David Harewood on the shocking results of drought in Kenya

The Homeland star says first-world countries are protected from the realities of climate change

You recently made a film with Cafod, the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development, to raise awareness about climate change. How did that come about?

I've worked with Cafod for a number of years as an ambassador, and six years ago I travelled to northern Kenya to see the effects of climate change in the communities there. It was just mile after mile of complete devastation. There were just clouds of orange dust, and we went through village after village and all we saw was dead cattle and dead goats covered in orange dust. Because the entire economy is based on trading cattle it was almost like the equivalent of a stock market crash. There was nothing to trade. And so no money. It was very shocking and humbling. Those people had lived on that land for centuries. Generations had lived there and passed on their traditions and now it was uninhabitable. And it had happened almost overnight.