Institutional Response on Adaptation to the Effects of Climate Change in Selected Parts of Makueni County, Kenya

Abstract

Climate change has been experienced across the globe, with the most affected being smallholder farmers in least and moderately developed countries. Floods and drought which constitute some of the climatic extreme events have negative impacts on the socio-economic development, with devastating consequences on a country’s economy. The main objective of this study was to assess institutional response on adaptation to climate change and variability at the household level, in three agro-ecological zones in Makueni County, Kenya. The study used survey research design. The three agro-ecological sites were selected using stratified sampling, while simple random method was used to select 289 households for interview. Selection of key informants was done through purposive sampling method. Data was collected through administration of semi-structured and open-ended questionnaires to the selected households, and also through interview of key informants, focus group discussions, observation and photography. Findings indicated that there was significant correlation between the climate change and the agro-ecological zones studied (X2=13.3, df=2, P<0.01). The study established that CBOs were actively engaged in the campaign against climate change across the three agro-ecological zones. Among the reviewed institutional responses, disaster preparedness by the government and training/capacity building among smallholder farmers were found to have significant correlation with climate change and handling of extreme weather events (X2 =17.557, df=1, sig. 0.00). The study revealed that those who reported to have experienced extreme weather events agreed that there was some level of government mitigation in place, in form of disaster preparedness. The findings revealed that there was no significant correlation between the presence of institutions assisting to mitigate climate change and their distribution across the three agro-ecological zones (p-value > 0.05). The study established that, government disaster preparedness programs were statistically significantly associated with reduced exposure to climate change and extreme weather events.