Analysis of shocks and coping mechanisms in Climate Smart Villages of Nyando, Kenya

Rutto VK. 2019. Analysis of shocks and coping mechanisms in Climate Smart Villages of Nyando, Kenya. Master Thesis: School of Economics (University of Nairobi). Nairobi, Kenya.

Climate change is a global challenge that is hampering Africa's socio-economic improvement. The change has had a negative impact on agricultural production and subjected smallholder farmers in Africa to food insecurity, economic constraints and shocks. These farmers lack agricultural and weather guidelines. They often use indigenous techniques to cope with shocks. One of the coping strategies in this regard is diversification. In Nyando farmers face economic and climatic shocks. CCAFS, Vi Agro forestry and other organizations have been helping these smallholder farmers to diversify by adopting CSA practices of drought tolerant crops and animals. This paper used cross sectional data collected from Nyando through a structured questionnaire to establish the shocks that Nyando residents face, and their effects on diversification of CSA practices. Results from TPR and NBR show negative effect of death shocks on diversification while drought, pests and diseases positively influence diversification. This highlights the need to promote the uptake of CSA policies of water harvesting, and crop rotation seriously. Additionally, farmers should also consider weather index insurance to buffer against climatic shocks.