SUED's Annual Newsletter - 2020/2021

NEWSLETTER 2020/2021

SUSTAINABLE URBAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (SUED)

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Supporting Market Driven Growth In Municipalities

A boat docked in Lamu, Kenya

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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1. Programme Overview

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Expected Programme Results/Impact/Outcome

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Where We Work

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2. Urban Economic Planning

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Snapshot: SUED’s Work in Iten Municipality 3. Investment Attraction

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Snapshot: Effective Management of Storm Water in Urban Spaces 4. Success Stories

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A wildlife conservancy in Isiolo, Kenya SUED | Newsletter 2020/2021

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British High Commissioner H.E. Jane Marriott, Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Heritage and Culture H.E. Amb. Dr Amina Mohamed, Principal Secretary for Environment and Forestry Dr. Chris K. Kiptoo, Elgeyo Marakwet Governor H.E. Alex Tolgos celebrate the launch of the Iten Urban Economic Plan

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The Sustainable Urban Economic Development Programme is a £70 million five-year programme supported by the UK Government.

The programme’s funding is channeled through two mechanisms: seed funding that will be used to de-risk identified value chain and critical climate resilient infrastructure projects to attract public-private investments and technical assistance in four thematic areas ( urban economic planning, business environment reforms, investment attraction and capacity building).

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1.PROJECT OVERVIEW The British High Commissioner, H.E Jane Marriott familiarises herself with Mandera County’s progress since devolution ahead of the launch of SUED in the municipality.

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The partnership between the UK Government and the Kenyan Government will ensure economic priorities in SUED supported municipalities impact many young people.”

Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Heritage and Culture H.E. Amb. Dr. Amina Mohamed

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PROGRAMME OVERVIEW Working with Municipalities to identify and implement thriving and inclusive economic priorities to spur economic development that is resilient to climate change.

Implementation Period 2018-2024 The Sustainable Urban Economic Development Programme (SUED) is working closely with 12 municipalities in Kenya to better position them as emerging urban centers that will attract more investment for critical infrastructure and value chain projects. The programme’s work in advocating for balanced growth in small and medium sized urban centers that are located along higheconomic potential growth corridors is aimed at providing responsive transformational economies.

SUED’s work endeavors to support growth and sustainable economic development by unlocking private and public investments in the urban sector.

The programme’s work in the municipalities centres around stakeholder participation and inclusion to ensure ownership of the identified economic priorities leading to feasible prioritisation on municipality specific urban agenda.

SUED works with municipalities to develop urban economic plans that will help them attract investment for critical infrastructure and value chain projects in their urban centers.

These include; Lake Region Economic BlocBungoma and Kisii, North Rift Economic Bloc – Eldoret and Iten, Frontier Counties Development Council- Isiolo and Mandera, Mt. Kenya and Aberdares Region Economic Bloc- Kathwana and Kerugoya/Kutus, South Eastern Economic Bloc- Kitui and Wote, Jumuiya Ya Kaunti Za Pwani- Malindi and Lamu.

H.E. Amason Kingi launches Malindi’s UEP together with the Deputy High Commissioner Mr. Julius Court

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The programme utilises a three-step approach in its implementation.

1 Developing an Urban Economic Plan: Working closely with the municipality and county staff, SUED supports the Municipality to design a responsive urban economic plan that integrates market-based approaches into the County’s developed integrated plan to help identify viable value chain projects and supporting critical climate-resilient infrastructure that will help actualise the economic potential of the municipality 2 Technical Assistance to Actualise the Plan: With the completion of the plan and adoption by the Municipality, the programme then works closely with the municipality to help ensure that the plan is investor-friendly to attract investments for the identified projects. Furthermore, the programme is intended to build the capacity of the municipal and county staff to implement the developed UEP and begin to be proactive on attracting investors into the County’s urban centers

The programme team engages the Mandera Municipality team on identifying their economic priorities to help them identify the sectors that they need to be proactive on with regards to investment attraction

3 Seed Fund: The programme has set aside up to 50% of its total funding to equitably fund projects that have been identified in the UEP and h ave undergone the investor attraction phase. These projects will be funded as an incentive to investors and will be strategically targeted to bolster both the public and private sector’s investor confidence.

Nairobi’s daytime skyline from the Nairobi National Park

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EXPECTED PROGRAMME RESULTS/IMPACT/OUTCOME Through an integrated approach that is demand-driven, working with both public and private actors, SUED key goals are:

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Inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction in supported municipalities and the respective counties that they are embedded in

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Increased investment in selected municipalities including investments in climate-resilient infrastructure or value chain projects.

IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS: SUED is managed by Tetra Tech International Development. Tetra Tech provides programme management, technical oversight, and coordinates implementation of activities by the subcontractors that comprise of: WS Atkins International Development – Atkins is tasked with working closely with the municipalities to develop responsive urban economic plans. The plans identify the economic sectors that the municipalities need to harness to achieve the potential of their urban areas as engines of inclusive and climate resilient growth and positive social change.

Open Capital Advisors and KPMG: These investment attraction firms utilise the developed urban economic plans to promote the project identified to attract investors. Their work is geared towards attracting public-private investment in infrastructure and value chain projects in supported municipalities.

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Iten UEP launch attendees get to learn more about SUED’s work with the county in developing a responsive plan that will serve the interests of the community and bring economic development to the urban centre 12

WHERE WE WORK

Kathwana

UEP developed, IAF process commenced, CNA completed

Isiolo

UEP developed and publicly launched, IAF process ongoing, 3 projects selected for investment, CNA completed

Eldoret

UEP Development on-going, CNA completed

Iten

Mandera

Bungoma

Kitui

UEP development process commenced, CNA completed

UEP developed and publicly launched, IAF process commenced, CNA completed

UEP Developed, IAF process on-going, 3 projects selected for investment, CNA completed

New area of SUED’s work with the increase in funding

Lamu Kisii

UEP developed, IAF process commenced, C-19 free market completed, CNA completed

UEP development process commenced; CNA completed

Wote

New area of SUED’s work with the increase in funding

Malindi Kerugoya

UEP Development on-going, CNA completed

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UEP Developed and launched, IAF process on-going, 3 projects selected for investment, CNA completed

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2.URBAN ECONOMIC PLANNNING The British High Commissioner, H.E. Jane Marriott, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Heritage H.E. Dr. Amina Mohamed and the Governor for Elgeyo Marakwet H.E. Alex Tolgos officially launch the Iten UEP.

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The SUED programme is one of the best programmes in Kenya.

With all counties having County Integrated Development Plans not all have Urban Economic Plans.

Kisii Municipality like the other 11 supported by SUED will help the region benefit from a streamlined economic plan” Hon Eugene Wamalwa, Cabinet Secretary – Devolution and Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs).

