1. Negative and Positive Impacts of El Niño Rains at Tigithi
Local level Preparedness and Response to the El Niño Phenomenon Early Warning in Tigithi, Kenya
Prepared by: Jackson Wachira and Lydia Cumiskey
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Research objective
Collect information on the effectiveness local level preparedness and response to the El Niño weather and warnings in Tigithi, Laikipia County, Kenya by engaging young DRR scientists (students and volunteers).
Study Methodology
Household questionnaire developed based on a literature review of factors effecting local preparedness
238 questionnaires completed were finally used for results analysis.
A random sampling method was used to select households to be interviewed, targeting the household head.
Data was collected by a team of university students under the supervision of a more experienced research/development practitioner.
Key Findings
Percentage of respondents understanding/perception of the El Niño phenomena
Percentage of respondents receiving El Niño Early Warning messages over time
Conclusions
El Niño Weather had both positive & negative impacts.
The Kenya Meteorological Services (KMS) played a fundamental role in producing the El Niño weather related early warning information
The El Niño early warning lead time was significantly short as a majority of respondents only first received the early warning messages in September 2015, one month away from the OND rains
Recommendations
Close collaboration between KMS and other departments and actors to avoid conflicting early warning messages
Investment in early dissemination of early warning messages to provide sufficient lead time for at risk communities to invest in preparedness measures
Further research is needed to understand the interplay between the producers and dissemination media for early warning messaging
Negative and Positive Impacts of El Niño Rains at Tigithi
About the authors: Jackson is a graduate in Disasters, Adaptation and Development (King’s College London), he is a DRR and Livelihoods Coordinator at FH Kenya. Lydia is a PhD Candidate at The Flood hazard Research Centre Middlesex University, UK. Both are members of the Water Youth Network