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Climate change is not only reshaping our weather - it may also be changing the way diseases like malaria spread. And: Prepping for El Niño across Africa.
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00:11you probably have one of these some may even use mosquito nets all are pretty good ways in making
00:21sure you don't get bitten by a mosquito and in worst case scenarios get malaria that's right
00:28malama it's a huge health concern here nigeria accounts for nearly one-third of malaria deaths
00:36worldwide in fact extreme weather is creating new opportunities for malaria to spread
00:49one bite from the female anopheles mosquito can infect a person with the malaria-causing
00:55parasite plus modium by far the most cases are in Africa with 265 million infections and more than
01:03half a million fatalities in 2024 it's above all children under the age of five that are at risk
01:10in the African region yet malaria is treatable and as this map shows better medical care has reduced
01:19the number of cases in recent decades but the numbers are rising again one reason could be
01:26shifting rain and heat patterns across Africa the result of climate change brought on by humans
01:32burning fossil fuels drought can drop the anopheles mosquito of water to breed in which has been
01:38reported from northern Senegal in the ever drier Sahel region but warmer weather is boasting mosquito
01:45populations in Western Africa like in Senegal the souci que nous avons c'est au niveau des parties sud au
01:58niveau de
01:58de la région majeur in addition high altitude locations such as in Ethiopia Kenya or Rwanda that
02:17were previously too cold for mosquitoes could be faced with a greater malaria threat another aspect of
02:25climate change could make matters much worse extreme weather events such as flooding and storms are
02:30increasing in frequency and severity this could disrupt malaria treatment so you can you can flood the drugs
02:38everywhere but people may not be able to get you to these floods to these drugs and it means people
02:44if
02:45they are not accessing care we could predict like over 120 million more cases rumisha is a co-author of
02:54a
02:54study projecting impacts of climate change on malaria in Africa for her a key takeaway is that extreme
03:01weather will not only destroy medical facilities and distribution networks it will also increase
03:07mosquito human contact by destroying houses which leaves people without protection
03:15we should first look at where actually malaria is already happening now so that we can be able to
03:21mitigate the impact of these events or climate change and the events is the intensity that we have to pay
03:28attention to much more closer than just the expansion to other regions that mean they didn't have malaria
03:37specific effects of climate change are notoriously hard to predict but as far as the spread of malaria is
03:44concerned it seems the wisest response for authorities across Africa is to building resilience now
04:00this house can save lives by preventing people from getting malaria but how does it work
04:06the mtuala region already has over a hundred of these so-called star homes malaria is a major issue here
04:14with infection rates at around 20 percent two and a half times the national average the star homes look
04:22futuristic but also draw inspiration from traditional buildings in southeast asia and regional tanzanian
04:28elements like the porch on the bench the living spaces are elevated above the ground to reduce exposure to mosquitoes
04:39the number of studies that shows the the higher you go especially the sleeping area you reduce the number
04:46of mosquitoes in the house anoffice mosquitoes they tend to have low flights like one meter above the ground
04:54studies showed a 44 percent lower malaria infection risk with this design instead of windows the homes
05:02have mesh screens that let in enough air and light but no mosquitoes
05:25when it comes to making future homes more healthy and more sustainable it's worth looking at designs from the past
05:33tucked away in the middle of tanzania's financial hub dara salaam makumbosho village museum preserves
05:38traditional homes from across the country the only problem many feature wood which involves filling trees
05:46that still carbon dioxide and help guard against erosion most of the houses they are made of the mud and
05:52poles
05:52so the poles there that means that the trees are put down deforestation that has impact on the environment
06:01but others are built with bamboo and thatch first-growing renewable materials all from earth which helps
06:07to keep the interior cool a group of some researchers from earth university so they are trying to learn
06:14from these houses the traditional house that we have kept here to learn the traditional architectural
06:20technology that the future engineers can integrate now the modern technologies and the traditional technology
06:26in order to have a new kind of thinking when they are designing and constructing modern houses
06:33like in mhaga village in tanzania's coastal region over 160 women have trained as brick makers and builders
06:41here since 2011 as a part of the tower program which also involves the use of local materials
06:49made largely from earth the bricks need far less cement than conventional varieties
06:55that means lower carbon emissions also because the material is from the immediate vicinity
07:01we have a pile of soil we got this from digging underground water tank so for us this is a
07:09huge
07:10resource that we can use for brick making and we will talk about low carbon when it comes to
07:15transporting from where i came from here like zero cost for many of the women the construction trade
07:22qualification enables them to earn their own income for the first time and to earn respect in what has
07:28long been a male-dominated sector we wanted to work with the women who may have dropped out of school
07:38for
07:38some reasons or maybe some did not even get access to school they've left a mark to many women
07:44seeing that women can build homes
08:04the new houses are intended to provide a secure and dignified home for elderly people
08:10and to strengthen the community as a whole one resident is in a jovial mood today
08:38and the health focus to our homes at around eight thousand eight hundred years dollars they are still
