In the arid and flood-prone regions of Kenya, a silent crisis is unfolding at the intersection of climate change and adolescent health. New research published in the leading journal BMJ Global Health underscores how environmental disruptions are not just reshaping ecosystems but are dramatically compromising the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of young adolescents between the ages of 10 and 14. This comprehensive qualitative study, involving nearly 300 participants from diverse Kenyan communities, elucidates the deep and often overlooked consequences of climate-induced resource insecurities on youth well-being and development.
As global temperatures rise and climate patterns become increasingly erratic, the direct and indirect impacts on vulnerable populations multiply. In Kenya, recurrent droughts and intense flooding have devastated traditional food and water systems, amplifying scarcity and driving cascading social challenges. The lead author, Dr. Carmen Logie, a professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Health Equity at the University of Toronto, emphasizes that climate change transcends environmental degradation—it is a burgeoning public health emergency particularly affecting young adolescents in already marginalized contexts.
The study employed rigorous multi-method qualitative techniques, including focus groups, walk-along interviews, and participatory mapping workshops, to gather nuanced insights from 178 young adolescents and 119 elders living across six climate-sensitive regions: Mathare, Kisumu, Isiolo, Naivasha, Kilifi, and the Kalobeyei Refugee Settlement. This robust methodological approach enabled researchers to capture the lived experiences of these communities as they navigate the complex interplay between environmental shocks and social vulnerabilities.
Findings reveal that food insecurity spurred by declining agricultural productivity is not merely a nutritional issue but acts as a catalyst for school dropout, transactional sex, gender-based violence, and early pregnancy. Young girls, in particular, bear the brunt of these intersecting risks. Without reliable access to food, water, and menstrual hygiene products, many are compelled to make perilous choices to fulfill basic survival needs—choices that expose them to exploitation and loss of educational opportunities.
One crucial dimension highlighted by the research is the gendered nature of vulnerability in these contexts. Female adolescents shared heartbreaking accounts of stigma associated with inadequate menstrual hygiene, which forced them to skip school and sometimes seek out exploitative relationships in exchange for menstrual supplies. This dynamic underscores a broader systemic failure to provide safe and supportive environments for adolescent girls amid worsening climate conditions.
Water scarcity emerged as another critical factor exacerbating SRH risks. Girls and young women reported frequent harassment and violence when collecting water from distant or unsafe sources, a consequence of water systems disrupted by severe droughts and floods. The absence of safe sanitation further compounded these issues, with many girls facing coerced sexual encounters in exchange for access to menstrual products or safe spaces to manage menstruation.
The research delineates both direct and indirect pathways linking climatic events to adverse adolescent health outcomes. Drought conditions undermine food security, eroding family stability and economic resources, which increases the likelihood of children disengaging from school and entering street life or exploitative environments. Floods compromise infrastructure and displace populations, leading to homelessness and heightened exposure to gender-based violence.
Critically, the study calls for urgent, climate-informed sexual and reproductive health interventions tailored to the unique needs of young adolescents in low-resource and high-risk settings. These interventions must be adolescent-centered and gender-transformative, aiming not only to ameliorate immediate risks but also to dismantle entrenched vulnerabilities intensified by environmental crises. The authors stress the importance of integrated approaches that combine public health, social justice, and environmental sustainability frameworks.
Co-author and community leader Dr. Julia Kagunda from Elim Trust articulates the need for programs addressing root causes of insecurity. Rather than piecemeal responses, such initiatives should build resilience by ensuring equitable access to food, water, education, and health services, thereby safeguarding the futures of Kenya’s youth in the face of a changing climate.
This research contributes vital empirical evidence to the discourse on climate justice, emphasizing adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health as a critical yet underrepresented domain. It situates environmental disruptions within broader socio-economic systems that sustain gender and age-based inequities, urging policymakers, non-governmental organizations, and health systems to adopt holistic strategies informed by lived realities.
At a time when global policy increasingly centers on climate adaptation, this study highlights the necessity of intersectional frameworks that integrate environmental, health, and social data. Only through such comprehensive understanding can effective mitigation of the adverse impacts of climate change on young populations be realized.
Furthermore, the engagement of community-based organizations like the Centre for the Study of Adolescence and Elim Trust strengthened the research’s authenticity, bridging academia and grassroots perspectives. Their involvement ensured that findings reflect localized knowledge and can inform culturally sensitive and context-specific interventions.
In conclusion, this groundbreaking study exposes the urgent public health crisis driven by the nexus of climate change and adolescent sexual and reproductive health in Kenya. It reveals how environmental shocks not only devastate natural resources but also erode the social fabric that protects youth, especially girls, from harm. Urgent action rooted in climate-informed, gender-sensitive, and adolescent-centered programming is imperative to mitigate these growing threats and foster resilient, healthy futures for young Kenyans.
Subject of Research: Impact of climate change and resource insecurities on sexual and reproductive health among young adolescents in Kenya.
Article Title: Climate change, resource insecurities and sexual and reproductive health among young adolescents in Kenya: a multi-method qualitative inquiry
News Publication Date: 4-May-2025
Web References: DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2024-016637
Keywords: climate change, sexual and reproductive health, adolescents, Kenya, food insecurity, water scarcity, gender-based violence, menstrual hygiene, public health, qualitative research, environmental justice, adolescent health
Tags: climate change and adolescent healthclimate-sensitive health interventions in Kenyadroughts and flooding effects on healthenvironmental disruptions and health risksimpacts of climate change on youthmarginalized communities and climate crisispublic health emergency in Kenyaqualitative research on climate changeresource insecurities and youth developmentsexual and reproductive health in Kenyavulnerability of young adolescents to climate changeyouth well-being in changing environments
