Climate Services (Dec 2020)
Building on foundations for climate services for sustainable development: A case of coastal smallholder farmers in Kilifi County, Kenya
Abstract
The study contributes to the development and use of effective climate services for sustainability in agriculture. Specifically, we assessed farming practices of a coastal smallholder farming community in Kilifi County (hereinafter Kilifi), Kenya, to identify barriers to climate services’ effective use. The smallholder farmers in Kilifi represent many smallholder farming communities in East Africa whose primary livelihood is rainfed agriculture. First, we carried out an analysis of historical and future rainfall patterns over Kilifi to determine the area’s climate patterns. We used a set of five descriptors of rainfall in Kilifi representing seasonal mean daily precipitation and annual precipitation intensity (SDII) and rainy days (R1MM) for the analysis. We assessed March-May (MAM), June-August (JJA), and October-December (OND) seasons, corresponding to the three planting seasons in Kilifi. Here, values for the five descriptors in the historical period (1977–2005) were compared with those in the future period (2071–2099) to determine the potential changes in the rainfall patterns. Results showed high year-to-year rainfall variability, relatively low mean daily rainfall per season, high variability within seasons, and uneven distribution of rainfall within seasons. MAM, OND, and SDII showed an increase in the future period while JJA recorded a considerable reduction in rainfall. No discernible changes were recorded for R1MM. Results from a social survey showed that the smallholder farmers in Kilifi were indeed experiencing climate variability and change. While some effort had been made towards building the farmers’ adaptive capacity, the interventions were reported to be too sporadic and inadequately coordinated to achieve meaningful results. Through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), Key-Informant Interviews (KIIs), and literature review, an innovative climate change adaptation model was developed. Thus, this study provides a preliminary framework for strengthening an enabling environment for climate services for agricultural productivity and sustainable development in a changing climate.