08:45too expensive for many rural families but their creators hope others will adopt and build on the
08:51ideas behind the design what we are providing is um knowledge we are sharing with them that they can
08:59have a healthier house and um and how to do it from homes designed to minimize malaria infection to low
09:08carbon housing for the elderly the goal is the same to build stronger and healthy communities for the
09:13challenges of the future here in lagos heavy rain can cause flash floods very quickly the world is
09:24about to get hit by even more flooding extreme heat and drought all due to an exceptionally strong
09:31el nino in the coming month the combination of climate change and el nino has led the wmo to
09:39one that 2027 could be the hottest year since records began and that is raising concerns about the potential
09:46impact we look at what might happen in various regions across the continent across africa communities
09:54are preparing for another potentially difficult weather season from increased flood risk in tanzania
10:02to unpredictable rainfall in niger and the threat of drought and water shortages in south africa el nino could
10:11have very different consequences across the continent in tanzania the biggest concern is heavy rain flooding
10:19on landslides on landslides on landslides on landslides on landslides on landslides on landslides
10:30for residents memories of past flooding remain fresh but authorities say high risk areas are being identified
10:39with possible relocations planned before the heaviest rains arrive thousands of kilometers away in niger the
10:48concern is less predictable because both drought and flooding are possible agriculture and livestock are vital to livelihoods
10:58but changing rainfall patterns are making it harder for farmers to plan and among young people there is
11:05also uncertainty about what el nino actually means the phenomenon is not the same as climate change
11:21it is a natural climate phenomenon that is associated with unusually warm pacific ocean temperatures
11:29but its effect can extend to the sahel influencing rainfall and temperatures further south south africa is bracing for
11:40a potentially strong el nino here the biggest threats are heat drought water shortages and crop losses
11:49the timing is critical the expected peak of the event overlaps with the country's main crop growing season
11:57previous el nino events have brought hot and dry conditions forcing farmers to make difficult
12:04decisions about planting farmers are very cautious because we know usually during el nino it is a dry
12:10pattern and warmer for communities the fear is also about water in 2016 we experienced a similar drought and
12:19we almost reached day zero in western k so the whole country almost didn't have water as el nino
12:26develops experts say preparation and understanding what lies ahead could be critical to protecting lives
12:34livelihoods and food supplies now to kenya which is also bracing for some extreme weather from october to
12:45january more heavy rainfall than usual is expected there due to el nino and nairobi has some major catch-up
12:54work
12:54to do to prevent disaster in nairobi rain can change everything in minutes homes go underwater power supplies fail lives
13:06are lost
13:07now the city is scrambling to prepare for the coming el nino season
13:12richard okol is a building caretaker in one of nairobi's southern neighborhoods
13:17the last heavy rains in march 2026 saw parts of this area submerged in water with basements flooded and burst
13:25sewer lines
13:26the floods destroyed the building's electricity supply and
13:55generator leaving residents without power for two weeks his building has now installed its own
14:01pump to prevent the basement from filling up last month the city sent in trucks to unblock sewer lines
14:07that had also overflowed to litembea now tukazunguka tukawonyesha penye ikona shida wakajaribu
14:15wakaflashout so saa even you tunauna benye preparation yawilikuwa siimbaya vile na tuwezi peana
14:22a hundred percent around nairobi preparations are underway in a last minute scramble the city is
14:30renewing its roadside drainage clearing rubbish and preparing for what the government has called
14:35a national security risk the heavy el nino rains the biggest project however is the city's river and
14:42sewage line restoration nairobi rivers commissioner mumu musuva is overseeing the work nairobi is largely
14:49within a flood plain and the rivers play a very big part in that um hydrological cycle and we have
14:58to deal with two two constraints one is that um for the most part uh where you've got the flood
15:06plain
15:06areas you should not have development because when the rivers flood they swell the project is estimated
15:14to cost 50 billion kenyan shillings plans include clearing natural floodplains widening river channels
15:22and building 27 kilometers of sewer lines on either side of the nairobi river to keep waste water out
15:30the problem is that nairobi's three main rivers the nairobi gong and madare rivers and their tributaries
15:37flow right through the dense city center past businesses and housing and nairobi's biggest dump
15:43site nairobi's rivers have become polluted water bodies and according to the commissioner almost half
15:50of the water in the rivers in the dry season is raw sewage the city has not had the right
15:57level of
15:58infrastructure to deal with that and whatever has been built uh before in many sections along the river
16:05has been built in the wrong place if you look at the old master plans most of the buildings around
16:11this area were actually set back or built 30 meters away from the river because there was an acknowledgement
16:17that this was a flood plain area the right time to upgrade nairobi's rivers and drainage says musuva
16:22would have been 30 years back as short-term measures the city says they've mapped flood hot spots
16:28and informed communities of the potential risks yet these are places where people live and work
16:35further downstream in a low-income neighborhood the nairobi river restoration is already taking shape
16:4230 meters have been cleared for what is planned to be a riverside park that can act as a floodplain
16:48the river has been widened and its banks reinforced a new pathway built above a sewer line