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URBAN ECONOMIC PLANNING The programme has worked closely with six municipalities (Isiolo, Iten, Kathwana, Kitui Kisii, and Malindi) to fully develop their Urban Economic Plans. (UEPs). The UEPs have been formally adopted by the respective Municipal Boards and have been publicly launched in four municipalities (Isiolo, Malindi, Kisii and Iten).

The UEP is an advisory document that builds on existing work and priorities identified in municipal Integrated Spatial Development Plan (ISDP), municipal Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP). It helps collate the ideas and aspirations in these documents and focused them into one document that provides a multi-faceted economic strategy for the municipality. The UEPs unique selling point is that it introduces an integrated multi-disciplinary approach to planning for economic growth and advocate for the maximisation of agglomeration economies The purpose of the UEP is four-fold: • One, to provide an inclusive economic strategy that can guide future development towards increasing prosperity in the municipality.

• Two, prioritises economic activities and climate resilient and inclusive infrastructure that can support the development of a sustainable economic future.

• Three, bring together key stakeholders to decide collectively the future of the municipality • Four, to identify and prepare the value chain and climate resilient projects that are bankable to attract investments SUED’s work in the municipalities is geared towards determining how best to harness value chain development for maximum industrial development, job creation and resilient livelihood impact. This value-chain oriented approach to inclusive growth in emerging urban centers objective is to catalyse sustainable urban development while identifying critical climate resilient infrastructure.

The Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and ASALs-H.E. Eugene Wamalwa The Governor-Kisii County- H.E James Ongwae and The Deputy British High Commissioner Mr. Julius Court address the media during Kisii’s UEP launch.

The Transport Planner from SUED’s Urban Planning Firm Jacinta Mbilo seeks insights from Lamu Municipality’s stakeholders on how the programme can work with them to strengthen their infrastructure to ensure that the municipality is attractive to investors and has in place a responsive and implementable urban plan that captures their aspirations.

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The programme’s partnership with the municipalities enables the identification of climateresilient value chain projects that have strong value-addition potential and harness links within their municipalities to leverage on existing structures that promote trade or advocate for the strengthening of value chain development. To do so, the programme employs a structured approach in the development of municipal UEPs by using a phased approach as shared on the diagram below

Inception Phase

Diagnostics Phase

Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses,

UEP Technical Briefing

Evaluating and

Development Framework

Infrastructure and Assessing requirements

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SNAPSHOT

Combining Local Knowledge and International Expertise to Prioritise Value Chain and Climate Resilient and Inclusive Infrastructure Projects that will Spur Economic Development in Iten Municipality

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ELGEYO MARAKWET COUNTY OVERVIEW About the County: Elgeyo Marakwet County is headquartered in Iten and is branded as the “Home of Champions” due to a significant number of Kenyan athletes hailing from there. Agriculture is the main economic activity with the County being the fourth largest contributor of agriculture GDP in Kenya.

The County has unique sports tourism offerings such as paragliding and athletics.

It has been recognised by the IAAF as the World Heritage Center for Athletics Development. The County sits within the North Rift Economic Bloc (NOREB) whose primary role is to enhance trade and investment opportunities within member counties1.

The County is the second largest economy in NOREB and borders Uasin Gishu, Baringo, West Pokot and Baringo County. It also has the largest agricultural GCP of the NOREB region at Ksh. 128 billion (2017) with Uasin Gishu having Ksh. 68 billion2.

Developing an Urban Economic Plan: Working closely with the municipality and county staff, SUED supports the Municipality to design a responsive urban economic plan that integrates market-based approaches into the County’s developed integrated plan to help identify viable value chain projects and supporting critical climate-resilient infrastructure that will help actualise the economic potential of the municipality Technical Assistance to Actualise the Plan: With the completion of the plan and adoption by the Municipality, the programme then works closely with the municipality to help ensure that the plan is investor-friendly to attract investments for the identified projects. In addition, SUED supports the county to identify and address any regulatory and policy inhibitors that dissuade investors from partnering with the county. Furthermore, the programme helps build the capacity of the municipal and county staff to implement the developed UEP and begin to be proactive on attracting investors into the County’s urban centers Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Nandi, Samburu, Trans Nzoia, West Pokot, Turkana, Baringo and Samburu NBS, Gross County Product (GCP), (2019)

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Seed Fund: The programme has set aside up to 50% of its programme total fund to equitably fund projects that have been identified in the UEP and have undergone the investor attraction phase. These projects will be funded as an incentive to other investors and will be strategically targeted to bolster both the public and private sector’s investor confidence.

The key driver for the County’s economic growth is its strategic location along the Rift Valley escarpment and favourable conditions for high altitude training. It has the potential to grow as a tourism gateway to the Great Rift Valley due to its proximity to key natural resources and rich wildlife areas. It is also ideal for adventure sports such as hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking and paragliding. The barriers to economic growth are its poor and limited infrastructure, and the lack of value addition activities on its agricultural outputs. In addition, the limited market infrastructure has reduced its competitiveness with Eldoret.

About the Municipality

The municipality’s priorities are to: • Become a sports capital by developing sports facilities including Kamariny Stadium • Have adequate provision of infrastructure to fulfill needs of local population and visitors/tourists • Protect and conserve its environmentally sensitive areas and green open spaces • Benefit from its strategic location along the Great Rift Valley and wide variety of agricultural products • Take advantage of its proximity to Eldoret Iten benefits from its proximity to Eldoret - the main regional trade and commercial hub which has a strong processing and industrial center as well as better and more extensive physical infrastructure. The municipality is a relatively small urban center in Kenya experiencing moderate population growth. It has a higher proportion of working age population due to it being a key employment area in the County with its population having the highest level of education in the County.

Iten Municipality covers 16 sub-locations with the township being the smallest. The municipality is mostly rural with agricultural land and scattered housing development throughout the municipality. The urban center is characterised by low-density residential areas concentrated around the Central Business District (CBD) and along the main transport corridors.

The Municipality is located across three main ecological zones: the highlands, the hanging valley and the Kerio Valley or lowlands. Close to half of the population in the County resides in the highlands due to its fertile soils and reliable rainfall. The municipality has natural features such as the Rimoi National Reserve that has one of the largest herds of elephants in Kenya.

Sports heritage is a key feature of the municipality. Several sports facilities are available, including running tracks (and forest trails) an all-weather 400m track along the main road to Eldoret, Iten sports grounds, Kamariny stadium (under construction) and other small fields in schools and polytechnics used by professional and amateur athletes.

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The Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Heritage and Culture, H.E. Amb. Dr. Amina Mohammed is received by Iten’s traditional dancers to celebrate the launch of Iten’s UEP.

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About the Urban Economic Plan (UEP) What does the Iten UEP entail?

• Iten’s Economic Vision “To enhance Iten’s world class sports and tourism potential, whilst safeguarding its natural environment and agricultural economy.”

