Creating a Climate Revolution

“I depend on rain,” she said. As does more than 95 percent of the farmland in sub-Saharan Africa.

Muroko’s neighbor, Owen Ngure, 47, lives on land that his family has farmed for generations. He is taking steps to accommodate for climate change: he has a biogas generator and two large water tanks behind his house, and a storeroom of maize set aside for low-production years.

Still, his mother abandoned farming a few years ago because “it’s too much work for too little in hand,” he said. Standing next to his son, who helps him but wants to leave, Ngure acknowledged that because of climate change, he may be the last in his family to farm.

Not only is this a challenge to agricultural livelihoods, but it puts the continent at risk for increasing food insecurity, given that Africa’s population is growing at 2.5 percent per year – three times the global average

These farmers—who all remain simultaneously vitally connected to the land and urgently worried about the future—are supported by AGRA, a farmer-focused African-led nonprofit and a grantee of The Rockefeller Foundation.

Their fates are part of the reason why The Rockefeller Foundation, with its 109-year mission of promoting equity and well-being throughout the world, is focused in on confronting climate change by connecting climate mitigation efforts simultaneously with adaption and support for the hardest-hit communities.

Dr. Adelaide Lusambili agrees on the importance of data and science when working on climate change issues. That’s why she is part of the Climate Health and Maternal Neonatal Health Africa (CHAMNHA) consortium of researchers studying the effects of heat exposure on the health of pregnant women and their newborns. Her work is in Kenya.

“We know heat is likely to compromise behaviors. For instance, pregnant women are less likely to use mosquito nets, meaning they are more exposed to malaria. They are not as likely to receive neonatal care because they have to walk in the heat to receive that care,” said Lusambili, who spoke on a panel in March during a recent health-and-climate conference held in Kigali, Rwanda, and supported in part by The Rockefeller Foundation.

“Heat has affected water sources and food production, so many show up for delivery dehydrated and without the strength to push out the baby,” she said. “That means we have more preterm births, more low birthrates, more deaths in childbirth, more C-sections.”

Perhaps most troubling, “neonates are often born with blisters or develop blisters immediately after birth. Sometimes they can’t breastfeed because their tongues are blistered.”

“We see these behaviors and impacts and now we are putting data around it,” said Dr. Lusambili. “We have to scale up the fight against climate change. We need cooling spaces in maternity wards, and we need messages about upcoming heatwaves in various languages.”

“The power is with us. But we need to make sure maternal health is included in all climate change health strategies.”

Yee agrees on prioritizing vulnerable communities, and says she is personally motivated by her children and their generation. “My kids are why I wake up every day to do this work – we do it for all of the children who are inheriting the earth.”