2	

 

Mainstreaming Digital Approaches for 

Adaptation in Agriculture in Kenya 
 

 

Authors: Wietske Kropff1), Berta Ortiz-Crespo1), Jonathan Steinke1), Lidya Tesfaye1), Julian 

Ramirez-Villegas1), Aniruddha Ghosh1), Sintayehu Alemayehu1), Brenda Binge2), Boniface O. 

Akuku2), Amos Tablia 2), Kevin Gitau Ng'ang'a2), and Steve D. Prager1) 

 

1) Alliance of Bioversity International and the Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) 

2) Independent Consultants 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This work is a collaborative effort by The Global Center on Adaptation, The Alliance of 

Bioversity International and The Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and The African 

Development Bank. 

 



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Table of Contents 
  
1.	 INTRODUCTION	 4	
2.	 COUNTRY CONTEXT	 6	
3.	 CLIMATE VULNERABILITY AND RESILIENCE	 8	
4.	 CLIMATIC ADAPTATION NEEDS	 14	
5.	 DIGITAL READINESS	 17	
6.	 USE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE	 24	
7.	 ASSESSMENT OF THE POTENTIAL OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION	 27	
8.	 ENABLING DIGITAL FOR ADAPTATION OF AGRICULTURE	 29	
9.	 RECOMMENDATIONS	 33	
10.	 SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK	 39	
11.	 REFERENCES	 41	
12.	 ANNEX – STAKEHOLDER LIST	 44	
 

 

  



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1. Introduction 

The Kenyan economy is one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa. It is backed by a strong agricultural 

sector, but climate change will increase its vulnerability. Kenya’s farming sector directly employs more 

than 40% of the total population, including around 75% of the rural population, generating about a 

quarter of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). However, the agricultural sector faces yield 

gaps and is exposed to climate hazards that contribute to uncertain livelihoods, food insecurity, and 

persistent poverty among the rural population. Hazards include droughts, floods, growing season 

reductions, and high growing season temperatures. Additionally, the already strong climate variability 

makes agricultural production vulnerable. Given the importance of agriculture for Kenya’s economy and 

population, there is a dire need for farming to adapt to climate change and mitigate the effects of these 

hazards. Effective adaptation can take many forms, but farmers’ individual behavior will be central. 

Better-informed decision-making will play a key role in increasing overall productivity and farmer 

incomes, and to mitigate climate shocks. 

Without adaptation, climate change will affect the food security and livelihoods of millions of Kenyans. 

Digitally enhanced agriculture involves using modern information and communication technology, 

especially mobile phones and the Internet, to accumulate, analyze, understand, and disseminate 

electronic data with the aim of informing effective decision-making along agricultural value chains. For 

example, digital tools and services can strengthen the agricultural sector’s resilience by helping farmers 

increase productivity, reduce costs and losses, or increase operating profit. Digital adaptation solutions 

can involve services around agricultural advisory, climate information, input and output market 

linkages, financial inclusion, or sophisticated ‘smart farming’ solutions that optimize production using 

sensors, drones, satellite imagery, artificial intelligence, or shared farm machinery. In the Kenyan 

context, where most farmers are smallholders, digital technologies for adaptation will likely rely on 

services accessed via mobile phones such as apps, short message services (SMS), or interactive voice 

response technology. Digital technologies have the potential to accelerate adaptation processes by 

addressing the needs of individual farmers in highly scalable service schemes. 

Leveraging the potential of digital and data-enabled technologies will be crucial for mainstreaming 

climate adaptation and resilience in Kenya’s agricultural sector and achieving inclusive development. 

