Kisumu’s Race to Beat the Heat

By dawn, Kisumu is already moving. Fishermen haul tilapia ashore at Dunga Beach. Boda-boda motorbike taxis dart between the city's roundabouts, ferrying produce and passengers through thickening traffic. Traders fan out across the markets of Kibuye. For the more than 1.1 million people who call this lakeside county home, life runs on momentum. But the heat is slowing everything down.

Over the past two decades, Kisumu has recorded a steady climb in temperatures, with monthly averages now running more than 2°C above the baseline of the late 1970s. Fish spoils before it reaches the market. Hospital admissions spike during hot spells. Inside homes built with the iron-sheet roofing that covers 93.5% of Kisumu's housing stock, the temperature can still be climbing hours after sundown. At night, when relief should come, the walls radiate the day's accumulated heat back into cramped living rooms.

For a city where 64% of urban residents live in informal settlements, the consequences of extreme heat are not abstract. They are measured in lost income, sick children and sleepless nights.

Projected climate trends offer little comfort. Rainfall is expected to increase by 42.1–51.5 mm annually, and combined with higher temperatures, added humidity will reduce the body's natural ability to cool itself, worsening heat stress even on days that fall short of the 37°C threshold.

The Plan 

Addressing extreme heat in Kisumu is not only about forecasting heatwaves, it is also about reshaping the city’s fabric through shade, trees, cool roofs and better-designed public buildings that reduce indoor temperatures without driving up energy demand. A combination of active, passive and community solutions can produce significant benefits for Kisumu residents. 

SEforALL is supporting Kisumu in developing its Heat Action Plan. The plan forms part of a broader national effort to address extreme heat, integrate cooling needs into County Energy Plans, and promote sustainable cooling solutions. It is intended to bridge national frameworks and local realities, ensuring that responses are tailored to county-specific needs while addressing immediate heat risks and strengthening longer-term energy and climate strategies, including the Kenya National Cooling Action Plan.

Akello is the driving force behind Kisumu's Heat Action Plan 2025–2029. Rather than relying solely on emergency response, the plan targets the structural conditions that make Kisumu residents so exposed in the first place. Key interventions include:

• Cooling centres: Cooling centres in busy areas like Kisumu’s markets, hospital grounds and boda-boda (motorcycle) stages could give traders, patients and riders a place to escape dangerous heat during days above 37°C, especially in crowded neighbourhoods.
• Heat early warning systems: A heat alert issued across Kisumu when temperatures exceed 37°C for three consecutive days could help residents in informal settlements and lakeside communities prepare early, adjusting work hours, staying hydrated and seeking cooler spaces.
• Passive cooling in buildings: In settlements where homes are built with iron-sheet roofs, simple measures like reflective roofing and better airflow could make indoor spaces safer and more tolerable during hot nights.
• Cold storage for food systems: Cold storage at beach landing sites and city markets could keep fish and fresh produce from spoiling in the heat, protecting incomes for fisherfolk and traders who depend on daily sales.
• Urban greening and shading: Planting trees and creating shaded walkways along busy roads, where green space is extremely limited, could make it safer for people to walk, trade and commute under rising temperatures.