TITLE:
Adaptation of Smallholder Dairy Farmers in South Western Kenya to the Effects of Climate Change
AUTHORS:
Charles Okech Odhiambo, Harun Okello Ogindo, Chlirukovian Bwire Wasike, Washington Odongo Ochola
KEYWORDS:
Southwestern Kenya, Smallholder Dairy Farmers, Adaptive Strategies, Climate Change
JOURNAL NAME:
Atmospheric and Climate Sciences,
Vol.9 No.3,
July
25,
2019
ABSTRACT: Despite great potential, Kenyan smallholder dairying faces diminishing land sizes, high input costs, poor extension contacts, non-responsive price policies, and new pests and diseases. Climate change will worsen the situation. This study sought to assess smallholder dairy farmers’ climate change adaptation level in Southwestern Kenya. Adopting Concurrent Fixed Mixed Methods, primary and secondary data was collected. Reports and papers were reviewed for temperature and precipitation data, dairy population, production trends, and farmers’ socio-demographics. A survey questionnaire for climate changes and farmers’ adaptiveness was administered to 367 smallholder dairy household heads with 10 years’ experience, obtained by multi-stage sampling from 4 sub-counties. Key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with farmer groups, heads of research, government departments and livestock farms; and the old that were obtained purposively based on dairying experience. Percentages were used for climate change effect on smallholder dairying and farmers’ adaptation. Principal component analysis was used for factors with great influence on respondents’ climate change adaptiveness; while one proportion Z-score test was used for significant differences between adapters and non-adapters (p