Maren A.O. Radeny

Escaping Poverty and Becoming Poor in 20 Kenyan Villages

Three hundred and sixteen households in 20 western Kenyan villages — 19% of all households in these villages — managed successfully to escape from poverty in the past 25 years. However, another 325 households (i.e. 19% of all households of these villages) fell into abiding poverty in the same period. Different causes are associated with households falling into poverty and those overcoming poverty. Separate policies will be required consequently to prevent descent and to promote escape in future. Results from these 20 Kenyan villages are compared with results obtained earlier from a similar inquiry conducted in 35 villages of Rajasthan, India. Some remarkable similarities are found, but also several important differences.

Assessing Returns to Land and Changing Livelihood Strategies in Kitengela

ecosystem). The study area corresponds to Isinya Division (one of seven administrative units of Kajiado District). Neighbouring Nairobi, a city with a population estimated to be approaching 3 million, Kitengela is unique in that it supports a largeand long-distance wildlife migratory community (Fig. 4.1 ) that have lived alongside the resident Maasai for centuries. Nairobi National Park sits at the northernmost tip of Kitengela. This park is only 114 km 2 in size and is not large enough to support the 24 species of large mammals that exist in this ecosystem. Wildebeest, eland, giraffe and zebra migrate into and out of the park, accessing its water and abundant grass during the dry season and moving south into the open pastoral lands during the wet season when the calves are born (Reid et al., 2008 ). When Nairobi National Park was established in 1946, Kitengela Plains and the Ngong Hills were declared conservation areas. However, Kitengela was never formally gazetted. In the mid-1970s, the Kitengela group ranch was created, covering 18,292 ha, with 215 registered members (all Maasai). It was subdivided in 1988, giving roughly 250 acres each to 215 landowning households (Kristjanson et al., 2002) . This trend towards privatization was followed throughout Kajiado District. According to official records, in 2006, out of a total of 52 group ranches, subdivision is complete on 32 and is in progress on 15 of which 7 are in dispute and under court injunction (BurnSilver and Mwangi, 2006) . Only five group ranches have not started to subdivide. While the official record of the total number of group ranches in the district seems to vary from 56 in 2002 (Mwangi, 2003) to 52 in 2006, it is important to note that five other group ranches that had resolved not to subdivide in 2002 are now in the process of doing so.

The climate-smart village approach : framework of an integrative strategy for scaling up adaptation options in agriculture

Increasing weather risks threaten agricultural production systems and food security across the world. Maintaining agricultural growth while minimizing climate shocks is crucial to building a resilient food production system and meeting developmental goals in vulnerable countries. Experts have proposed several technological, institutional, and policy interventions to help farmers adapt to current and future weather variability and to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper presents the climate-smart village (CSV) approach as a means of performing agricultural research for development that robustly tests technological and institutional options for dealing with climatic variability and climate change in agriculture using participatory methods. It aims to scale up and scale out the appropriate options and draw out lessons for policy makers from local to global levels. The approach incorporates evaluation of climate-smart technologies, practices, services, and processes relevant to local climatic risk management and identifies opportunities for maximizing adaptation gains from synergies across different interventions and recognizing potential maladaptation and trade-offs. It ensures that these are aligned with local knowledge and link into development plans. This paper describes early results in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to illustrate different examples of the CSV approach in diverse agroecological settings. Results from initial studies indicate that the CSV approach has a high potential for scaling out promising climate-smart agricultural technologies, practices, and services. Climate analog studies indicate that the lessons learned at the CSV sites would be relevant to adaptation planning in a large part of global agricultural land even under scenarios of climate change. Key barriers and opportunities for further work are also discussed.

