The Western and Rift Valley regions of Kenya contribute significantly to the country’s agricultural production and are regarded as one of the country’s most productive regions. These regions encompass the counties of Trans Nzoia, Turkana, Vihiga, Elgeyo Marakwet, Kisumu, Siaya, Uasin Gishu, Kakamega, Kisii, Homabay, and Kericho. Agriculture is the main economic activity across these counties, employing a significant portion of the workforce and contributing substantially to household incomes. However, climate change has led to a shift in weather patterns, affecting the region’s agricultural productivity. As a result, Adaptation becomes critical for farmers across the regions. Owing to this, the African Group of Negotiators Expert Support (AGNES), together with the Adaptation Research Alliance (ARA) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) held the 3rd Subnational Co-creation Workshop for the Western and Rift Valley Regions of Kenya. This workshop focuses on the need to conduct action-oriented research and Accelerate Smallholder Agriculture Adaptation in Kenya. The workshop, held in Kitale, Trans Nzoia County, brought together smallholder farmers, extension officers, and county agricultural officers; with the aim of evaluating adaptation progress in the agricultural sector at the sub-national level; identifying locally-led adaptation options, and addressing specific gaps and needs to enhance agricultural efforts in the face of climate change.
Understanding the Climate Change Risks and Observed Impacts in the Western and Rift Valley Region
Western and Rift Valley regions experience notable climate risks, including prolonged drought seasons, floods, hailstones, frosts, and unexpected changes in rainfall patterns. Climate change risks in the region pose a significant threat to food security, with livestock deaths and low productivity increasing with each wave of unprecedented changes in weather patterns. These shifts in weather patterns threaten the growth of food and cash crops in these regions, including maize, tea, sugarcane, among others.
How Climate Change risks and impacts affect farmers from different agriculture sectors in Western and Rift Valley
Crop Farmers
With overdependence on rainfed agriculture, crop farmers across the two regions are vulnerable to climate change. Across the two regions, climate change affects crop farming differently depending on the type of crop. Notably, in Vihiga County farmers have shifted from growing maize, a staple food for the area, to growing sugarcane which requires low inputs and is less sensitive to climate change effects. In addition, the shift is influenced by the increase of pests and diseases such as fall armyworms which mostly attack maize crops. According to the farmers, the increase in the distribution of fall armyworms is attributed to the climate change effects over time. Increased and unexpected changes in rainfall seasons affect farmers’ planning. In addition, increasing rainfall seasons over time lowers the yield of traditional vegetables since they are susceptible to wet seasons, making them scarce in the market. In arid counties like Turkana which depend on irrigation systems for crop farming, heavy rainfall poses adverse risks to the irrigation structures. During heavy rains, rivers in Turkana flood breaking their banks and consequently destroying irrigation structures. This is mostly experienced in the Katilu Irrigation Scheme.
Due to climate change, these regions also experience extremes in temperature changes. There are seasons where temperatures are extremely high, leading to prolonged dry seasons that affect the growth of crops. Although this rise in temperatures favours the growth of some crops like tea, farmers complain that this opportunity has led to market saturation posed by overproduction and consequently leading to low-quality produce.
Livestock Farmers
Most of the Livestock farmers in the Western and Rift Valley region keep cattle, small ruminants and poultry. Due to the prolonged drought season over time and shift in weather patterns, there is low production of fodder directly affecting the quality and quantity of animal produce especially milk production. Further, farming expenses have increased as farmers have to spend more on feeds and managing livestock. In the same wake, as the expenses rise, they experience more losses as the fertility level of their livestock becomes low overtime. When it comes to poultry farming, extremely low temperatures and heavy rainfall affect chick hatching with most farmers experiencing losses.
Fish Farmers
In the western region, Fish farming is largely practiced in Kisumu and Migori counties, while in Rift Valley, it is largely practiced in Turkana. Fishing happens to be among the main economic activities in Kisumu, Migori, and Turkana. However, Fisherfolks and fish farmers in these counties have not been exempted from climate risks which pose a threat to one of their main livelihood sources, fishing.
Fish farmers face significant risks from flooding during heavy rains, as overflowing ponds affect water quality, specifically reducing oxygen levels and leading to fish deaths. The rising water level in Lake Turkana complicates fishing activities, while droughts also pose a threat to fishing and fish farming. Increased temperatures in lakes cause fish to migrate from breeding and feeding areas, compromising fishing efforts. This migration, due to a drop in water levels at the shores, affects shallow-end fishing, forcing fishers to sail into deeper parts of the lakes despite lacking effective fishing gear.