• Focus Areas – The UEP has identified three key sectors that Iten should prioritise for development • Tourism driven by sports tourism due to the suitable environment for high altitude training attracting elite and amateur athletes to visit and train • Agriculture and livestock, the local population heavily rely on this sector as their main subsistence economic activity • Retail and Trade reflecting Iten’s main role as Elgeyo Marakwet’s main urban center • The UEP aligns these focus areas into an economic development framework which consists of the Tourism Action Plan (TAP) and the Diversification Action Plan (DAP)

Tourism Action Plan The Tourism Action Plan is the main driver of economic growth focusing on sports tourism to leverage upon its national and international acclaim as a world-leader in high-altitude athletic training. The County was recently recognised by IAAF. The plan expounds on how the municipality can put in place measures to become a worldwide destination for sports tourism.

The municipality is centered on the development of a sports complex to serve as an anchor projects as well as a catalyst for the development of other tourist facilities to be developed.

The complex will be complemented by improved tracks and trails that link with other tourist attraction in the municipality. The complex is split across two sites: a) A sports park which will be located within the urban center and is proposed to be the recreational, cultural and social/commercial “hub” which will be linked to the existing urban center through improved urban design and infrastructure upgrades and interventions. b) The Kamariny Elite Hub site which will be located at the Kamariny stadium. The hub will accommodate the more specialised sporting facilities aimed at world-class high-altitude trainings including para-athletics.

The municipality with support from the county will need to implement a series of initiatives and delivery mechanisms to improve the tourism offer within Iten. These include the establishment of a sports committee to oversee the implementation of the proposed TAP, improving the hospitality sector to cater for the increased sports tourists, marketing and promoting Iten in the national and international athletics sector as well as ensuring inhibitory policy and regulations are addressed to expand the tourism offer within the municipality.

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Diversification Action Plan The DAP is geared towards ensuring that the economy is not solely reliant on the tourism sector. It shares how the municipality should work towards promoting economic resilience through the development of agriculture, agriprocessing, retail and trade as key priority sectors. Iten and the wider county are endowed with rich natural resources and high potential agricultural land which provides a strong basis to expand into different sectors and economic activities. The plan has identified six Value Chain (VC) opportunities that will help Iten maximise its ability to develop an agriprocessing sector while utilising the competitive advantage that Eldoret as a regional hub provides.

b) Sports Nutrition Bars - This VC is geared towards the production of a new brand of sports nutrition bars that combine Iten’s reputation as the “Home of Champions” and “producer of elite athletes” with the counties extensive agricultural produce. The VC will help provide a link between the agriculture and sports sector as well as support the branding of Iten as a center for sports excellence. c) Fruits and Vegetable Canning and Bottling - This VC will take advantage of the agricultural produce in the wider county. It is aimed at developing a bottling plant covering a range of fruit and vegetables. These will be sourced within the county and processed into consumersized jars of preserved fruits, vegetables, pickles and pulps.

a) Irish Potato Processing – Elgeyo Marakwet is one of the main counties in Kenya that produce the Irish Potato both in quantity and quality. This VC proposes the development of a potato processing factory in Iten that will source produce across the County. The initial focus will be on the production of dried potato flakes and potato flour with the potential to add additional products such as crisps and starch once the facility is established. The factory will help provide a stable off take and prices for farmers as well as help them reduce post-harvest losses. In addition, the process waste will be used as feed mill.

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d) Avocado Processing – This VC proposes to develop an avocado oil extraction plant that will produce oil for the consumer market and charcoal briquettes. e) Milk Processing Center – Dairy farming in Elgeyo Marakwet is expanding with several cooling stations in the county where the product is aggregated and supplied to a local dairy firm for processing. There is a local processing facility within the County that can be developed further. f) Feed Mill from Agri-Processing - As agriprocessing develops in the municipality and wider county, there is potential for a feed mill that will utilise the processing waste to produce a range of animal feeds for goats, fish, chicken, 22

The Elgeyo Marakwet Governor H.E. Alex Tolgos shares with the British High Commissioner to Kenya, H.E Jane Marriott and the Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Heritage and Culture, H.E. Amb. Dr. Amina Mohammed how SUED has worked closely with the municipality and county leadership to develop Iten’s UEP

sheep etc. The mill will produce feeds in line with the local demand.

• Proposed Climate Resilient and Inclusive Infrastructure • Town Center - This entails the development of a town square and stimulus market, a transit hub and minimarket, upgrading of the existing bus stop as well as developing a new one, developing a Boda Boda shelter and closing of the existing dump site. The aim is to enhance the urban environment of Iten and to catalyse further development and economic growth of the urban center.

• Improved infrastructure to support the development of a high-altitude running track and a lower altitude running track.

This will help prioritise safety for runners.

The UEP additionally outlines prioritised infrastructure projects which will address issues beyond the municipality boundary but have a spill over-effect on the proper functioning of Iten as urban center

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The British High Commissioner gets ready to celebrate the Iten UEP launch by donning on the county cultural regalia

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3.INVESTMENT ATTRACTION SUED | Newsletter 2020/2021

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The Urban Economic plan is only great if its implemented. The UK Government through SUED will work closely with municipalities to attract investors, address business environment inhibitors and capacity build the municipality to effectively implement it.”

H.E. Jane Marriott – British High Commissioner

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Investment attraction is central to SUED’s work and aims to realise the most promising projects identified in the UEP. It is implemented through two subcontractors and is supported by the programme seed fund that is worth up to 50% of the programme’s value.

The programme has continued to support Kitui, Isiolo and Malindi to carry out investment related activities with the aim of catalysing private investment into the identified projects. With the completion of the UEP development process in Iten, Kisii and Kathwana, and follow on adoption by the respective boards, the programme has commenced its investment attraction activities.

The investment attraction activities entail prioritising and refining short-listed projects to help see how best they can be marketed to potential investors.

The programme begins its investment attraction support by working with the municipalities to assess the UEP through an investor lens determining which projects would be the most attractive to investors as well as fit within the municipality’s current economic priorities.

When the municipalities select their three preferred projects, SUED works with them to carry out prefeasibility studies on the projects. The prefeasibility studies focuses on assessing the practicality, sustainability, and impact potential o the project and how it can promote climateresilient infrastructure in the municipality SUED | Newsletter 2020/2021

The Deputy British High Commissioner- Mr. Julius Court and the Kisii County leadership learn how the banana value chain can be strengthened to develop varied marketable products from a local investor in Kisii.

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SNAPSHOT Effective Management of Storm Water in Urban Spaces a Case Study on Isiolo Municipality

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Challenge

The Kenyan Government has undergone significant changes since its independence in 1963, key among them the shift from a central government to a devolved one after the promulgation of a progressive constitution in 2010. Devolution provides people an opportunity to participate in decision-making on how resources within counties are managed to advance the counties priorities. As such counties have recently been pressured by the populace to have demonstrable outputs that showcase their economic development. This has resulted in many counties promoting urban development geared towards meeting the need of their growing urban population. However, as the counties put in place infrastructure, they have inadvertently encroached on water catchment areas resulting in poor urban water management. Furthermore, managers of these new urban centres in the counties have faced the challenge to better manage the amenities they provide while giving priority to how the new infrastructure impacts the environment and responds to climate change.

