NAIROBI, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Kenya-based Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will partner to trace climate change hazards in Kenya's arid and semi-arid zones, official said on Friday.
RCMRD director general Emmanuel Nkurunziza told a space forum in Nairobi that they will deploy space technology to help Kenya adopt and mitigate the negative effects of climate change.
"We will assist Kenya to detect and mitigate against flooding, drought, land erosion and degradation in six counties in the arid and semi-arid areas," Nkurunziza told the opening ceremony of the third annual Space Challenge Competition for primary and high school students.
The RCMRD, which has 20 member states in eastern and southern Africa, was established under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union.
Nkurunziza noted that the UNDP has committed to funding the hazard-mapping exercise in the arid zones.
He said the use of satellite images will be augmented by ground tracing by local communities in order to enhance accuracy of data collected.
Information collected will be made available for use by both the national and local county governments to plan and deploy early warning systems for potential hazards, Nkurunziza said.
"We will also plan for alternative livelihoods for communities who will be identified as having being affected economically by the effects of climate change," he added.
