Modelling Determinants of Farmers’ Choice of Adaptation Strategies to Climate Variability and Extreme Events in Kitui County, Kenya

Abstract

─The study was carried out to assess determinants of farmers' choice of specific adaptation strategies to climate variability and extreme events in selected agro-ecological zones in Kitui County. Descriptive survey design was used. The study area was stratified into four study sites with respect to four different agro-ecological zones and a total of 341 households selected to constitute the sample size. Multivariate probit regression model was run in Stata version 12 to determine the influence of different socio-economic characteristics on farmers' choice of specific adaptation strategies. The model results indicated that age, gender, farming experience, membership to farmers' organization, education level, access to extension services and proximity to market had a significant varying influence on farmers' choice of several adaptation strategies. The study established that different socio-economic characteristics had a different influence on the farmers' choice of specific adaptation strategies. The study therefore recommends that climate variability adaptation policies, programs and projects by governmental and non-governmental development agencies should target specific socio-economic characteristics that are relevant to the adaptation strategies in question. Keywords─Socio-economic characteristics, multivariate probit regression, agro-ecological zones, adaptive capacity.I.

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Adaptations to Climate Change and Variability in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of Kitui and Kajiado Counties, Kenya

“…Other factors include the high cost of adaptation, lack of knowledge and technology, among others. The results are in consonance with the findings of other studies (Ndungu & Bhardwaj, 2015;Juana et al, 2013;Mutunga et al, 2018;Kamau et al, 2020).…”

“…It increases one's ability to receive, decode, and understand information relevant to making innovative decisions. The role of education in enhancing the adaptive capacity of farmers has been reported in other studies (Ndungu & Bhardwaj, 2015;Mutunga et al, 2018;Kamau et al, 2020;Acquah-de & Onumah, 2011).…”

“…This is because experienced farmers have better knowledge and information on changes in climatic conditions and crop and livestock management practices. Studies indicate that experienced farmers have an increased likelihood of using portfolio diversification, changing planting dates and changing the amount of land under production (Nhemachana & Hassan, 2007;Ndungu & Bhardwaj, 2015;Mutunga et al, 2018).…”

Determinants of smallholder farmers choice of adaptation strategies in response to the impacts of climate variability in the Ayehu watershed, Northwest Ethiopia

“…This is because access to credit offsets nancial constraints and enables the farmer to purchase different crop varieties. Similarly, previous studies reported that credit accessibility has a signi cant and positive in uence on the practice of adaptation strategies (Mutunga et al, 2018;Ndamani & Watanabe, 2016;Saguye, 2016;Tessema, 2019).…”

Socio-Economic Vulnerability and Adaptations of Fish Farmers to Climate Variability and Extreme Climate Events in Selected Parts of Kitui County, Kenya

“…Ndamani and Watanabe (2015) also noted that adaptation strategies are pre-emptive in nature and therefore help mitigate foreseen effects of climate change and that any adaptation actions should be informed by empirical data. The choice of an adaptation strategy is location/household specific (Luni et al, 2012) and depends on the socio-economic characteristic of a household/farmer (Mutunga et al, 2018). Therefore, understanding local and household adaptation strategies amongst fish farmers is crucial.…”