Kenya’s thriving digital ecosystem and relatively mature infrastructure offer vast opportunities to 

develop and deploy innovative and inclusive digital solutions in agriculture. Yet, to date, existing digital 

services for adaptation in agriculture are used by a minority of Kenyan farmers only. For example, the 

lack of user-friendly and freely accessible climate information services to anticipate and mitigate 

extreme weather events is an often-cited challenge for Kenyan smallholders. However, today’s near 

omnipresence of mobile money–which was introduced in Kenya in 2007–has demonstrated that Kenya 

is ready for digital solutions to be quickly scaled and integrated into virtually all sectors of Kenya’s 

heterogeneous society and economy. But still, low penetration of modern digital devices, scanty 

coverage by electricity and mobile networks, underdeveloped digital literacy, and gender gaps 



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concerning the use of digital tools are but some of the challenges affecting the success of digital 

technologies for adaptation in agriculture initiatives in parts of rural Kenya. Beyond innovative 

agriculture-oriented services, digital adaptation strategies need to address these challenges with aim 

of affecting the digital sector at large, and promoting the digital transformation of farming. Given the 

right environment, digital solutions for adaptation can allow for better-informed agricultural production, 

marketing, and resource management across all social strata and farming systems. 

This project, spearheaded by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Global Center on Adaptation 

(GCA), the Alliance of Biodiversity International, and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture 

(CIAT), explores opportunities and key needs for digital technologies for adaptation implementation 

within the Horn of Africa Program. The Horn of Africa Program is one of the programs under GCA and 

AfDB’s Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), with the objective of reimagining African 

developmental institutions, programs, and policies to emphasize adaptation and resilience to climate 

change. The current project has been conducted in the context of the “Climate Smart Digital 

Technologies for Agriculture and Food Security” (ClimSmartDigitAg) of the AAAP. The aim is to benefit 

at least 30 million farmers across 26 countries by 2025 through enhanced, upscaled digital and data-

driven adaptation technologies specifically geared toward smallholders and agricultural small and 

medium-sized enterprises.  

The aim of this report is to support digital technologies for adaptation investment decisions in Kenya 

while highlighting actionable next steps for the design and incorporation of new and better digital 

technologies within the agricultural sector. The emphasis falls on last-mile delivery of digital 

technologies for adaptation in agriculture. With attention to local contexts, needs, and potential 

partnerships, the results from this report are geared toward adaptation practitioners and may also help 

digital development stakeholders to design and select the most successful investments and 

interventions. The report starts by exploring the Kenyan regional context to understand population and 

climatic characteristics, significant agricultural sectors, and relevant climate hazards. It then surveys 

Kenya’s digital landscape to analyze access and use, existing infrastructure, and affordability for 

relevant technologies to foreground promising digital services for adaptation interventions. With 

consideration of the obstacles to and advantages for implementation, and short-, medium-, and long-

term outcomes, this report seeks to guide investment strategies for digital technologies for adaptation 

in Kenya. This is followed by the provision of actionable guidance toward attaining essential goals, 

generating and enabling an environment for digital adaptation solutions and establishing the most 

viable and demanded tools and services. These include, for instance, early climate warnings, risk 

assessment and management, advisory services, and building the digital capacity. Finally, this report 

maps a way forward by synthesizing key digital adaptation actions and recommendations to boost 

resilience to climate change.  

  



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2. Country context 

2.1  The economic relevance of agriculture 

Kenya, located in East Africa, has a land area of 580,728 km², of which approximately half is agricultural 

land (CCAFS, 2016). The country’s annual GDP is estimated to be around USD 98.8 billion, and a quarter 

of this is generated by agriculture, forestry, and fishing. The agricultural sector contributes to 

employment greatly, employing approximately 75% of the rural population and about 40% of the total 

population (FAO stats, 2021; USAID, 2021a). The export value for agricultural produce is about USD 2.9 

billion annually (World Bank data, 2020). However, agricultural production has declined in recent years, 

impacting the national agricultural GDP growth rate which dropped from 10% in 2010 to 2% in 2017.  

