Synergies and trade-offs of selected climate smart agriculture practices in Irish potato farming, Kenya

Abstract

Research on and disseminating Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices has led to increased awareness and farmers' capacity to develop resilient agricultural production systems for sustainable livelihoods and food security while addressing climate change adaptation and mitigation. Thus, there is a potential in gaining valuable insight into how Irish potato smallholder farmers should respond to current and future climate risks. However, studies exploring and linking expert opinion on synergies and trade-offs in adapting the CSA practices are limited. This study integrated qualitative and quantitative data from 22 expert surveys and semistructured questionnaires to answer the following objectives: 1) Which top five CSA practices are currently used by Irish potato farmers and which ones are preferred by experts in response to climate change adaptation in Kenya? 2) How do the selected CSA practices perform in Irish potato farming in Kenya? 3) Which synergies and trade-offs occur upon implementation of these CSA practices? The study found that CSA practices most preferred by both experts and farmers are improved crop varieties, efficient use of agrochemicals, early land preparation, diversified crop production, efficient use of inorganic fertilizer, irrigation and changing planting dates. These selected CSA practices indicated the productivity pillar to be the best performing CSA pillar synergistically while trade-offs to occur across CSA pillars. These findings can inform different potato value chain stakeholders on the synergies and trade-off dynamics associated with adopting CSA practices for climate