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Propensity to adapt to climate change: insights from pastoralist and agro-pastoralist households of Laikipia County, Kenya

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Abstract

Climate change is a reality in Africa’s drylands. Pastoralists are engaging and embracing a range of adaptive strategies to adjust to these changes. The socioeconomic factors driving them to engage in a portfolio of multiple adaptation strategies have not been adequately addressed in the existing literature. A multivariate probit model was used to analyze them as determinants of adaptive capacity that promotes or hinders adaptation to climate change. Adaptation is represented by uptake of multiple strategies (irrigation, livestock migration, fodder production, and improved livestock breeds) by households, a demonstration of a household’s ability to diversify and adapt to the effects of climate change. The household asset base, particularly social capital represented by government assistance, stands out as it positively influenced by the uptake of four out of five adaptation strategies; that is, irrigation, livestock manure, fodder production, and improved breeds. Information heavily supports the adaptation process as it influenced all the five adaptation strategies analyzed but has a heterogeneous effect, supporting households to either adopt or reject a strategy. Crop-based information positively determines uptake of yield-enhancing strategies while relevant information for livestock activities contributes to the uptake of livestock-based strategies. These findings suggest that mainstreaming agricultural innovations, building a household asset base, and facilitating access to agronomic and climatic information will enable dryland communities to better adapt to climate change.

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Acknowledgements

This research is based on work done as a part of the Local Governance for Adaptation to Climate Change (LGACC) project, implemented by World Agroforestry together with the International Livestock Research Institute with funding from USAID (3106 USAD-1133A.01AN GBL075) in a collaborative PhD program with Germany Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) (3106 –DAAD-1157G.03AO GBL075). We are grateful for the numerous discussions and conversions with Lance Robison and Lisa Fuchs that immensely shaped this article. Special thanks to the Il Ngwesi Group Ranch members, without whose participation this research would not have been possible, and to Betty Rabar and Obaidah Mucheru for proofreading and editing this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Land Resources Management and Agricultural Technologies (LARMAT), Kabete Campus, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 29053 – 00625, Nairobi, Kenya

    Teresiah Wairimu Ng’ang’a, Charles K. Gachene & Geoffrey Kironchi

  2. Landscapes Governance Theme, World Agroforestry (ICRAF), United Nations Avenue, P.O. Box 30677 – 00100 , Gigiri , Nairobi, Kenya

    Teresiah Wairimu Ng’ang’a

  3. World Bank, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

    Jeanne Y. Coulibaly

  4. Sustainable Livestock Systems, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), P.O. Box 30709 – 00100, Nairobi, Kenya

    Todd A. Crane

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  1. Teresiah Wairimu Ng’ang’a
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Correspondence to Teresiah Wairimu Ng’ang’a.

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Ng’ang’a, T.W., Coulibaly, J.Y., Crane, T.A. et al. Propensity to adapt to climate change: insights from pastoralist and agro-pastoralist households of Laikipia County, Kenya. Climatic Change 161, 393–413 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02696-4

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