Flooding upriver in Isiolo

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The country has seen an increase in flooding within its urban areas that has resulted in serious damage to businesses and infrastructure, highlighting the importance of effective urban storm water drainage.

The practice within the counties has been to implement mono-functional drainage concepts that only address one drainage need within the urban centre. This approach often results in flooding due to the increase in water surface runoff and decreased volume flow. This has been further exacerbated by developments along riparian land, poor sanitation practices that include poor disposal practices that have led to garbage and floating litters increasing the sedimentation of the water system.

Counties are yet to put in place effective measures that help them foresee how to best manage stormwater within their urban centers.

There is a need to provide technical support to help them plan, design and develop responsive and implementable storm water management plans. This plan should incorporate features that increase resilience to future climatic shocks. The need for a responsive stormwater management system is critical in Kenya where 80% of its land mass is classified as Arid and Semi-Arid and can significantly benefit from the proper management of their storm water to harvest and store their flood water for future use during dry seasons.

In Isiolo Municipality, there has been an increase in population from around 46,500 in 2009 to 80,500 in 2019 - almost doubling in a decade. As such, demand for urban services has increased. While this demand is justifiable, the municipality and wider county have additional pressure to scale up their urban development due to the transitional nature of the town and the future national level economic development projects that are earmarked for Isiolo such as the Lamu Port-South SudanEthiopia Transport Corridor (LAPPSET). This means Isiolo’s urban expansion has and continues to have threats to its capability to be adequately climate resilient. This is due to its arid nature that disposes it to long periods without rain and short periods of intense rainfall that leads to flooding and soil degradation which 28

reduces agricultural productivity and impacts the sustainability of its urban settlements.

Further, its urban center remains susceptible to extreme weather events with multiple flooding experienced in the rainy season due to its topography. The urban center is located on a low-lying floodplain characterised by steep gradients which make it vulnerable to rapid flow of stormwater from the upstream catchment areas of neighbouring counties resulting in significant property damage and population displacement with an estimated 1,320 households displaced between 2009 and 2019 while the 2015 floods are estimated to have resulted in KES 800 million of property damage. The urban area’s soil also has a high clay content and limited vegetation due to its semi-arid nature. These combine to significantly reduce water retention and increase surface water runoff which is worsened by the poorly maintained storm water drainage systems.

The county government also struggles to fund new storm water drainage systems due to the pressures of supporting its large vulnerable population, who frequently need humanitarian assistance.

Intervention

As a response to this, the UK Government through its Sustainable Urban Economic Development Programme (SUED) is working with 12 municipalities, including Isiolo, to improve the resilience of their urban environments and drive sustainable economic development. Embracing climate change adaptation by developing climate resilient infrastructure will ensure urban centres face minimal disruption from adverse weather and safeguard municipalities’ economic gains. The programme is doing so by working closely with the county and municipal leadership to develop climate smart Urban Economic Plans (UEPs).

The UEPs outline how municipalities can build their infrastructure to support the capacity of its people as well as absorb direct and indirect impacts of climate change.

Within the UEP development process, the programme embeds a strong urban climate resilience lens helping the municipalities see how they can embrace climate change adaptation, determine what mitigation actions need to be taken and see how best to reduce the risk that adverse climate events cause. The programme does so in the following ways: a) Strong Stakeholder Engagement: The programme works with its supported municipalities to learn directly from the stakeholders what their economic priorities are and further what is the largest deterrent to their economic growth. By understanding what the populations are most susceptible to with regards to external shocks including climate change. The programme has been able to work with municipalities to make significant decisions in planning, utilisation of land within their territories and what climate-resilient infrastructure projects need to be prioritised. b) In-Depth Assessments and Analysis: In the case of Isiolo, through its UEP development process, the programme has incorporated a multi-faceted approach in its assessment of a municipality’s demographics, economy, infrastructure, environment, and climatic conditions. In its assessment of Isiolo

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County Government of Isiolo. (2018). Isiolo County Integrated Development Plan, CIDP 2018-2022 Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). (2014). Isiolo River Basin Flood Management Plan

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municipality, SUED was able to see how rainwater continually drains into the surrounding hillsides and converges in the urban centre causing flooding of up to 500mm resulting in damage to livelihoods, property and causing a lot of displacements which is a financial burden to the municipality/county. The urban centre with its limited green infrastructure and lack of surface water management in place continues to be at risk of flooding. c) Development of a Responsive Framework: SUED works closely with the municipal and county leadership to develop local solutions.

This involves an iterative process that helps the municipality and county key decision makers see how to find solutions that are beyond their current challenges. This is critical as climate remains unpredictable and there is need to inculcate a culture of building on existing issues and see how a locality’s climate change may evolve either in its increase or decrease of an existing hazard such as flooding to help integrate future possibilities in current planning.

Working with Isiolo’s county and municipal leadership, SUED worked on a development framework that looked at the urban centers’ typology to determine the support need to improve the municipality’s capability to respond to urban growth whilst building climate resilience. d) Informed Visioning: In its finalisation of the UEP, the programme together with the county and municipal leadership set the municipality vision and identify their key economic priorities.

For Isiolo it was key to ensure that its economic priorities include a holistic approach to storm water management. The incorporation of a local solution to protect both its populace and infrastructure from flooding in its urban center was necessary due to the magnitude of flooding. As such, the programme was able to propose a local Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SuDs) in the Central Business District (CBD).

This final stage enabled the municipality to visualise how the SuDs would intercept overland overflows and be directed through a bio-park into a natural reedbed system. As a result, the municipality identified its vision“Develop Isiolo as a centre of Excellence and a Major Economic Hub in Kenya with Resilient and Inclusive Growth through the Responsible Use of its Natural Resources.”

While the proposal for the SuDs within the UEP is critical in Isiolo’s storm water management, it cannot stand alone to adequately support the municipality in its stormwater management. It is therefore imperative for the municipality explore how they can increase the capacity of their river (River Marire) to enable safe water conveyance through the urban center.

Result

With a development framework in place that is based on resilient urban development, Isiolo municipality now has an effective urban economic plan that clearly articulates how it can utilise proper river flow management and build SuDs to become flood resistant. Further it outlines how the municipality can develop robust water infrastructure to strategically harvest and store water. To help them bring this plan to fruition, the programme supported the municipality to commence an investment attraction process that would better prioritise and refine its stormwater management through its SuDs project. Key among its support is to assist the municipality assess the practicality, sustainability, and impact potential of the SuDs to ensure it promoted a sustainable climateresilient infrastructure.