How have gender roles and responsibilities in agriculture shifted in response to climate change?
Climate change has significantly impacted gender roles and responsibilities in agriculture, leading to shifts and challenges that affect women, men, and youth differently.
Traditionally, agricultural roles were divided along gender lines, with men and women performing specific tasks. For example, men were responsible for tasks involving heavy labor or cash crops, while women focused on subsistence farming and home gardens. However, the need to adapt to climate change has led to more shared responsibilities, as both men and women engage in tasks that were previously gender-specific. As climate change increases the cost of farming, the need to sustain source of livelihood has forced families to adapt by redistributing roles and responsibilities regardless of traditional gender norms.
In the Western and Rift Valley regions, vegetable farming was traditionally being done by women, men have started to engage in this type of farming. This is attributed to the increasing effects of climate change on farmlands, leading to most farmers shifting to farming practices and crops that require low inputs to sustain production. Vegetable farming is considered less strenuous and requires a lower cost of production compared to other types of crops.
In addition, gender inclusivity initiatives by government and development agencies have altered traditional gender roles within households, particularly in counties where fishing is a key livelihood. The introduction of cage farming has made it easier for women to participate in fishing, attracting many to fish farming. Unlike in the past, when fishing was considered a man’s job, women are now becoming boat owners and actively engaging in the activity.
Moreover, the increasing involvement of men and women into fish farming is attributed to prolonged droughts, which have led to the death of livestock and loss of crops. As a result, many women and men, who are often the primary breadwinners, have turned to fishing as a viable alternative to sustain their families.
This shift shows the changing dynamics of gender roles in response to environmental challenges and economic opportunities.
Adaptation Strategies and Early Warning Systems
Adaptation strategies
Due to climate change, farmers in the Western and Rift Valley regions have been forced to find ways to adapt and increase their resilience. Adaptation strategies are different across the subsectors:
Crop farming adaptation strategies
Farmers are adopting conservation agriculture techniques, especially in maize farming, and have invested in planting drought-resistant crops like DK777 (maize), and finger millet. During the dry season, they have embraced various irrigation methods, and one notable type is drip irrigation, which uses less water. Additionally, water harvesting techniques have been implemented to conserve water. In drought-prone areas, there are irrigation schemes allowing crop farmers to ensure their crops receive adequate moisture.
Livestock farmers adaptation strategies
As an adaptation practice, Farmers are rearing improved breeds that are resilient to climate change and less costly to maintain. Livestock farmers have embraced zero gracing which reduces space and wastage of animal feeds.
Fish farmer’s adaptation techniques
To supplement commercial feeds, black soldier flies (BSF), silk, and red worms are used to increase productivity of fish farming. Fisher folks have gotten into drought-tolerant fish varieties, like F9 and F8 Tilapia. In addition, many farmers are now stocking mature fingerlings to shorten the harvesting period.
Climate Information and Early Warning Systems
In the communities across these regions, both scientific and indigenous early warning systems are employed to help farmers plan for changing weather patterns. Traditional forecasters use various techniques to predict weather conditions, such as examining the intestines of animals after slaughter. (they predict the weather based on the size and physical appearance); and observing the behavior of plants and certain bird and insect species. However, traditional forecasting faces challenges due to the disappearance of some of these birds, insects and plants.
The Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) is responsible for providing and disseminating climate information and advisories. Recognizing the value of traditional forecasting, KMD collaborates with traditional forecasters to compare predictions. For example; In Vihiga County, the KMD works with the rainmakers in the county. This strengthens the value of indigenous knowledge. It was reported by the KMD that the prediction from the local forecasters and the scientific predictions have been seen to be similar. KMD is looking into setting up community radios that disseminate weather information in local dialect. This has been a successful initiative in Vihiga County.
KMD has invested in participatory scenario planning (PSP) exercise, where key stakeholders meet quarterly to plan and disseminate advisories to farmers. The PSP process is highly advocated for with farmers calling on more investment into the exercise.
Conclusion: Priority Research Areas
 One of the objectives of the co-creation workshop was for farmers to identify key research areas and establish research priorities. Some of the key research areas highlighted include: whether the increase in Fall Army Worm is attributed to climate change, identifying feed options that have high nutrients, less costly and lead to increased produce, conducting value chain research to increase investment in value addition, and researching the best management practices for fish farms in the context of climate change.