The role of agricultural information and communication systems in disseminating climate change adaptation strategies to smallholder farmers of Coastal Kenya

Climate change is the fluctuation around the mean climate state or pattern that has built over a long period of time, usually decades or longer, typically 30 years. The worlds’ climate is continuing to change at rates that are projected to be unprecedented in recent human history. Some models are now predicting that the temperature increases by the year 2100 may be larger than previously estimated in 2001. Floods and droughts are becoming more frequent and severe, which is likely to seriously affect farm productivity and the livelihoods of rural communities. The impacts of climate change are likely to be considerably high in tropical regions. Sub-Saharan Africa is currently the most food-insecure region in the world. Climate change threatens to aggravate the food situation unless adequate measures are put in place. The environmental and social consequences of climate change put farmers’ livelihoods at risk and this is worse where farming is done at small scales. Farmers have minimized or spread risks by managing a mix of crops, crop varieties and sites, staggering the sowing/planting of crops, and adjusting land and crop management to suit the prevailing weather conditions. This study was aimed at determining the perception of effectiveness of communication systems in enhancing the management of climate change challenges for increased food production by smallholder farmers. The study was able to show that majority of the respondents have had contact with extension providers, yet many farmers have not realized any changes or have had a decrease in their yields, prompting the concern on how farmers perceive the methods promoted by extension. Change in farmers’ yields is not related to the duration over which they have had contact with extension providers.