The programme did so by supporting the municipality to carry out a prefeasibility study of its SuDs project. The prefeasibility study used a technical, financial, socio-economic, and environmental assessment criterion. The study entailed secondary research, in-depth discussions with the municipal and county leadership as well as key stakeholders, site visits and analysis to help better assess the SuDs project feasibility to enable SUED

4 Lake Region Economic Bloc- Kisii and Bungoma, North Rift Economic Bloc – Eldoret and Iten, Frontier Counties Development Council- Mandera and Isiolo, Mt. Kenya and Aberdares Region Economic Bloc- Kathwana and Kerugoya/Kutus, South Eastern Economic Bloc- Kitui and Wote, Jumuiya Ya Kaunti Za Pwani- Malindi and Lamu 5 Urban Economic Plans are advisory documents that complement the County Integrated Development Plans to help provide a focused economic strategy that highlights which priority value chain and critical infrastructure should be prioritised to advance local economic development. Read more about UEP here: https://www.suedkenya. org/urban-economic-plans

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Isiolo park as seen with high flooding

work with the municipality to recommend the necessary steps to implement it.

As SUED supported the municipality to carry out the pre-feasibility study on the SuDs project, it identified the key barrier to its implementation. While there were workable drainage systems designed, they were yet to be constructed due to county and municipal budget constraints. In addition, the municipality lacked a strong stakeholder coordination approach that would enable it to partner with the private sector to address this. By utilising the prefeasibility study to identify the barriers to the successful implementation of the SuDs project, SUED was able to assist the municipality develop potential implementation steps that would actualise the project.

First, the municipality would need to prioritise the construction of drainage channels around its airport and feeder roads within the municipality as well as rehabilitate drainage channels. By doing so the channels will redirect stormwater away from residential, commercial, and academic spaces to the River Marire. Second, River Marire needs to be expanded and individuals living on its riparian land resettled. This will 6

enable it to safely channel stormwater at peak discharge. Third, the development of a seminatural bio-park to enable the utilisation of 25% of the stormwater flowing into the municipality.

By doing so, the captured water would be utilised within the park to create a green space

Catchment Management Options Town Proposals CBD

Isiolo Park

Holistic view of water management proposals

for the urban center’s population as well as generate

Check dam is a wall built across a waterway to reduce the velocity of runoff water.

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Airport flood alleviation and water treatment, concept proposal

income for the municipality By charging access fees to the park. And fourth, the construction of four check dams in catchment areas in the neighbouring Meru County to reduce the volume and velocity of floodwater flowing to Isiolo Municipality.

In sequencing these steps, the municipality will be able to enhance its climate resilience and help create adaptation opportunities such as the storage of water for future use during dry seasons. Furthermore, the SuDs project will help the municipality enhance its adaptation against adverse weather events and resultant socio-economic damage and losses. The SuDs project will improve the municipality’s economic resilience as it will not have to cater for costs associated with damage caused by floods to commercial and industrial premises and residential properties.

The SuDs project is one that ensures Isiolo’s climate resilience is demonstrable as it is reflective of the municipality’s adaptive planning that incorporates future integration of climate extreme events. In addition, it is robust with a multi-faceted approach in the way it uses various components to address geo-specific issues within the municipality. Additionally, its capability to incorporate the complementarity SUED | Newsletter 2020/2021

of different aspects of the project to support each other if one aspect fails to mitigate the management of stormwater demonstrates its effectiveness. The SuDs project is flexible to adopt a sequential approach in addressing its stormwater management. This will be crucial in enabling the municipality to respond to the changing conditions (i.e. developmental and climatic). However, there is need to ensure that there is community buy in for the SuDs project, the municipality will need to have indepth consultations and diverse engagements with the community especially with individuals whose businesses or residents are on the riparian land.

By implementing the SuDs project, Isiolo will be able to appropriately mitigate flooding within its urban area through the implementation of a multi-faceted drainage system that has been designed to provide the fastest and most effective transport of stormwater runoff out of the catchments into River Marire. This collaboration between SUED, the county, the municipality, and other donor agencies to drive investments into the proposed urban system will ensure the safety of the public and minimise the environmental impact of urban stormwater, making the municipality climate resilient.

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4.SUCCESS STORIES SUED’s SRO, Ms. Eunice Ogolo speaks to Lamu residents during the UEP development process

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SUCCESS STORY 1

Empowering Municipalities to Sustain Urban Economic Development through Strong Institutional Systems and Technical Competencies

Municipal Staff and Board Members in Malindi participate in a breakout session during the financial management and revenue enhancement training

Challenge

In the recent past, there has been a significant increase towards more people living in urban areas than in rural areas.

That upward trend is expected to continue into the foreseeable future. Cities in most countries including Kenya are the primary drivers of economic growth within their geographical zone, as such there is a pertinent need to ensure that they are economically sustainable to support the people who depend on the economic activities that they generate. Unfortunately, if urban growth is not properly managed it can cause urban areas to be susceptible to unplanned economic development. This is because they will not be able to take advantage of the urban centre’s unique economic opportunities resulting in a decrease in the potential a centre has to SUED | Newsletter 2020/2021

contribute to the national economic output.

Despite well intentioned initiatives, urban centres of the future run the risk of not being able to develop in a sustainable manner. Even with access to resources and strong partnerships with the private sector, if urban centres do not have responsive urban governance systems that encourage accountability and build the capacity of staff to manage urban service delivery systems, the initiatives put in place will not be maintainable.

There needs to be support towards increasing the self-reliance of these urban centres encouraging their leadership to improve their local revenue collection to aid in their long-term Group work sessions during the training

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maintenance of social infrastructure to incentivise future investors.

In Kenya, the national government has decentralised urban functions. While this might have been primarily influenced by the country’s internal political process, its merits in how efficiency and responsive policy come into play has highlighted its critical economic efficiency.

The Country’s devolution process has enabled counties to take up transferred functions legally and reduce their reliance to the central government aside from national level policy and guide-lines to allow the urban areas to prioritise their economic sectors independently.

While municipalities in Kenya existed prior to the promulgation of the constitution, their mandate was clarified after the enactment of the Urban Areas and Cities Act, No 13 of 2011 outlining a new way in which the municipalities would work within the county governance system. Despite the Act being enacted in 2011 and amended in 2019, municipalities continue to lack adequate institutional frameworks and supportive urban legislation to effectively increase their spatial, economic, and social interconnections be-tween the urban and peri-urban areas that they serve. This is primarily attributable to the lack of strong institutional environments that can provide them with the power, capacity as well as the needed resources to effectively carry out their role. Municipalities still require technical and operational assistance to effectively in-crease and diversify their own-source revenue to augment budgetary allocations from county governments and funding from development partners to enable them achieve sustainable financial autonomy.

