Smallholder farmers’ perceptions and adaptation to climate variability in Kenya: a case study of Kaveta and Mikuyuni villages, Kitui County

Abstract

The productivity of the agricultural sector has been highly challenged by the effects of climate change and variability. The increasing temperatures and erratic rains, as well as diseases and pests have significantly reduced crop yields in the arid and semi-arid regions of Kenya. Many farmers in the grassroots have hardly adopted any response options and have continued to suffer losses in their agricultural outputs. The present study sought to assess the perceptions of smallholder farmers on climate variability in selected Villages in Kitui County, identify adaptation measures adopted by the farmers as well as the factors and constraints influencing their adaptation measures. Descriptive survey design was used. A total of 177 households were randomly selected to constitute the study sample. Data was coded and analysed using Ms Excel and SPSS version 20 statistical packages. Logit regression model was used to analyse factors influencing farmers’ adaptation to climate variability. The results established that most farmers had perceived a changing climate with more than 70% and 100% of the respondents in Kaveta and Mikuyuni Villages respectively, reporting that they noted an increase in temperature and a decrease in annual rainfall over the years. Results from Logit regression analysis showed that age, household size, education level, farming experience, off- farm income, access to extension services, access to credit facilities, access to climate information and weather forecasts significantly (p<0.05) influenced farmers’ adaptation to climate variability in both Kaveta and Mikuyuni Villages. Inadequate technological capacity (78.2%), limited access to credit facilities (72.2%), limited access to extension services (68%) and high cost of adaptation (66.8%) were reported as the major constraints to farmers’ adaptation to climate variability in Kaveta Village while lack of access to irrigation water (89.6%), lack of labour (86%), high cost of adaptation (81.4%), unreliable weather forecasts (81.4%), inadequate land resources (76.4%) and inadequate financial resources (74%) were the major constraints to the farmers’ adaptation to the increasing temperature and changing rainfall patterns in Mikuyuni Village. From the study, it can be deduced that farmers from the drier area were more conscious of climate variability and thus adapted more to climate variability than farmers in the wetter areas