Climate Change Adaptation in Kenyan Agriculture: Could Social Capital help?

Adaptation is critical since the mitigation efforts to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases will take time. The concern in developing countries, particularly in Sub Sahara Africa (SSA) is due to high vulnerability and ability to adapt is low. This study analyses adaptation to climate change in four ecological zones in Kenya. These ecological zones include arid, semi-arid, temperate and humid areas. Climate change adaptation is relatively low in arid areas in comparison to other agri-ecological zones. The study finds that farmers are adapting to climate change and the main strategies includes technologies adoption, crop management, land and water management, livestock management and planting trees. A multinomial discrete choice model was used to analyze the determinants of farmlevel adaptation measures. The main factors affecting adaptation is household capital or assets endowment. The study finds that social capital is key driver in adopting new technologies which are crucial in adapting to climate change. Ownership of ICTs devices which are important in dissemination of climate change or agricultural production information also influenced adaption. Other factors influencing adaptation include human, physical and financial capital,climate change perceptions, land size and farming experience. The study discusses recommendations and policy implications.