Intervention To help municipalities strengthen their technical and institutional capacities to manage urbanisation by integrating urban economic planning and design, urban legislation and urban investment in climate-resilient infrastructure and value chains, the UK Government is funding the Sustainable Urban Economic Development Programme (SUED) to work with 12 municipalities in Kenya. The fiveyear £70 million programme utilises a three-step approach in its implementation approach. At the onset, the programme works with municipal SUED | Newsletter 2020/2021

and county staff to design a responsive Urban Economic Plan (UEP) that integrates marketbased approaches helping the municipalities to identify viable value chain projects and supporting climate-resilient infrastructure that will help actualise the economic potential of the municipality. Once the municipality has formally adopted the UEP, the programme provides additional technical assistance to ensure that the plan is investor-friendly and attracts investors. Additionally, the programme works with the municipalities to identify regulatory and policy inhibitors that dissuade investors.

To ensure that the municipal and county team implement the recommendations of the UEP, the programme ensured that its support includes a strong capacity building component that aims at building good governance systems and technical competencies for effective management of urban services to sustain SUED’s initiatives beyond the programme’s life span.

SUED’s aim in its capacity building work is to ensure that municipalities have robust structures, efficient processes, sufficient skills, and competencies with supportive regulations that enable them to properly manage their urban areas in a sustainable manner that promotes equitable development. It is against this background that the programme undertook a Capacity Needs Assessment in the first 10 municipalities – Kitui, Malindi, Isiolo, Kisii, Iten, Kathwana, Eldoret, Kerugoya, Mandera and Lamu to identify the gaps, challenges and opportunities to inform capacity development interventions.

The assessment covered three thematic areas: a) urban governance and organisational effectiveness; b) business environment reform and investor readiness; and c) knowledge management. The CNA entailed multistakeholder engagements with national, county, and municipal stakeholders to determine how to best develop internal capacity beyond the existing efforts by county governments, municipalities and development partners such as World Bank through the Kenya Urban Support Programme (KUSP).

By assessing the municipality’s urban governance and organisational effectiveness, the programme was able to learn the 35

governance structures and management systems that they had in place. Knowledge of this is critical in how the programme works with the municipalities to put in place frameworks and internal systems and operating models to strengthen their capacity to implement the urban economic plans, advocate for conducive reforms and policy for investors as well as determine the priority that should be placed on different value chain and infrastructure projects that would spur economic growth in the municipality.

The assessment further helped the programme to determine the capacity of the municipalities to implement policies that wouldn’t hinder businesses in their locality. Learning the capacity of the municipalities in this regard has brought to the front the areas in which there is an overlap in functions between the national government and the county government.

In doing so, the programme will be able to advocate to the county government the need to resource some of the sectors to enable the municipalities to effectively man-age them.

The programme was keen to see the level of willingness of municipalities to improve learning within their internal system as a result of implementing programmes that had successful outcomes. By knowing how municipalities captured, organised, shared, used knowledge, and adapted the learning into their subsequent planning, SUED would be able see how best to work with the municipalities to incorporate lessons they learned as they implemented SUED that they would use to strengthen their knowledge on how to best manage urban services in a way that sustainable and draws in investors.

The assessment adopted a holistic approach to capacity development which helped the programme determine what support the municipalities would need from SUED at institutional, organisational, and individual level.

At institutional level, municipalities remained heavily reliant on the counties primarily because they lacked structures that would enable them to effectively carry out their role. In addition, key strategic functions such as urban planning, revenue collection, trade and development among others remain domiciled at the county departments. These functions if delegated to municipalities would help them implement SUED | Newsletter 2020/2021

key SUED intervention areas and achieve the visions of the UEPs. At organisational level municipalities did not have strong management practices in planning, fit for purpose structures, responsive culture, and relevant policies which are critical areas in SUED’s work towards supporting a conducive investment climate for new investors in the municipalities. In addition, municipalities did not have in place resource mobilisation or revenue enhancement strategies which greatly hindered their capacity to achieve financial autonomy and enable them to be financially sustainable.

At individual level board members and staff require capacity building to gain knowledge and skills in;urban economic planning and management, investment attraction process, knowledge management, mainstreaming of climate resilience and GeSI in municipal planning, budgeting and implementation among other areas. Specifically, under urban governance, board members and staff require training in leadership and corporate governance, evidence based urban planning, revenue mobilisation, budgeting, procurement, contract management and value for money.

As a response to the findings, SUED prioritised an initial training for three municipalities on financial management and revenue enhancement. The objective of the training was to expose the municipal boards and staff to the financial management and governance aspects in the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 , Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015 and the linkages to Urban Areas and Cities Act, 2011 (amended in 2019) .

Additionally, the training aimed at strengthening the capacity of the boards and staff in planning, budgeting, procurement, contract management and revenue enhancement. With the acquired knowledge, the municipalities would be able to manage financial resources prudently and mobilise resources to fund the economic opportunities in the UEPs and municipal plans.

The SUED supported training was aimed ensuring that municipal staff gained the necessary skills needed to manage revenue and demonstrate to their counties their capability to effectively and in an accountable way that they were able to put in place transparent financial management procedures that would help them improve revenue 36

collection increasing the municipality’s appeal and access to private investment.

In its training, SUED shared with municipal board and staff the link-ages between financial management and governance aspect with the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 , Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015 , and the Urban Areas and Cities (Amended in 2019) Act. The training was conducted in-person while adhering to the COVID-19 regulations . To ensure that the county and municipal team were actively engaged in the training, SUED used three broad training delivery methods: a) lecture style delivery – the pro-gramme utilised this approach when sharing legislative and frame-work based information as it helped the training participants quickly reference some of the regulations that were being cited, b) participant engagement approach – SUED incorporated breakout sessions in the training to encourage peer learning and to elicit open feedback on areas that required clarity from the trainees and c) case studies – the utilisation

of real-life scenarios helped the staff see how best to apply the knowledge gained. Both local and global case studies were used to expose trainees to best practices which can be replicated in their municipalities. The facilitators em-bedded Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) framework in breakout sessions. This is a step-by-step approach that helps participants to break down a problem into its root causes, identify entry points, search for possible solutions, take action, reflect upon what has been learned, adapt, and then act again. This approach enhanced the conversations and helped the participants to develop SMART action plans to apply the acquired knowledge in their day to day activities and urban problem solving initiatives.

Result

The training helped more than 60 staff across the three municipalities develop an understanding on financial planning, budgeting, accounting, and resource reporting. Further, with SUED’s support, the board members and staff were able to gain knowledge on how they could enhance their own source revenue for value chain and climate resilient infrastructure projects and municipal services as envisioned in their UEPs and municipal charters.

