Determinants of access and utilisation of seasonal climate information services among smallholder farmers in Makueni County, Kenya

Abstract

Climate change is a major development challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. This region is highly vulnerable to negative impacts of climate change due to low adaptive capacity and overreliance on rain-fed agriculture for food security and livelihood. Climate information services (CIS) have been developed in Kenya to help enhance farmers' adaptation to climatic shocks, but their access and utilisation remain low. The factors that influence farmers' access and use of CIS are not well-known. Using survey data from a sample of 250 households in Makueni County, this study estimated a two-step Heckprobit model to analyse the determinants of access and use of CIS. Results showed that the age of the household head reduced the likelihood of accessing CIS whereas household size, income, farm size, livelihood activity, television ownership and group membership increased it. Age, sex of the household head, and frequent exposure to drought reduced the likelihood of using CIS whereas access to improved seed, household income, radio ownership, and livelihood activity increased it. Efforts promoting access to and utilisation of CIS would benefit by building trust among farmers through provision of accurate information; promoting adoption of improved varieties of crops; and providing incentives for formation and participation in farmers' groups.

Adoption Determinants of Adapted Climate Smart Agriculture Technologies Among Smallholder Farmers in Machakos, Makueni, and Kitui Counties of Kenya

“…This indicated that farmers who own television sets are able to access more agricultural programmes on conservation agriculture and agroforestry than those without. The finding corresponds to Muema et al (2018), who observed that broadcasting agricultural programmes through television stations could strongly impact farmers. The results further showed that farmers' accessibility to radio had a significant negative influence on the adoption of crop diversification by 8.2%.…”

“…The third stage involved random selection of 384 households in a proportionate to size manner from a total population of 30,885 small scale farmers in the randomly selected wards. Similarly, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) in collaboration with the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) had over the last three years been disseminating climate change adaptation information using different sources, including radio, short message service (SMS), television and public meetings (Muema, Mburu, Coulibaly, and Mutune, 2018). A sample size of 384 smallholder farmers was determined using the Cochran equation.…”

Farmers’ Perceptions of Climate Change Trends and Adaptation Strategies in Semiarid Highlands of Eastern Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

“…Furthermore, household age was negatively correlated with access to weather information (r � − 0.15, p < 0.001). Older farmers have limited social networks and poor interactions with local institutions, which ultimately negatively influences access to climate information [58]. Moreover, Kirui et al [59] underlined that older farmers preferred indigenous knowledge over modern climate information services.…”

Understanding the Role of User Needs and Perceptions Related to Sub-Seasonal and Seasonal Forecasts on Farmers' Decisions in Kenya: A Systematic Review

“…The motivation to use sub-seasonal or seasonal forecasts to manage climate impacts in Machakos and other semiarid areas may also be justified from declining maize and other crop yields relative to decreasing rainfall amounts and rising temperatures in the region (Nyandiko et al, 2014;Kiprotich et al, 2015;Gichangi and Gatheru, 2018). Other determinants of the uptake and use of WCI in the region included access of WCI, age of the household head, farm size, gender and size of the household (Muema et al, 2018), and declines in historical rainfall amounts (Okumu, 2013).…”