OPINION: Floods or drought, there is no silver bullet solution to climate change

By Susan Omenyo and Michael Maina

Kenya might currently be in the grip of severe floods but for much of last year, we were battling drought occasioned by lower than expected rainfall. And when the current heavy rains taper off when the rainy season ends this month, we’ll soon be looking at extremely dry and hot weather conditions later in the year.

It is hard not to notice that our weather patterns have become extreme. Some of the people feeling it the most are farmers who keep counting losses as the elements switch from wet to dry and back again with a vicious severity.

Take Margaret Maina, for example, a dairy farmer from Kiambu County. She has noticed that her milk yield has reduced over the past five years. She also noticed that weather patterns have changed because it feels hotter today than 5 years ago. Early last year, Margaret was forced to buy water for her cattle due to a prolonged drought that led to her well drying up. There was also not enough grass for her livestock and she had to supplement it with expensive commercial feeds. Increasingly, her livelihood feels under threat by forces she cannot control.

Margaret represents thousands of other dairy farmers who are staring at untenable livelihoods because of climate change.

According to the Climate Risk Profile for Kiambu County, drought, extreme temperatures, heavy and intense rainfall, and soil erosion are the main climate hazards expected in the region. Increased temperatures have resulted in heat stress for livestock which leads to low feed intake, reduced growth rate, low cow immunity, and rapid multiplication of bacteria. Prolonged periods of drought have also resulted in rivers and wells drying up. All these stresses affect both crop and livestock productivity resulting in reduced income for the farmer.

Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that smallholder farmers produce about one third of the world’s food. In Kenya, these farmers account for 80% of the country’s total agricultural output. Despite this enormous contribution to the country’s economy through job creation, foreign exchange and food security, farmers like Margaret also comprise the bulk of people living in poverty. Unpredictable weather patterns and a changing climate such as the prolonged drought that the country and the larger Horn of Africa region experienced between 2020 and 2023 have worsened the resilience of most farmers across the country.

Typically, farmers like Margaret are usually advised to get quality breeds that are tolerant and highly producing. This advice, however, is incomplete. Getting a good cattle breed with the current climate change challenges is like “putting bicycle tires on a Ferrari.”

Underlying challenges are far too complex to warrant simplistic unidirectional solutions that only address specific aspects of the problem. For instance, addressing access to finance for inputs and equipment may not be sustainable if farmers do not have access to high value markets for their produce or if they do not have the correct knowledge on input or equipment use. Additionally, increasing productivity without considering proper post harvest management and or value addition may also not lead to increased incomes or improved livelihoods for these farmers. 

Moving the needle on such dynamic and complex challenges requires a system level thinking and approach that factors the interests and influences of both farmers and other value chain players. So, what works?

Some technologies that use geospatial, climate, water, and soil data have been developed to measure climate and production risks at the farm level. These technologies can be used by financial institutions, cooperatives, aggregators, and even Saccos who lend to smallholder farmers. This allows them to develop proper de-risking facilities to protect farmers and themselves and unlock more capital for adaptation. This way, should harvests fail, farmers can fall back on insurance covers to tide them over until the next season. This kind of technology goes hand in hand with extensively training farmers on adaptation and mitigation practices to give them the best shot at success.

For example, in Kiambu County, dairy farmers are being trained on climate change and its impacts on livestock. A climate-smart dairy product that comprises water management, cow’s comfort to minimise heat stress, waste management to reduce emissions, renewable energy, soil management, and quality forages for increased milk production has been developed. These farmers can now access finance from their Sacco to acquire this product and improve their livelihood. They are being empowered to engage in circular farming, where nothing on the farm goes to waste and they maximize resource efficiency. And because dairy is an emitter of greenhouse gases, their soils are being rehabilitated to sequester more carbon.

Beyond production, farmers need storage and logistics support to ensure that their produce reaches the market while still in top shape. This, however, requires efficient and affordable energy solutions. Energy companies are therefore partnering with financiers to extend credit to farmers so they can install solar water pumps, walk in cold rooms, solar powered mills, electric cooking and refrigerators. This not only ensures that farmers have access to quality, energy efficient appliances but that they also get the financing needed to sustain their businesses.

Bundling support ensures a beneficial relationship where the farmer maximizes returns, energy companies have a solid customer base, financiers make money, and consumers have quality produce. A thriving food system requires effort from everyone to ensure that rain or shine, everybody wins.