The CNA enabled the programme to determine its intervention are-as and design the approach that it would utilise to address the gaps identified. By knowing the context in which the programme’s capacity development initiatives would be rolled out to, SUED has been able to adopt different types of competency models for capacity building that go beyond training and include on-site mentor-ship, incorporation of workshops during interventions and weaving in continuous staff development and knowledge sessions during implementation. By having recommendations within the CNA that highlight how the interventions should be carried out at institutional, organisational, and individual level, SUED has been able to develop a wellthought out and responsive implementation plan. The programme is now better placed to work with municipalities to harmonise their urban services standards as well as ensure the effective delivery of their strategic functions.

Osman Halake Municipal Manager Isiolo shared

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“Having SUED carry out a capacity needs assessment within the urban sector will not only inform the pro-gramme’s interventions but will also help the municipalities prioritise areas that need strengthening and make us effective in our work.”

As a result of the CNA, which informed the training that municipalities received on financial management and revenue enhancement, 60 municipal staff and board members learnt how to improve municipal level public financial management practices, integrate municipal plans including the UEPs into the broader county planning framework and budgeting as well as linking the plans to the available resources. Additionally, the training exposed them to various revenue streams that municipalities can tap into to enhance their own source revenue, how they can leverage technology to auto-mate revenue streams and increase efficiency.

During the training the programme utilised pre- and post-assessment tools to determine the level of knowledge before the training and effectiveness of the training. 98% of the trainees felt that their knowledge on financial management and revenue enhancement had increased with 95% sharing that they would use the knowledge gained to execute their duties. The initial training of three municipalities demonstrated to SUED how critical it is to empower individuals with knowledge and skills to carry out their roles effectively. “We are now going back informed and equipped to carry out our role effectively.” Shared Geoffrey Katsole – the Interim Board Chair – Malindi Municipality, soon after the training.

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SUCCESS STORY 2

Why Hybrid Stakeholder Engagements are the Future

The British High Commissioner H.E. Jane Marriott, the Elgeyo Marakwet Governor H.E. Alex Tolgos, the Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Heritage and Culture H.E. Dr Amina Mohamed and the Principal Secretary for Forests and the Environment Dr. Chris Kiptoo unveil the IAAF world Heritage Plaque during Iten’s in-person UEP launch.

“Developing a plan that captures the aspirations of our diverse stakeholders is not easy, more so with a pandemic in place. By working with the municipality and the county to develop a responsive and all-inclusive urban economic plan, SUED has done just that” shared Elgeyo Marakwet Governor, H.E. Alex Tolgos, during Iten’s UEP launch. Iten is one of 12 municipalities that is benefiting from the UK Government funded Sustainable Urban Economic Development Programme (SUED) to develop urban economic plans and attract

investment for critical infrastructure and value chain projects.

Urban centres both at city and municipal level have profoundly been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainable urbanisation continues to provide the way in which governments can offer a recourse to their citizens to mitigate against future socioeconomic shocks. For this to work, there is need to put in place a multi-sectoral and multistakeholder invested framework that ensures that urban centres are well-planned and managed to create an enabling environment for

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populations to thrive.

During the pandemic, SUED carried out an impact study to better understand how the programme can work with the municipalities to assist with addressing the COVID-19 challenges that they were facing. When the pandemic measures were put in place in Kenya, SUED had just commenced the UEP development process for Iten, Kathwana and Kisii municipalities. Further it was in the processes of kick starting its investment attraction activities in Kitui, Isiolo and Malindi.

With the Government issuing strict containment measures that entailed banning of in-person meetings and inter-county travel, SUED’s heavy stakeholder engagement process had to pivot from in-person stakeholder meetings to virtual interactions.

The programme heavily benefited from its strong groundwork in developing workable relationships with the municipalities that were strengthened within the virtual spaces. As a result, the programme was able to hold key virtual engagements such as post-assessments with Mandera, Lamu, Eldoret, and Kerugoya.

These post-assessments were critical in helping SUED share with the municipalities its new stakeholder engagement approach. The programme additionally held virtual meetings with the County leader-ship led by Governors. The meetings played a key role in informing the top leadership how SUED would use a hybrid format to continue to support them to achieve their urban economic development objectives.

SUED’s hybrid approach entailed having in-person meetings when the Government restrictions were lifted and re-served for key decision-making points within the programme as well as prioritised virtual engagements during containment measure periods and for follow-up meetings.

The utilisation of the hybrid format resulted in SUED supporting Kisii, Kathwana and Iten to fully develop their urban economic plans.

Further, the plans were publicly launched with potential investors invited in Kisii and Iten.

The launches were physically held with strict adherence to COVID-19 measures to curb

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chances of infection. The programme was able to support Malindi, Isiolo and Kitui to carryout prefeasibility studies for their short-listed projects in anticipation of investors. As such, with SUED support 9 prefeasibility studies were completed utilising in-person meetings when necessary with virtual sessions incorporated.

During the pandemic, the programme was able to carry out a Capacity Needs Assessment for all the initial 10 municipalities. The assessment was conducted in-person complemented by desk study and virtual key-informant interviews with the national government. The utilisation of the hybrid format enabled the programme to access senior government officials who may not have been available for physical meetings within the COVID-19 context. As a result of the utilisation of the hybrid format, SUED was able to determine how it could build the capacity of the municipal and county staff to implement the newly developed UEPs. The programme was able to train the staff on financial management and revenue enhancement for them to gain knowledge on public financial management and how it linked to the UEPs. Utilising the lessons learned from the development of the UEPs for Kathwana, Kisii and Iten, the programme kick-started the UEP development process in Lamu, Mandera, Kerugoya and Eldoret. The preferred methodology that works for SUED is having the initial meetings in-person and sharing with the stakeholders what the UEP development process entail. Subsequent engagements can be held virtually through various meeting platforms; however, a merit remains in having follow-up phone calls and emails to ascertain concurrence on decisions.

SUED’s hybrid format has enabled the programme to maintain its strong relationships with its key audiences while accessing new ones such as senior-level national officials due to the lack of geographical boundaries.

Previously getting appointment with senior government officials would entail a lengthy process due to the peripatetic nature of their roles. As such, its engagements have been enriched by having diverse stakeholders from various key sectors provide insights on how

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to strengthen programme outputs. “Our UEP has been a culmination of many sessions with the SUED team. They have come to Kisii to meet with us directly and have also engaged us virtually through various forums to ensure that its development encompassed our ideas” shared Jamil Shamji- Kisii Municipal Board Chair on the UEP development process in Kisii.

