FARMERS’ INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE PRACTICES INFLUENCING UPTAKE OF CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION STRATEGIES IN KAJIADO COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Farmers in Kajiado County in Kenya have embraced different climate change adaptation strategies including the use of Indigenous Knowledge and scientific approaches. However, the farmers’ uptake of scientific Climate Change Adaptation Strategies has been very low. The overall objective of this study was to examine the influence of farmers’ indigenous knowledge practices on the uptake of climate change adaptation strategies in Kajiado County, Kenya. The specific objectives were to: assess indigenous knowledge factors influencing farmers’ uptake of climate change adaptation strategies, determine the effect of farmers’ indigenous knowledge practices on the uptake of climate change adaptation strategies, evaluate the effectiveness of existing climate change adaptation strategies and examine the strategies to enhance the integration of indigenous knowledge practices and the climate change adaptation strategies in Kajiado County, Kenya. Insights on the appropriate knowledge learning system and significance of the concept of policy co-creation towards enhancement of climate change adaptation formed the academic and policy justification of the study respectively. Two theories, namely the Situated Learning Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior, formed the basis for illustrating the relationship between variables, while the Model of Private Proactive Adaptation to Climate Change and the Alaskan knowledge integration model were the key theoretical models employed. A mixed-methods research approach that involved the use of household questionnaire surveys, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and observations was used to obtain data. A total of 382 small-scale rural household representatives randomly selected from 3 Kajiado sub-counties were the principal respondents, while 19 key informants that included representatives of relevant government departments and civil societies were purposively sampled. Three Focus Group Discussions for elders, women, and youth were conducted, while an observation checklist was used to gather data in line with research questions. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collated, coded and analyzed using SPSS version 20 to draw conclusions. The findings show that the CCAS are likely to be accepted by those with higher levels of education and higher levels of monthly income while those unwilling were more likely males, older, with larger household sizes and those who owned land. The overall conclusion drawn from Binary logistic regression analysis indicate that farmers’ IK practices negatively influenced their uptake of CCAS significantly at p˂.001. More specifically, farmers that practice an indigenous-knowledge-oriented nomadism are 72% less likely to do irrigation and 83% less likely to adopt sustainable water resource management. The existing climate change adaptation strategies are not impactful with 72% of farmers stating that the approaches are either ineffective or very ineffective. The results also indicated that there is no structure to facilitate integration of indigeneous knowledge and climate change adaptation strategies as only 7% of local farmers are involved in agricultural development plans yet information sharing shows a significant association with uptake of climate change adaptation strategies (CI = 99%, X2 = 257.656, p< .01). Recommendations developed include prioritizing development of climate change adaptation strategies that address local farmers’ geo ecological, economic and socio-demographic conditions as well as targeting approaches that are in consonant with existing type of farming. Developed adaptation policies should specify mandates of key stakeholders, especially those that involve the extension workers. There is need to create all-inclusive information sharing platforms that can facilitate sufficient inputs from indigeneous knowledge practitioners to improve the effectiveness of the existing climate change adaptation strategies.