In rural parts of Kenya and across Africa, the twin challenges of climate change and child poverty don’t just sit side-by-side; they feed into one another. When rains fail, crops fail, and when crops fail, families struggle. Children miss school, eat less, and are forced into chores or labour simply to keep the household going. This cycle is especially pronounced in remote communities, where the effects of shifting weather patterns and shrinking natural resources hit hardest.
At Involve the Children, we see this daily. Our work in marginalized, under-privileged areas of Kenya focuses on the children who are most vulnerable – the ones whose schools sit on the edges of farmland, whose livelihoods depend on livestock or small shambas, whose futures are derailed when the land gives up.
Climate change intensifies poverty in multiple ways: increased droughts and floods wipe out crops and livestock; water becomes scarcer; families spend more just to survive. Children feel the impact first – missing school because of chores, going hungry, missing out on the chance to build a future. Poverty then limits adaptive capacity: poor families can’t invest in resilient infrastructure, alternative income, or education to climb out of the valley. That means the next generation is caught in a loop.
Our approach at Involve the Children bridges both sides of the problem. We engage children in environmental conservation – tree planting, ecosystem education, sustainable livelihoods – so they understand the land, build resilience, and become active protectors of their futures. And we support education access – because knowledge opens new pathways beyond subsistence and vulnerability.
When children plant trees, learn about soil and water, they aren’t just helping the environment; they’re planting security for their families. When they stay in school, they’re creating options. That’s how climate resilience and breaking out of poverty become one story. Involve the Children helps write it by involving the children in the solution.
If we can protect the planet’s rhythms, we protect children’s futures. And when we lift children out of poverty, we strengthen their communities against climate shocks too. That connection is inseparable and that’s why our work matters.