The programme was also able to hold its first ever virtual consultative forum . Previously due to the COVID-19 containment measures the programme was not able to host the municipalities for their quarterly consultative forum. However, with the adoption of the hybrid format of implementation, the programme was able to hold two virtual consultative forums in February and July 2021. SUED was able to utilise the platform to enable the programme work with ex-perts to share insights on how the municipalities can own the urban economic development process and ensure that their municipalities are resilient to future economic shocks such as the pandemic. The utilisation of the virtual space has enabled the programme to navigate within its various workstreams effectively ensuring that the programme is on course to meet its objectives.

assisting the county and municipal leadership to build back better and emerge stronger post-pandemic. This collative stakeholder engagement approach is geared towards identifying future ways in which sustainable and inclusive development can be achieved in the face of pandemics. “The utilisation of both virtual and in-person meetings has ensured that as a municipality we are not left behind in the development of our UEP and that we are strategically positioned to attract investors into our Municipality” shared Hassannoor Abdullahi, Municipal Manager, Mandera during their postassessment meeting.

As it continues to implement its activities within the COVID-19 con-text, SUED is cognizant that the pandemic has brought to the front the inequalities that urbanisation has poor infrastructure that can support the informal sector within the pandemic and is working with the municipalities through its various workstreams to address this. The utilisation of a hybrid format has ensured that even when the SUED team is not able to physically meet stakeholders, there is a virtual space that is available that they can converse on how best they can flourish and develop. By working closely with the municipalities remotely and in-person to continue with the development of the UEPs and investment attraction work, amongst others, SUED is demonstrating to the counties and municipalities how critical planning is in spurring changes that can drive urban economic development. Its partnership with municipalities to attract investors to support the implementation of the UEPs shows the programme’s commitment towards

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SUCCESS STORY3

How the interplay between urban planning and climate change resilience is key in future proofing urban areas

The Deputy British High Commissioner Mr. Julius Court, the Kisii Governor H.E. James Ongwae, the Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) H.E. Eugene Wamalwa and SUED’s former Team Leader Mr. Duncan Onyango hold up the newly launched Climate Smart UEP for Kisii Municipality.

As countries urbanise and take advantage of the opportunities that it brings, a great potential exists to work closely with local governments to build resilient and sustainable urban centres for the future. To do this, programmes that work within the urban sector must endevour to support the creation of interdependent sectors.

By increasing the spatial, economic, and social interconnections, market driven growth becomes achievable. To ensure the sustainability of these new emerging economic SUED | Newsletter 2020/2021

growth hubs, there needs to be in place economic planning that includes climate change resilience.

In Kenya, previous climate change interventions have centered on helping the country and its counties to adapt to specific vulnerabilities such as flooding and droughts. As the country forges towards its 2030 vision of industrialising into a middle-income country that provides a high quality of life for its citizens, its climate response needs to move from adaptation approach to resilience conscious. By having in place SUED’s in-person engagements

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measures that are iterative and recognising the constant evolvement of its climate risk and vulnerability, the country will be able to ensure that its economic development can withstand climatic shocks.

To assist with this, the UK Government through its Sustainable Ur-ban Economic Programme (SUED) is supporting 12 municipalities to improve urban economic planning, business environment re-forms and develop bankable urban investments. The programme utilises a multi-step approach. First, SUED works closely with the respective municipality to design and develop Urban Economic Plans (UEPs) that integrate market-based approaches into the County’s Integrated Development Plan (CIDP)

SUED’s meeting with Uasin Gishu Leadership

to help identify viable value chain projects and supporting critical climate-resilient infrastructure that intend to actualise the economic potential of the municipality. After the completion of the UEP and formal adoption by the municipal board, SUED works with the municipality to ensure that the plan is investor-friendly to attract investments for the identified projects.

To ensure that the planning process identifies opportunities for the municipality that will espouse economic diversification that is climate resilient, the programme embeds an in-depth analysis of both direct impact of climate change and the climate vulnerabilities within the municipality that are caused by failures of current infrastructure and the ecosystem. By understanding these as well as seeing how policy, cultural and governance approaches are implemented, SUED is better informed on the local needs that the municipalities have.

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with them to ensure that they are effective in how they embrace climate change adaptation, implement mitigation actions, and reduce the climate risks.

The diagnostic assessment in the UEP development process has been crucial in SUED’s work with the municipalities in helping to build a broad understanding of urban resilience and how it potentially informs their long-term future planning. In doing so, the municipalities have been able to learn how they can operationalise the plan through structured approaches to reduce their vulnerability to climatic changes. The UEP development process has helped the municipalities to make informed decision on how to include land use and position their major infrastructure projects to ensure that they are climate resilient.

The UEP development process has provided the municipalities with a road map that will enable them to: a) Integrate climate resilience into urban economic plans to ensure that there is sustainable urban development and infrastructure development that will minimise the impact of high climate risks such as sudden impacts of sudden storms and droughts.

In Isiolo, the programme has identified the Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SuDs) as a critical infrastructure that is needed to ensure that its urban centre does not experience repeat flooding during the rainy season. b) Redefine their urban spaces by helping the municipalities determine how they will integrate green spaces within their city centres to ensure that there is consideration on how they interplay with the main economic activities of the urban centre. In Kitui the programme has identified the creation of a blue-green corridor that enables the municipality to take advantage of its climatic seasons to develop a recreational centre that is an ecological centre adjacent to its main river. c) Strengthen their preparedness and emergency response capacity through the analysis of past climate shocks and sudden impact events to help them mitigate against future ones. The municipalities are now better prepared in including budgeting for future climate crisis. In Malindi, the programme has worked closely with the county and municipal 43

Kirinyaga Governor, H.E. Anne Waiguru meets with the SUED team to learn about the UEP development process

leadership to incorporate in its infrastructure projects the impact of sea level rise. By including a simulation of extreme events that include the future sea level and potential storm surge, the municipality can determine which properties along the ocean are at risk. d)Prioritise policies that confront spatial, social, and economic exclusion that have had indirect impacts on municipal urban areas thus increasing the pressure on the infra-structure during climatic events. In Kisii, the municipality continues to experience wetland degradation due to habitat destruction and deforestation.

By utilising the UEP to show the county and municipal leadership the long-term effects of such actions, the programme has been able to help them identify which policies need to be implemented to mitigate against the risks that the activities pose. e)Ensure the identification of resilient supply chains for agricultural and manufacturing sectors by focusing on the local inputs in place to support the system. This combined multistakeholder approach ensures that government SUED | Newsletter 2020/2021

authorities are cognizant of the impact that negative practices have on the climate and its resultant effect on their value chains.

The incorporation of resilience planning through the incorporation of stakeholder insights and expert technical knowledge into the urban planning process has yielded implementable climate smart UEPs for SUED’s municipalities.

The utilisation of climate risk analysis has built the confidence of the county and municipal leadership in appreciating the climate impact in their municipality and what can be done to mitigate future extreme events effectively. As SUED supported municipalities experience rapid urban growth and work towards mitigating their unique climate change realities, having a plan that incorporates how they can sustainably integrate urban resilience gives them the opportunity to avoid an urban-wide col-lapse in the face of climatic disruption.

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H.E Ali Roba Mandera Governor, welcomes the British High Commissioner to Mandera, she is the first BHC to visit Mandera since Kenya’s independence.

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