 

2.2  Agricultural production systems 

Like most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, agricultural production systems in Kenya are dominated by 

smallholder subsistence farms, which are normally rainfed. Kenya is divided into seven agro-ecological 

zones based on precipitation and soil type, which vary in terms of farmer and growing season numbers, 

and primary crop types. In terms of input usage, an average of 0.25kg/ha of pesticides is applied to 

fields every year, compared to 2.7kg/ha globally (FAOstats1). Regarding fertilizer, instead, its use 

distributed across croplands is 20.2 kg/ha of nitrogen, 21.1 kg/ha of phosphate, and 5.5 kg/ha of 

potash (FAOstats1). These values are close to the average fertilizer consumption in Sub-Saharan 

Africa–estimated at 17 kg per hectare of cropland–but far below the global average fertilizer 

consumption of 135 kg/ha (AGRA, 2019). The main food crops in Kenya are maize, wheat, rice, 

potatoes, green grams, and beans. Maize is the primary staple food in the country, and 90% of Kenyan 

farms grow it, while common bean and Irish potato are the most important legume and tuber crops 

respectively (AFA, 2021). The second largest livestock herd in Africa is in Kenya, ranking 13th in the 

world in terms of dairy cows. The livestock sector contributes to around 10% of the GDP, and comprises 

dairy cattle, goats, camels, and beef cattle, small ruminants, non-ruminants, poultry, and emerging 

livestock species such as quail and rabbits. The livestock population is concentrated in the arid and 

semi-arid lands towards the East, which cover about 75% of the total land surface (KALRO, 2021). 

 

	
1	The	numbers	reflect	the	avergae	of	years	2015-2019	



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2.3  People and livelihoods 

According to the 2019 national census, Kenya has a total population of 47 million people, of which 78% 

live in rural areas (KNBS, 2019). 37% of the total population lives below the US$ 1.90/day poverty line, 

which is closely related with the prevalence of undernourished people (25%) and the prevalence of 

children underweight and wasting (11.2% and 4.2% respectively) (World Bank data, 2014). These 

numbers are reflected in the Global Food Security Index, where the country has a score of 46.8 out of 

100, meaning that its performance is moderate and there is still room for improvement. One of the main 

reasons for this is the high prevalence of undernourishment (The Economist, 2021). In terms of 

education and infrastructure, instead, the country is rapidly improving, with the literacy rate among 

youth standing at 88%. Access to electricity has been rapidly increasing, and 56% of the population is 

already connected, while 46% of the rural population has electricity (World Bank, 2020). This expansion 

has been mainly catalyzed by the Kenyan government’s rural electrification programme. 

 

  



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3. Climate vulnerability and resilience 

Kenya is highly vulnerable to climate change and variability. The Notre Dame Global Adaptation 

Initiative Country Index Rank sees Kenya 147th out of 177 countries, with a score of 39.1. Kenya scores 

0.518 on vulnerability and 0.300, making it the 38th most vulnerable country, and the 39th least 

prepared. Therefore, there is a great need for investment and innovations to improve readiness and 

resolute action. By 2030, losses related to climate variability and extreme events are predicted to be up 

to 2.6% of the annual GDP (USAID, 2018). Droughts alone would cost an estimated 8% of the GDP every 

five years. The recurrent annual burden caused by these climatic extremities will lead to large economic 

losses of up to $0.5 billion per year, further suppressing economic development (GoK, 2015). The 

cumulative impacts of climate change over the next two to three decades have the potential to reverse 

much of the progress made towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and 

Vision 2030. This section will examine climate change vulnerabilities and resilience concerning cereals 

and livestock value chain commodities, the most pressing challenges for Kenya. Additionally, it will 

focus on the projected impact of climate change on these major value chain commodities or their 

sensitivity to climate change-related risks and hazards such as diseases, crop failure, and the 

destruction of assets on farm, post-harvest, and at the market level. 

