Climate change and food security in Kenya*

Kabubo-Mariara, Jane; Kabara, Millicent

doi:10.4324/9781315149776-4

Cited by 27 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Specifically, both day and night temperatures have significantly been on a rising trend since the 1960s. For instance, the night temperature (minimum) has risen by 0.7-2.0 °C and the day temperature (maximum) by 0.2-1.3 °C, depending on the season and the region [10,11]. Further, these unprecedented changes in climate have accompanied losses that have already been experienced in the country [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ability to cope with the impacts of weather shocks and natural disasters brought by the effects of climate change depends largely on the household's resilience, or its capacity to absorb the impact of, and recover from, a shock [13]. One way of combatting the effects of climate change is through climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices [1,11,14,15]. Promoters of CSA adoption seek to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes by building resilience through adapting to changes in climate and reducing and/or removing GHGs emissions relative to conventional practices [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of climate-smart agricultural practices on household food security in smallholder production systems: micro-level evidence from Kenya

2018

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Background: Climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa has had a negative impact on agricultural production leading to food insecurity. Climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices have the potential to reverse this trend because of its triple potential benefits of improved productivity and high income, reduction or removal of greenhouse gases and improved household food security. Hence, we empirically find the determinants of choice and the effect of CSAs on household food security among smallholder farmers in Kenya. Methods: Primary data were collected in Teso North Sub-county, Busia County of Kenya, among smallholder farmers. CSA practices used by farmers were grouped by principal component analysis and linked to food security by multinomial endogenous switching regression model. Results: With the application of principal component analysis, we clustered the CSA practices into 4 components: crop management, field management, farm risk reduction and soil management practices. We find that the greatest effect of CSA adoption by smallholder farmers on food security is when they use a larger package that contains all the four categories of practices. Adopters of this package were 56.83% more food secure in terms of HFCS and 25.44% in terms of HDDS. This package mitigates upon the impacts of climate change as well as enhancing nutrient availability in the soils for higher productivity. Further, adoption of this package was positively influenced by gender of the household head, farm size and value of productive farm assets. Conclusions: CSAs have the potential to alleviate food insecurity among smallholder farmers if used in combinations and to a larger extend. To enhance adoption, land fragmentation should be discouraged through civic education and provision of alternative income-generating activities for farmers to benefit when practiced on relatively bigger land. Farmers should be sensitized on the need to invest in farm productive assets in order to absorb the risks of climate change while enhancing adoption of CSA practices.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of climate-smart agricultural practices on household food security in smallholder production systems: micro-level evidence from Kenya

2018

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“…The study seeks to i) describe the socio-economic characteristics of the households by their food security status, ii) analyse the extent of use of the coping strategies by the households; and iii) assess the socio-economic factors influencing the use of multiple coping strategies. Analyst have emphasized the significance of household socio-economic factors, environment and climatic factors and time between major farming periods (harvesting and planting periods) to either positively or negatively influence on households' capability to afford and access their basic food and nutrition needs (Amaza et al 2006;Edeh and Gyimah-Brempong, 2015;Kabubo-Mariara and Kabara, 2014). Depending on the effect of these factors household become food secure or food insecure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household Level Analysis of Food Insecurity and Coping Strategies: Evidence From Enugu State, Nigeria.

Onunka

2018

ASSRJ

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The study analysed the strategies used by the rural households to cope with food insecurity in Udi local government area of Enugu state. Data were collected through household surveys using semi-structured questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistical tools were employed to analyse the data for the study. Households were grouped based on their food security status (food secure and food insecure). The study result showed that the two-group household differed significantly in some of their socioeconomic characteristics. The study confirms that the coping strategies employed by the vulnerable households were not mutually exclusive, rather a mixed approach comprising multiple strategies were adopted to cushion food insecurity shocks. Furthermore, socioeconomic factors such as income (p<0.01), marital status (p<0.1) and educational level (p<0.01) were found to negatively influence the number of coping strategy adopted by rural households while the dependency ratio (p<0.01) was positively significant. Policy implications were drawn for education promotion, poverty alleviation programs and the creation of sustainable off-farm employment opportunities.

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“…This benefit can be utilized to enhance yields by increasing plant density of the far farm fields. Family labor provides a supervisory role to ensure resources such as fertilizer, seeds and time are used efficiently to increase productivity [46]. In Mukuyu, the reliance on utilization of hired labor at the mid and far farm fields could indicate reduced resource use efficiency with subsequent effect on soil fertility and productivity.…”

Section: The Production Opportunities For the Different Spatial Arranmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro-Spatial Analysis of Maize Yield Gap Variability and Production Factors on Smallholder Farms

et al. 2019

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Site-specific land management practice taking into account variability in maize yield gaps (the difference between yields in the 90th percentiles and other yields on smallholder farmers’ fields) could improve resource use efficiency and enhance yields. However, the applicability of the practice is constrained by inability to identify patterns of resource utilization to target application of resources to more responsive fields. The study focus was to map yield gaps on smallholder fields based on identified spatial arrangements differentiated by distance from the smallholder homestead and understand field-specific utilization of production factors. This was aimed at understanding field variability based on yield gap mapping patterns in order to enhance resource use efficiency on smallholder farms. The study was done in two villages, Mukuyu and Shikomoli, with high and low agroecology regarding soil fertility in Western Kenya. Identification of spatial arrangements at 40 m, 80 m, 150 m and 300 m distance from the homestead on smallholder farms for 70 households was done. The spatial arrangements were then classified into near house, mid farm and far farm basing on distance from the homestead. For each spatial arrangement, Landsat sensors acquired via satellite imagery were processed to generate yield gap maps. The focal statistics analysis method using the neighborhoods function was then applied to generate yield gap maps at the different spatial arrangements identified above. Socio-economic, management and biophysical factors were determined, and maize yields estimated at each spatial arrangement. Heterogeneous patterns of high, average and low yield gaps were found in spatial arrangements at the 40 m and 80 m distances. Nearly homogenous patterns tending towards median yield gap values were found in spatial arrangements that were located at the 150 m and 300 m. These patterns correspondingly depicted field-specific utilization of management and socio-economic factors. Field level management practices and socio-economic factors such as application of inorganic fertilizer, high frequency of weed control, early land preparation, high proportion of hired and family labor use and allocation of large land sizes were utilized in spatial arrangements at 150 and 300 m distances. High proportions of organic fertilizer and family labor use were utilized in spatial arrangements at 40 and 80 m distances. The findings thus show that smallholder farmers preferentially manage the application of socio-economic and management factors in spatial arrangements further from the homestead compared to fields closer to the homestead which could be exacerbating maize yield gaps. Delineating management zones based on yield gap patterns at the different spatial arrangements on smallholder farms could contribute to site-specific land management and enhance yields. Investigating the value smallholder farmers attach to each spatial arrangement is further needed to enhance the spatial understanding of yield gap variation on smallholder farms.

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Climate change and food security in Kenya*

Cited by 27 publications

References 1 publication

Effect of climate-smart agricultural practices on household food security in smallholder production systems: micro-level evidence from Kenya

Effect of climate-smart agricultural practices on household food security in smallholder production systems: micro-level evidence from Kenya

Household Level Analysis of Food Insecurity and Coping Strategies: Evidence From Enugu State, Nigeria.

Micro-Spatial Analysis of Maize Yield Gap Variability and Production Factors on Smallholder Farms

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