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The aim of this assessment report is twofold, such that it: (a) maps the migration– environment nexus in Kenya by looking at human mobility due to environmental change; and (b) examines existing policy and legal frameworks and offers guidance in mainstreaming migration in Kenya’s national planning of different sectors and at different levels. One of the main findings of the study is that enhancing the adaptive capacity of Kenya’s population to environmental and climate change, especially for the poor, would reduce the high levels of poverty in the country.

The report highlights the starting points below for initiating further research-based policy development:

• Interference with the resilience of communities in areas susceptible to natural environmental changes including climate change should be avoided.
• Strengthening disaster risk reduction means shifting from the still-dominating emphasis on disaster management to engaging in disaster prevention and search for durable solutions such as safe return.
• Enhancing resilience of pastoralists through migration as an adaptation strategy, facilitating livestock mobility by providing for watering ponds along established routes and by allowing for secure cross-border mobility arrangements.
• Tenure security and land ownership are known to work as an incentive for people to stay and engage into autonomous in situ adaptation, such as drought-resistant crops and livestock.
• People living in informal settlements should benefit from the implementation of stipulated programmes to formalise and upgrade informal settlements.

This publication is one of six national assessments to be published under the Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Evidence for Policy (MECLEP) project, funded by the European Union. The project aims to contribute to the global knowledge base on the relationship between migration and environmental change, including climate change.