Double benefits: Climate change adaption leads to greater food security for Kenyan farmers

Climate change adaptation practices play a crucial role in enhancing food security for small-scale rural communities in Kenya. By employing appropriate strategies, farmers can reduce the risks associated with climate-related hazards and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on their livelihoods.

Implementing adaptation-based development approaches is considered essential for countries like Kenya to build resilience, diversify their economies, and safeguard the well-being of their citizens in the face of a changing climate.

Demographics and impact​

Kenyan farmers who have implemented climate change adaptation strategies have been found to experience higher food security levels — the more of such strategies are adopted, the greater the positive impact on food security.

Those who adopt such strategies tend to be male, younger and more highly educated. They also typically come from larger families, own larger areas of land, have higher farm income and better access to rainfall and temperature forecasts, and participate in farmer training programmes.  Additionally, those whose livelihoods depend solely on agriculture are more likely to diversify their crops and the use early maturing crop varieties.

Ongoing research in this area aims to inform policymakers and development organisations in designing targeted interventions to support farmers in adopting effective climate change adaptation strategies and consequently, enhance food security in Kenya.

Survey on security​

A study by researchers from a number of East African and Japanese universities (including Hawassa University and Ritsumeikan University) collected data from 540 farmers across six Kenyan counties in order to investigate the factors influencing farmers' choice of climate change adaptation strategies and how these strategies impacted their food security.

The survey results indicated that approximately 55% of the farmers had opted for planting drought-tolerant crop varieties, while around 34% had adopted crop diversification as their primary strategy. Additionally, about 22% of farmers relied on early maturing crop varieties and roughly 18% pursued income diversification.

As the number of adaptation strategies increased, so did the positive effect on food security. Farmers who adopted two strategies saw their food security status improve by around 11% to 14%, while those who adopted three strategies experienced a food security rise of nearly 12% to 15%. Farmers who employed four adaptation practices observed the most significant improvement, with their food security status increasing by approximately 14% to 18% compared to those who did not adopt any strategy.

These findings suggest that policy initiatives should focus on enhancing farmers' awareness through improved access to education and agricultural extension services. Simultaneously, efforts should be made to augment farmers' capacity for climate change adaptation by enhancing their assets, such as land, education, extension advice, training, and farm income, while keeping adaptation costs manageable.

Consequently, the Kenya government and relevant organizations should promote the adoption of climate-resilient practices, including the use of drought-tolerant crop varieties, crop diversification, early maturing crop varieties and income diversification. These strategies should be integrated into the extension programmes provided to farmers, emphasising that embracing more climate adaptation practices can lead to improved food security.

Source: ​National Center for Biotechnology Information​ ​

“Farmers′ use of climate change adaptation strategies and their impacts on food security in Kenya​”

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2023.100495​​

Authors:​ Girma Gezimu Gebre, et al​.