Since 2023, persistent rains have continued to turn parts of western Kenya into water bodies, sweeping away homes and farms, and displacing thousands of families.  

By May 2024, the government reported over 229 deaths and about 234,000 people displaced nationwide. In the entire western Kenya region, Busia and Homa Bay were among the worst-hit counties.

During the same period, more than 1,700 families in Karachuonyo, Homa Bay County, were affected at the start of the March-April-May rains.

By mid-June, an estimated 54,000 people were still living in temporary camps across the western counties.

In Budalang’i, Busia, families wade through waist-deep floodwater while others use wooden boats to move from one place to another.

The effects of flooding were so devastating, with the National Disaster Management Authority reporting that nearly 27,700 acres of cropland had been destroyed and about 4,800 livestock drowned by the floods, forcing locals to be confined in camps as displaced persons in Runyu, Rukala, Khumwanda, Budala and Mukhadundu camps.

Another impending danger was water and sanitation, with shallow wells and latrines getting contaminated and endangering public health with the risk of cholera, malaria and stomach-related illnesses, especially among the displaced, with pregnant mothers being the most affected.

Paul Were, a clinical officer and facility in charge at the Rukala Health Centre, vividly remembers the flooding effects from 2020 after River Nzoia, a tributary of Lake Victoria, burst its bank,s displacing thousands with an influx of the numbers seeking medical attention at the facility.

“After the displacements, we could barely rest, patients kept trickling in, with most cases related to the floods. This facility had also been affected by rainwater that led to the corrosion of the roof, but thanks to the Kenya Red Cross Society it is being repaired,” asserts Were.

Enhancing resilience

Through its flagship, Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR) the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) began a tree-planting exercise in Budalang’i sub-county in Busia, with an aim of planting 500 trees, including bamboo trees, aimed towards enhancing environmental resilience and disaster preparedness through the theme Enhanced Early Recovery and Resilience of Flood-Affected Communities.

In partnership with the county government of Busia, the exercise was launched at the Sibuka Primary School in Bunyala North Ward, Budalang’i sub-county.

The initiative is part of a long-term plan aimed at mitigating the perennial risks of flooding within the

Bunyala ecosystem by reducing the flow of water, reducing soil erosion and absorbing rainfall.

Present at the launch, KRCS Head of Region, Western Kenya, Maurice Anyango, lauded the success of the CMDRR programme and assured the community of continued support.

According to Regina Wasike, a student at St Triza Mundere Girls, the trees will go a long way, especially in preventing soil erosion. Every student was given a tree to look after, and that will help in the future to increase the forest cover in Budalang’i.

A total of 15 schools, including Namabusi and Budalang’i secondary schools, Musoma, Buluani, Maduwa, Runyu, Makunda, Rugunga, Rwambua and Iranya and Siginga primary schools, were worst hit by the floods.

As project implementers, the learners of these institutions were given hydrophilic trees by KRCS to plant in their school compound and fruit trees at their homes.

Through funding from South Korea through the Korean Embassy, the flood recovery and resilience project that commenced in July 2024, targeting Homa Bay and Busia counties, seeks to help communities living along the Lake Victoria ecosystem rebuild their lives, working in line with county governments and community volunteers.  

The aid agency has already embarked on repairing what the waters destroyed, delivering seeds, farm tools and fishing nets to restart livelihoods, repairing water wells and latrines for clean drinking water, and sending medicines and supplies to affected clinics.

As well as training villagers on flood early warning and evacuation to avert the immense future effects of floods.

Margaret Atieno is a beneficiary of a cash transfer that boosted her fish vending business, having been affected by the floods in 2020.

“I woke up one morning and everything had been swept away. I actually fell sick for a week as I was in disbelief at what had happened. Kenya Red Cross came in handy in offering me a cash transfer that I invested back into the business, and now I am very much OK,” she recalled.

Busia County Executive Committee Member for Public Service Management, Administration and Governance, Pamela Awori, emphasised the long-term economic and environmental value of the tree species selected.

“The bamboo trees planted today are not only instrumental in flood control but are also highly sought after and will serve as valuable raw materials for the upcoming County Industrial Park, while the fruit trees, on the other hand, may become an important food source for the community during hunger crises,” she said.

Budalang’i Assistant County Commissioner, Everline Aton, called on residents to take ownership of the initiative by nurturing and preserving the trees. She further lauded KRCS for the project, saying the impact of the environmental exercise will go a long way in conserving the Bunyala Ecosystem.

This climatic change intervention is in line with the Busia County Climate Change Action Plan (2023- 2027) that focuses on climate change adaptation and mitigation actions, a requirement by the National Climate Change Act, 2016, and the Busia County Climate Change Act, 2021.