Kilifi will be too hot to sustain food production come 2030, warns weatherman

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Kilifi, KENYA: The Metrological department in Kilifi County has warned that come 2030 the County will be too hot to sustain food production.

The department says the situation as at now is not good as already the maximum temperatures hit up to 33 degrees Celsius with the lowest being 26 degrees Celsius.

Kilifi County director of Metrology Ramadhan Munga told Baraka FM on Tuesday that should no proper measures be taken in time, during that time no crop will sustain the high temperatures thus prompting severe drought.

“The situation as at now is not good at all. Temperatures are already high and we expect them to be even much higher come 2030,” Munga said.

“This might cause severe drought in this area especially Ganze, Magarini and Kaloleni which are the most vulnerable sub-counties to matters of drought and hunger. No food production will sustain the temperatures and that poses a challenge to the national and county governments to take proper measures to counter it,” he added.

He said for more than thirty years now the level of heat has been increasing at a high rate and the level of rainfall decreasing year after year thus changing the seasons of the rain.

Currently, the rains have become short starting very late and ending very early.

“Climate change is real and we must try to adapt to it and look for mitigations,” Munga said.

“We should ensure we plant as many trees as we can and avoid cutting down the already existing ones because temperatures are often low to areas with many trees and they also receive a lot of rainfall,” he added.

He said the reasons for low temperatures in the county as of now are due to the heavy wind in Madagascar that has affected the County and the coastal strip.

However, Kilifi County National Environment Management Authority officer Isaac Kimitei said they are implementing the County Environment Action Plan and to ensure it is factored into the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP).

“If it is factored in the CIDP for five years then we will be able to get priority areas to work on, “said Kimitei.

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