Opportunities and challenges of indigenous biotic weather forecasting among the Borena herders of southern Ethiopia

The practical utilization of available modern as well as traditional weather forecasting systems builds herders’ resiliency capacity to climatic shocks. The precision and reliability of the forecasting system determines its creditability and acceptance by the users to be proactive in the decisions they make based on the forecasted information. It has been postulated that traditional weather forecasting systems are becoming less reliable due to repeated faulty forecasts. The study assesses the current status of the Borana traditional weather forecasting system and how traditional experts make weather forecasts based on biotic indicators such as intestinal readings, changes in plant and animal body languages. Questionnaire survey, field observations, focus group discussions and interviews with relevant key informants were employed to obtain data. Collected field data was compared with National Metrological Service Agency instrumental data for consistency. Results reveal that herders made short term weather forecasts using intestinal readings, and observed changes in plant and animal body languages. The study shows the extent how public confidence in the accuracy of indigenous weather forecasting skills has been gradually eroded overtime due to faulty forecasts. The precision and credibility of the traditional weather forecast steadily declined and led to repeated faulty predictions. Poor documentation, oral based knowledge transfer system, influence of religion and modern education, aging and extinction of traditional experts were identified as the major causes undermining the vitality of traditional climate forecast. Traditional weather foresting knowledge and skill could have some utility and also serve as a starting point to scientifically study the relationship between various signs and implied climatic events. This article recommends before traditional Borana weather forecasting system completely disappears, a remedial action should be carried out to rescue this long established wisdom, knowledge and skill and maximize the benefits from what works well. The forecast needs of herders could be rendered by a combination of modern and traditional weather forecasting services. Further research is required to explore possible area of complementarity between the modern and traditional forecasting systems for improved efficiency and effectiveness in predictability, dissemination and advice.

Changing rainfall patterns and farmers’ adaptation through soil water management practices in semi-arid eastern Kenya

ABSTRACT There is limited documentation of soil and water management technologies that enhance adaptation to climate change in drylands of Kenya. Rainfall patterns were analyzed in the semi-arid Machakos and Makueni counties of eastern Kenya using historical data. A total of forty-three smallholder farmers implementing soil water management practices were sampled, and an estimate of the seasonal water budget for current crop and livestock production systems computed. Analysis of rainfall amounts and distribution shows increasing variability, with the average annual total amounts decreasing over the past 50 years. Furthermore, the number of rainy days within the March-April-May season that can support crop growth is gradually decreasing. These decreases are however not significant at P < 0.05. There were more seasons with low rainfall amounts compared to those with high rainfall amounts. All these subject the smallholder crop and livestock production system to limited soil moisture. Farmers address the risk by harnessing and utilizing green (rainfall stored in soil) and blue (rainfall collected into storage tanks) water technologies. The study found that farmers in these semi-arid counties practice fifteen diverse soil and water management interventions on their farms. The most popular practices are cut-off drains, retention ditches, terracing, run-off harvesting, and agroforestry. The estimated seasonal water budget indicates the need for integrated soil and water management interventions to address the crop and livestock production constraints.

Climate variability, perceptions of pastoralists and their adaptation strategies: Implications for livestock system and diseases in Borana zone

Purpose Climate variability and extremes adversely affect the livestock sector directly and indirectly by aggravating the prevalence of livestock diseases, distorting production system and the sector profitability. This paper aims to examine climate variability and its impact on livestock system and livestock disease among pastoralists in Borana, Southern Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods using household questionnaire, field observations, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Areal grid dikadal rainfall and temperatures data from 1985 to 2014 were collected from national meteorological agency. The quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed and interpreted using appropriate analytical tools and procedures. Findings The result revealed that the study area is hard hit by moisture stress, due to the late onset of rainy seasons, decrease in the number of rainy days and volume of rainfall. The rainfall distribution behavior coupled with the parallel increase in minimum and maximum temperature exacerbated the impact on livestock system and livestock health. Majority of the pastoralists are found to have rightly perceived the very occurrence and manifestations of climate variability and its consequences. Pastoralists are hardly coping with the challenges of climate variability, mainly due to cultural prejudice, poor service delivery and the socio-economic and demographic challenges. Research limitations/implications Pastoralists are vulnerable to the adverse impact of climate variability and extreme events. Practical implications The finding of the study provides baseline information for practitioners, researchers and policymakers. Originality/value This paper provided detailed insights about the rainfall and temperature trend and variability for the past three decades. The finding pointed that pastoralists’ livelihood is under climate variability stress, and it has implications to food insecurity.

