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Global warming and livestock husbandry in Kenya: Impacts and adaptations

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  • Kabubo-Mariara, Jane

Abstract

This paper examines the economic impact of climate change on livestock production in Kenya. We estimate a Ricardian model of net livestock incomes and further estimate the marginal impacts of climate change. We also simulate the impact of different climate scenarios on livestock incomes. The Ricardian results show that livestock production in Kenya is highly sensitive to climate change and that there is a non-linear relationship between climate change and livestock productivity. The estimated marginal impacts suggest modest gains from rising temperatures and losses from increased precipitation. The predictions from atmospheric ocean general circulation models suggest that livestock farmers in Kenya are likely to incur heavy losses from global warming. The highest and lowest losses are predicted from the Hadley Centre Coupled model (HADCM) and Parallel Climate Model (PCM) respectively, based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change A2 Special Report on Emissions Scenarios. The paper concludes that in the long term, climate change is likely to lead to increased poverty, vulnerability and loss of livelihoods. Several policy interventions are recommended to counter this impact.

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  • Kabubo-Mariara, Jane, 2009. "Global warming and livestock husbandry in Kenya: Impacts and adaptations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1915-1924, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:68:y:2009:i:7:p:1915-1924
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    3. Okello, Afrika & Nzuma, Jonathan & Otieno, David Jakinda & Kidoido, Michael & Tanga, Chrysantus, 2021. "Farmers’ Perceptions of Commercial Insect-Based Feed for Sustainable Livestock Production in Kenya," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315215, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Junfei Bai & Zhigang Xu & Huanguang Qiu & Haiyan Liu, 2015. "Optimising seed portfolios to cope ex ante with risks from bad weather: evidence from a recent maize farmer survey in China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 59(2), pages 242-257, April.
    5. Moretti, Michele & Vanschoenwinkel, Janka & Van Passel, Steven, 2021. "Accounting for externalities in cross-sectional economic models of climate change impacts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    6. Jane Kabubo-Mariara & Richard Mulwa, 2019. "Adaptation to climate change and climate variability and its implications for household food security in Kenya," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(6), pages 1289-1304, December.
    7. Assem Abu Hatab & Maria Eduarda Rigo Cavinato & Carl Johan Lagerkvist, 2019. "Urbanization, livestock systems and food security in developing countries: A systematic review of the literature," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(2), pages 279-299, April.
    8. V. Saravanakumar, "undated". "Impact of Climate Change on Yield of Major Food Crops in Tamil Nadu, India," Working papers 91, The South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics.
    9. Mohmmed, Alnail & Li, Jianhua & Elaru, Joshua & Elbashier, Mohammed M.A. & Keesstra, Saskia & Artemi, Cerdà & Martin, Kabenge & Reuben, Makomere & Teffera, Zeben, 2018. "Assessing drought vulnerability and adaptation among farmers in Gadaref region, Eastern Sudan," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 402-413.
    10. Gholizadeh, Heydar & Zoghipour, Mohammad Hossein & Torshizi, Mohammad & Nazari, Mohammad Reza & Moradkhani, Narges, 2021. "Gone with the wind: Impact of soil-dust storms on farm income," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    11. Afshin Ghahramani & S. Mark Howden & Agustin del Prado & Dean T. Thomas & Andrew D. Moore & Boyu Ji & Serkan Ates, 2019. "Climate Change Impact, Adaptation, and Mitigation in Temperate Grazing Systems: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-30, December.
    12. Afrika Onguko Okello & Jonathan Makau Nzuma & David Jakinda Otieno & Michael Kidoido & Chrysantus Mbi Tanga, 2021. "Farmers’ Perceptions of Commercial Insect-Based Feed for Sustainable Livestock Production in Kenya," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-13, May.
    13. Dittrich, Ruth & Wreford, Anita & Moran, Dominic, 2016. "A survey of decision-making approaches for climate change adaptation: Are robust methods the way forward?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 79-89.
    14. Kabubo-Mariara, Jane & Mulwa, Richard M. & Di Falco, Salvatore, 2017. "Adaptation to Climate Change and Variability and Its Implications for Household Nutrition in Kenya," EfD Discussion Paper 17-5, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.

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