President William Ruto stated that El-Nino Kenya would not occur on October 22, 2023. However, the statement is denied by researchers based on NTV Kenya. The Kenya Meteorology Department warned of the dangers of the phenomenon that will occur in the last three months of 2023. The president’s statement is controversial, especially for farmers.
The Government Issued Funds to Overcome the Phenomenon of El-Nino Kenya.
Farmers will be the most disadvantaged party over El Nino’s phenomenon. If the increase in rainfall is not too much, then it can be a blessing for farmers. It also applies the opposite when rainfall increases too much. Moreover, this phenomenon will occur from October to December. Harvesting can experience damage due to changes in rainfall. Rainfall that is too heavy often causes flooding in the country. Farmers need to prepare themselves to have harvest reserves until January 2024. Many of the Kenyans gave a negative response to the statement that the President made. They expressed their frustration with the president’s statement online and offline.
On the other hand, iShamba services give warnings to farmers. iShamba Service is a service that provides some information to farmers so that they can increase productivity. Heavy rain will hit the country, so farmers need to get ready. During El Nino, not all Kenyan regions will face heavy rainfall. Only a few regions face extreme rainfall.
The local government has allocated 10 billion shillings in funds to overcome the impact of El Nino. IGAD makes predictions that rainfall will be above average from October to December. Rainfall increased in the majority of African regions. While some areas of Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia will experience 80 percent of rainfall above average, People in the area need to be aware of the dangers of flooding.
The flood incident has the potential to have a big impact on the community’s economy. Based on the Climate Center, in 2015–2016, El Nino caused landslides and many buildings collapsed. El-Nino has truly become a serious phenomenon for the Kenyan community because it has the potential to become a deadly incident. This phenomenon can also have an impact on the increase in food prices, which makes people’s economic situation more difficult.