to climate variability and change. Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as droughts and flooding that pose a threat to the sustainability of our development. In this regard therefore, we have consulted with various stakeholders to put in place several mitigation and adaptive mechanisms to curb further effects of climate change on our ecosystem.

In order to safeguard sustainable development, Bomet has demonstrated its commitment to climate  action. First off, we

conducted countywide Participatory Climate Risk Assessment (PCRA) whose recommendations informed the development of a strategic five-year County Climate Change Action Plan (CCCAP) aimed at providing clear and concise response priorities to climate variability and change.

The Bomet County Climate Change Act, 2021 has been enacted through the County Assembly’s support. The legislation seeks to protect the climate system for the benefit of the current and future generations by supporting the National legislations and policies and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process, ratifying the Kyoto Protocol in 2005, and contributing to continental and regional climate change initiatives. With the Action Plan in place, my government is focused on implementing key interventions that can help to achieve the goal of low carbon climate resilient development. These efforts will go a long way in addressing the adverse effects of climate change cutting across key sectors that are important to the economy and society: Environment, Water and Forestry; Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries; Trade; Extractive industries; Energy; Physical Infrastructure; Tourism; and Health.

Bomet County has also established Climate Change Resilience Investment (CCRI) Funds to ensure that the county’s systems of governance, ecosystems and society have the capability to maintain competent function in the face of climate change. This will assist in a return to some normal range of function even when faced with adverse impacts of climate change. Adaptive capacity is key to improving the socio-economic characteristics of communities, households and industry as it includes adjustments in behaviour, resources and technologies, and is a necessary condition for design and implementation of effective adaptation strategies. There is mutual reliance in that the national adaptive capacity depends on the resilience of its systems.

I urge all the stakeholders to join hands with us in protecting our natural resources for posterity and future generations. To achieve the desired climate action, we must all work together. I also appeal to every citizen, agencies and local communities take up the challenge and save our ecosystems by adhering to appropriate adaptive and mitigation capacities for socio-economic development of our society.