Demand and experiences with financial products and services in climate smart villages

This study ‘Demand for and experiences with financial products and services’ describes and discusses the results of a survey to provide a first insight into the financial services that the smallholder farmers from climate smart villages use and to explore how these are related to climate smart agricultural technologies & practices. The study is one of three preliminary studies of a multi-year international research project (2016-2022) on ‘Business models, incentives and innovative finance for scaling climate smart agriculture (CSA)’. The knowledge and insights developed are used to further support ongoing and emerging climate smart projects in which CCAFS is involved. A survey was conducted to identify smallholder farmers and the small to medium enterprises (in different stages of the value chain) and their demand for and experiences with financial products and services. There were 148 respondents from 24 villages from Latin America, West Africa, East Africa, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The targeted number of female respondents (50%) was nog met in all regions, for example in India where the role of female farmers in irrigated agriculture would be limited. A limitation to the results is that in different regions a different number of villages was involved, making it more difficult to generalise results. Sometimes it would prove challenging to make conclusions about the reasoning behind the answers. The study is about adoption climate smart agriculture, but does not define the extent of adoption. ..

Smallholder farmers in eastern Africa and climate change: a review of risks and adaptation options with implications for future adaptation programmes

This article reviews the published evidence of the climatic risks faced by smallholder farmers in eastern Africa and the adaptation strategies these farmers have so far adopted. In addition, the study draws on two detailed case studies in Kenya for a better understanding of the nuances of climate adaptation, requiring a range of measures to be adopted and institutions working together. Findings from the study reveal that the most consistent observation among farmers is that eastern Africa is experiencing increased temperature and decreased rainfall across all its agro-ecological zones. In response to their perceived climatic risks, smallholder farmers in the region are using both short-term and long-term strategies, with the former mainly consisting of coping mechanisms against climate chocks. In addition, the adaptation strategies implemented by the farmers are influenced by agro-ecological conditions which shape their farming systems and institutional settings including proximity to a major city and markets. The case studies highlight the importance of collaborative efforts between key local and external stakeholders in supporting adaptation to climate change. Key lessons are drawn from this study for the development of future adaptation programmes.

Uptake of Resilient Crop Interventions to Manage Risks Through Climate-Smart Villages Approach in Nyando, Western Kenya

The changing climate is a threat to the smallholder farmers. Poverty and limited livelihood options increase vulnerability to climate risks. To counter this, a partnership between research and development organizations and the Nyando rural community developed Climate-Smart Villages (CSVs) model to test local actions that ensure food security, promote adaptation and build resilience to climatic stresses. The purpose of the study was to explore the changes in farming practices made by households which are arising from the partnership. The study made use of household-level surveys for five years (2011–2015). The findings show increased use of terracing to conserve soil and water, intercropping, use of improved crop varieties, and households adopting three or more new crop types, greatly expanding on-farm choices for resilient varieties. The results can be used to showcase crop production practices suitable for adapting to the changing climate in rural communities.

Strengthening Farmer Adaptive Capacity Through Farms of the Future Approach in Nyando, Western Kenya

Rapidly changing climatic conditions in East Africa are increasing sources of vulnerability for rural agricultural communities. Current agricultural practices and institutional coping mechanisms are unable to cope with these changes, and calls for adaptation in agricultural systems. The CGIAR Research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has developed the Climate Analogue tool that connects sites with statistically similar (‘analogous’) climatic conditions, across space and time. The tool can and has been used to connect farmers and agricultural stakeholders to their plausible future climates through the Farms of the Future (FotF) approach—where farmers learn about potential adaptation strategies and institutional innovations through farmer–to–farmer exchanges between analogue sites. The FotF approach can be used together with ongoing support for participatory action research to build reflective capacity and awareness of challenges farmers likely to face and to identify and develop possible solutions among farmers and other agricultural stakeholders. This paper documents the learning experiences of farmers from Nyando, in Western Kenya during through participation in the climate learning journey across other counties in Kenya. The paper also shows how these farmers are planning to use their learning experiences to design local adaptation plans of actions.