Nairobi — Kenya is at the crossroads between tackling climate change and reducing poverty levels. Debate is rife that conserving the environment will end drought, famine and disease and lead to a drop in food prices.

Poverty reduction in Kenya and other countries is also expected to take centre stage when world leaders join President Obama at his first United Nations address on climate change in New York.

This will be followed by the G20 Summit on September 24, where climate finance will be high on the agenda. Closer home, Kenya is struggling to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to reduce poverty by half over the next six years.

Sadly, it appears, the country is performing poorly in meeting these goals as various reports warn of dire consequences if the economy fails to improve.

Divert funds

If world leaders divert funds meant for education and health to fight climate change, learners will drop out of school and Aids patients on anti-retroviral drugs will face early deaths.

With a third of the urban population in the country living in absolute poverty, provision of basic services like education and healthcare remain a major challenge. According to a recent report by Oxfam, poor families are spending more than 75 per cent of their income on food alone.

Oxfam proposes an increase of funding to sub-Saharan Africa to $50 billion per year (Sh3.75 trillion). Failure to do so, the organisation noted, will see to 8.6 million Aids patients out of anti-retroviral treatment and another 75 million children out of school.

According to Mr Jeremy Hobbs, Oxfam International executive director, funds should be increased -- not diverted -- to help poor countries adapt to climate change.

"World leaders must show that they are not content to stand by and watch recent successes in combating poverty, such as children attending school, mothers surviving child birth and the sick receiving life saving drugs, reversed," Mr Hobbs said.

In Kenya, child mortality from malaria-related cases has decreased following a nationwide campaign to encourage expectant women and all children under five years to sleep under treated mosquito nets. Nine out of 10 cases of malaria in the world are reported in sub-Saharan Africa.

Even though the Ministry of Planning reported an increase in the National Hospital Insurance Fund by 14.4 per cent, there was a considerable decline in budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Health this financial year.

Meanwhile, researchers have found that urban residents in Kenya are more likely to be infected with HIV compared to their rural counterparts. For slum dwellers, engaging in risky livelihood behaviours like prostitution, crime and selling illegal brews increases the risk.

According to a medical expert, pregnant women in slums are disadvantaged as they cannot afford maternity care and, worse, caesarean section in case of emergencies.

The recovery of Kenya's ailing economy will depend on the availability of rains and the performance of the tourism industry. Sound political governance and the duration of the current global crisis will also play a role.

In the June 2009 Economic Survey, Planning minister Wycliff Oparanya admitted that it would be a challenge for the country to attain its Vision 2030 goals.

The report showed that the economy grew by 1.7 per cent last year, compared to a seven per cent growth in 2003. Inasmuch as the central government will rely on external grants to fund development projects in the country, leaders must support innovative ideas aimed at empowering the youth.

On conserving the environment, the MDGs expect countries to implement conservation measures aimed at avoiding loss of natural resources. This means that Kenya needs to move with speed to reclaim lost forest cover by evicting settlers who have invaded the country's key water catchment areas.

Education is central to development. To fight poverty, gender disparity at all levels of learning ought to be eliminated. The Economic Survey reported an increase in enrolment in schools in 2007 and 2008 by 0.4 and 1.2 per cent in primary and secondary schools, respectively.

Reverse trend

However, if students cannot be retained in school due to climate-related problems, like migration of pastoralists, there is need for the government to adopt new plans to reverse the trend.

The global call for action to help solve climate change needs to be thoroughly examined to avoid 'blanketing' Kenya's current achievements in combating poverty.