Ecological Grief in Kenya

This study is conducting ethnographic research in Kilifi, Kenya, a rural part of the country that has been enduring a devastating drought for several years. The study is exploring perceptions of Kilifi community members around ecological grief in response to loss/degradation of the surrounding environment, anticipated future losses, and disruptions to local knowledge systems. Potential connections of environmental distress with more serious conditions such as depressive and anxiety disorders will be examined as well. The study also engages policymakers, landowners, and business owners, to understand concerns that climate change poses for people’s health and what policy-relevant challenges exist and how they are framed or understood among social elites.

tags: Emily Mendenhall | Edna Bosire | Benjamin Oestericher | Janeeta Shaukat | Shabab Wahid