As the world was engrossed in devastating news of wildfires destroying tracts of land and properties in Los Angeles, United States, as highlighted in last week’s column, children at a primary school in western Kenya were braving the morning cold to fetch drinking water for school. These two incidents share a common factor: a changing climate characterised by rising temperatures that fuel frequent wildfires and increased variability in rainfall, leading to prolonged droughts. The key difference, however, lies in the level of adaptability.

Climate change adaptation refers to the ability of people and ecosystems to recover after a climate disaster. Adaptation helps to reduce the negative effects of climate change while leveraging emerging opportunities.

The US and Kenya have different levels of adaptability to climate shocks. Factors that determine a region’s resilience include road infrastructure, access to water and electricity, and effectiveness of farming systems. The ability to restore these factors after a climate crisis, in turn, depends on the level of human resource development and economic status.

While the US has the capacity to recover quickly due to its advanced social, political, and economic development, rural areas in Kenya struggle to cope, largely because of limited human and financial resources.

The Kenya Cabinet’s resolution to adopt a dual-track TVET model — where trainees spend more time in practical fieldwork — presents an opportunity to develop human capital essential for addressing climate change shocks. As climate change worsens, it becomes necessary to accelerate the process of building relevant technical skills in disciplines such as sustainable farming, water management, and infrastructure development.

More resources must be allocated to accelerate the development of TVET institutions. Boosting funding for TVETs is crucial for fostering the development of green skills required to build adaptive infrastructure.

Consequently, greening TVET policy has been proposed as a pathway to addressing climate adaptation challenges. The concept of greening TVET involves reorienting and reinforcing both emerging and existing skills to support sustainable development.

Embedding sustainability into all aspects of TVET training requires crafting future scenarios informed by latest scientific knowledge, including the devastating impacts of climate change. TVETs can act as systems integrators, facilitating the achievement of goals across multiple domains of society, economy, and environment.

In the past, skills shortages in priority areas such as water management, agricultural systems, ecosystem conservation, infrastructure development, energy, and forestry have remained significant barriers to transitioning to cost-effective climate adaptation. Reconceptualising TVETs and their potential is, therefore, critical to addressing these adaptation gaps.

For instance, competent trainees from TVET institutions can drive the transformation of food systems. Part of the ineffectiveness of food systems in Africa stems from inadequate adoption of irrigation and other relevant technologies. With a critical mass of technically skilled trainees and expertise across different sectors, it will be possible to close these gaps.

— The writer is a UN global food systems Youth Leader, Vocational and Technical Trainer, and Communication Consultant