Investing in the future: Kenya’s locally led climate action

“Investing in climate resilience is not a cost – it is an investment in the future.” With these words, Peter Odhengo, programme coordinator #FLLoCA closed Danida Fellowship Centre’s final action training on 3 October 2025 in Mombasa. This marked the conclusion of a yearlong capacity-building effort that engaged about 300 climate unit staff working in 47 counties across Kenya.

By Vibeke Quaade

At first glance, it could have been any other training session. A room with tables in clusters, each seating six participants, facilitators moving between groups guiding discussions, answering questions, and hosting world cafés, breaks accompanied by chatter and laughter, growing warmer and more familiar with each passing day.

Yet this training was different.

This time the participants had travelled from different parts of Kenya. Meeting, sharing experiences and learning together isnot an everyday occurrence and a sense of urgency dominated the room. Each of the participants worked in a county climate unit and they were all part of the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) programme, launched in 2021 to advance much needed decentralised, community-driven climate solutions.

The training team was also diverse and driven, having brought together the Kenya School of Government, the Wangari Maathai Institute for Environment and Peace, and Danida Fellowship Centre’s capacity development advisors, Arvid Sloth and Lea Bohr, in leading roles. The participation of Philip Akello from the Danish Embassy in Kenya and Peter Odhengo, FLLoCa’s programme coordinator on the final day added an extra layer of expertise and perspective to the discussions and the action plans developed by the county teams.

Over the course of the training, each team worked to design an action plan to meet their specific climate challenges. Watch Antony Okeyo explain an Action Plan.

As he closed the training, Peter Odhengo challenged the participants to apply what they had learned: “With the knowledge you now have, you carry a responsibility – to use and share your knowledge to the benefit of the people.”

Kenya´s climate challenge
Kenya is heavily reliant on rain-fed agriculture and therefore agricultural production is vulnerable to droughts, floods and unpredictable weather. Early climate policies, such as the National Adaptation Plan (2015–2030) and the Green Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan (GESIP), have laid the foundation for integrating climate resilience into national development plans. While important, these policies stood alone and were not successful in engaging communities and ensuring sufficient climate action at the local level.

The FLLoCA programme therefore represents the next logical step: putting decision-making power in the hands of counties and communities. With support from the World Bank, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and other partners, the FLLoCa programme was set up in 2021 to channel funds directly to counties, empowering local governments and communities to design projects tailored to their specific climate challenges.

Building local capacity
To make this possible, climate units were established across all of the counties in Kenya. Legislation was enacted and participatory planning mechanisms, such as Ward Climate Change Planning Committees, were set up to ensure communities had a major voice in designing and managing projects.

As Philip Akello reminded everyone, “Climate change is a global problem, but solutions must fit locally.”

Stories of impact
And that is exactly what is happening.

In Makueni County, communities had long experimented with sand dams — simple barriers across seasonal riverbeds that trap water and sand during floods. With FLLoCA support, these traditional efforts have been scaled up. By 2022, more than 70 new sand dams had been built, securing water for households, schools, and farms. These dams do more than store water, they enable irrigation, support tree planting, and help families grow crops during droughts.

In Taita Taveta County, FLLoCA funding has been used to invest in solar-powered boreholes and farm ponds to capture water. What looks like a small pond in a field is, in reality, a lifeline. It allows families to irrigate crops during dry spells, diversify what they grow, improve household diets, and even sell surplus produce – all contributing to rural resilience.

Capacity building for increased local action
Still, more could be done. Recognising that local governments needed more than funding for training, the Danish Embassy in Kenya and Danida Fellowship Centre, in collaboration with the Kenya School of Government and Wangari Maathai Institute, organised five nationwide trainings in 2025 for almost 300 climate unit staff. These trainings were designed to provide a holistic approach to climate action and solutions, facilitating learning across county climate units, while also delivering specialised expertise in specific areas of work:

Creating real returns
Thanking the brilliant facilitators at the conclusion of the training, Arvid Sloth from Danida Fellowship Centre explained that the choice of methodology and the design of each technical module were shaped by a thorough training needs assessment. He emphasised how carefully the programme had been put together in order to give all the climate unit staff practical tools and knowledge they could use to take action and support locally led change.

“When we designed the training, we wanted to make sure everyone understood that climate solutions aren’t quick fixes – they’re long-term investments in stronger, more resilient communities,” he said.

Closing the session, Peter Odhengo underscored the broader vision behind the work;

“Climate action is not only about addressing challenges – it’s about creating solutions and fostering an economy that grows sustainably. Every project contributes to livelihoods, green jobs and community development. This is how climate action delivers real returns.”

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