16:54will eventually run towards the city center marking the edge of the demolished zone
17:15many residents welcome the improvements but for those forced to leave their homes and businesses
17:21the transition has come at a cost the transition has come at a cost
17:51according to climate scientists al nino could mean storms and heavy rainfall throughout east africa
18:05at the national forecasting center of kenya's metrological authority climate scientist joyce
18:10mutai is monitoring weather patterns with concern the temperature all the way in the pacific ocean she
18:17explains is what is causing extreme weather conditions around the world it's already up and you can see
18:22this is what we mean actually it's the warming of the central pacific this is the coast of peru this
18:27is south america the coast of peru and you can see australia over here and this is the pacific ocean
18:32and we're already seeing these massive warming so you can see that it's as high as 30 degrees 29 degrees
18:39so basically with with with these heat being released it means that the systems that control
18:45the weather of east africa will also definitely be affected kim tai and her colleagues are updating
18:51the forecast on a daily basis but she says the signs point to east africa's typical wet season
18:57possibly seeing up to 800 millimeters of rainfall in areas like nairobi double the usual amount all the
19:04way to nairobi it would generally receive between 600 to 800 millimeters of rainfall it wouldn't just be
19:10like raining from morning to evening every day because also that's the um um sort of a word of
19:18caution that we want to throw out there that it's when we say above normal rainfall it's el nino it's
19:24a
19:25all week that is dry and then we have another week that is really wet well we have two days
19:30of like
19:31really a lot of rainfall um and so this preparedness is very important preparedness for the coming months
19:37but also the coming years because if the predictions are right extreme weather events could become more
19:44frequent as global temperatures rise so making cities like nairobi flood resistant could become even more
19:50important what we are currently doing on the nairobi rivers is giving the river back its life that all
19:56speaks to adaptability because we we are intervening seeing the flood events intervening seeing the long
20:05dry periods that will also come as part of climate change and then with that you build resilience and
20:11once all of this is done then the next phase is greening the corridors the idea is that trees and
20:17other vegetation will help hold the soil together and prevent erosion new sports grounds and parks
20:23are also taking shape nairobi's rivers still have a long way to go but the hope is that they'll be
20:31cleaner and safer for the people living alongside them now el nino can bring flooding to some regions and
20:41droughts to others that northern ghana has already seen longer dry seasons and declining rainfall
20:47conditions that are reshaping daily life for many rural families so what could farmers do to secure
20:54their harvest whatever the weather it's a dry season in northeastern ghana but you wouldn't notice it
21:04looking at this flourishing garden the harvest for the kukwa women's cooperative is good onios and many
21:10other vegetables are growing well on the five hectare plot from december to march the hot hamatan wind
21:17from the sahara normally dries out the land water is scarce along with income and good food
21:23for the kukwa women's
21:52amount of rainfall has been decreasing, impacting the harvest and driving farming families deeper
21:58into poverty. Many people are migrating to find work elsewhere or they are forced to
22:03find other sources of income.
22:32The Cukua's green miracle began in 2023. The cooperative built a solar powered drip irrigation system, thanks to funding from
22:40the United Nations.
22:42Six solar panels now power a pump in a well that delivers 36,000 liters of water every day.
22:48The system ensures a steady water supply all year round. The additional harvests during the
22:54dry season have improved the women's lives permanently. The five hectares of land are
23:00divided equally between the farmers. They all have access to a plot of irrigated land.
23:10Solar powered irrigation is still quite rare in Ghana, thus mainly due to the cost. Many small
23:16farmers can't afford expensive irrigation systems. Vegetable farmer Adungu Klamit Atamia uses a
23:23diesel powered pump, even though fuel is expensive. The money is the problem. Like the way we are here
23:31farming, the market is not there. Last week they came and bought about 450 Ghana series. So you can
23:42imagine that. So how are you going to contribute the money to go and buy the solar? That's our main
23:49problem.
23:51But change may be coming. In 2025, the Ghanaian government launched a program that aims to provide
23:57solar irrigation for 400,000 hectares of land. Over the next three years, farmers still have to pay for the
24:04system.
24:05The adoption is low because of the initial cost, but it's quite affordable for a smallholder farmer compared
24:11to the bigger system. But I think that if an organization or financial institution steps in to
24:17pre-finance for the smallholder farmers and they are able to farm year round, they will be able to
24:23pay for the cost of the system. The plan aims to have 3,500 solar pumps with boreholes by the
24:31end of
24:312028. That would not only allow irrigation, it would also ensure the supply of clean drinking water,
24:39which is often lacking, especially during the dry season. The women's cooperative meanwhile has had
24:45three years of solar irrigation and sent a sharp rise in fields of staple foods like cassava. Many
24:52families in Kukua now have more income and food security in the village has improved.
25:11The Kukua women's cooperative shows that communities can adapt and with relatively little investment,
25:18allowing them to stay in their own homes and not be forced to migrate.
25:22How do we prepare for it?
25:23You can find more stories about what we can expect from the Super El Nino and how
25:30we can prepare for it by subscribing to the echo newsletter. Thanks for watching. It's goodbye for now.
25:36And if you have any idea or experience you want to share with us, just write at eco.dw.com.
25:44Thanks for watching and see you next week. Do take care of yourself.