Kenya has a diverse climate, with variable annual rains. Some parts of the coastal and highland areas 

receive annual averages up to 2.000 mm. Yet, 80% of the land mass is classified as arid and semi-arid, 

receiving less than 500 mm of rainfall per year. Temperatures range from an average of 18°C in high 

elevation areas like Nairobi, to 26°C in coastal areas such as Mombasa. Hazards stemming from 

Kenya’s changing climate include high and extreme climate variability, heat stress, droughts, floods, 

growing season reductions, high growing season temperatures, or a combination of the latter. Its 

geographic location also makes the country prone to cyclical droughts and floods, with climate change 

expected to make such climate driven events increase in intensity and frequency (GoK, 2015). Arid and 

semi-arid areas are especially prone to extreme events such as droughts and floods (Marigi, 2017), and 

periodic droughts occur in Kenya rather frequently. Moderate drought events have been recorded on 

average every three to four years, and major droughts affect the country every ten years on average. 

Prolonged droughts, instead, have become more common since 2000 (GoK, 2015). The most drought-

susceptible areas are counties on the Eastern, Northeastern, and Coastal regions, and parts of Rift 

Valley. January, February, and June to September are the most common drought months, especially in 

the northern parts of the country. For example, the recent 2020 drought severely affected both the arid 

and semi-arid counties. The level of food security in these regions was reportedly one of the lowest in 

the last 15 years, affecting around 1.8 million people, and currently a drought is exposing more than 2 

million people to food insecurity (UNOCHA, 2020; NDMA, 2021). 

 



	 9	

Floods mostly occur in the Budalangi, Nyando, Homabay, and Tana River Counties in the lower Tana 

River catchment. Major cities such as Nairobi and Mombasa, and Northeastern parts of the country, 

are also prone to flash floods (KMD, 2021a). Highland areas, instead, are prone to landslides and 

mudslides which manifest during the rainy season. These areas are characterized by steep slopes, and 

include counties such as Murang’a and the Embu highlands. The number of landslides is reported to 

be increasing as forested lands are converted to agriculture, resulting in looser soils and fewer trees to 

slow the flow of water downslopes (Parry. et al, 2012). Kenya’s extreme floods have been observed to 

be triggered by severe thunderstorms, tropical cyclones, and heavy rainfall over many consecutive days. 

The El Niño Southern Oscillation, Madden Julian oscillations, and other phenomena have been observed 

to exacerbate the flood situation in the country. For example, at the end of 2015, heavy rainfall driven 

by the El Niño (KMD, 2021a) killed at least 112 people and displaced over 100,000. The most recent 

flooding event, instead, took place in spring 2021, displacing thousands of people. 

Another allegedly climate-related extreme has been the desert’s locust invasion, which affected the 

country between 2019 and 2020, with large swarms spreading across fourteen Kenyan counties, 

influenced by both wind and rainfall within the region (KMD, 2021a). The locust invasion and other 

climate-related shocks contributed to a slow recovery from the effects of previous droughts, especially 

for the most vulnerable communities in the pastoral counties (NDMA, 2020). 

The average temperature has increased by 0.34°C from 1985 to 2015, with the greatest increases 

manifesting in the months of March to May in arid and semi-arid regions. Projections show increases 

in mean annual temperature between 1 °C and 1.5 °C by 2030 (World Bank & CIAT, 2015). By 2050, 

average temperatures are projected to increase from 1.2°C to 2.2°C, with the greatest warming 

happening in the west (USAID, 2018). The number of hot days and nights will increase. Hot days are 

projected to be between 19% to 45%. Hot nights, instead, are expected to increase quickly, and to occur 

on 45% to 75% of nights by 2050. Increased heat and extreme heat conditions will result in significant 

implications for human and animal health, agriculture, and ecosystems (GoK, 2015; World Bank, 2020).  

Although there is little change in overall average annual precipitation, since the 1970s, long rains show 

reduced rainfall in Central and Southern Kenya, with possible increases in the northern parts of the 

country (USAID, 2018). Analysis by GoK with data starting in 1960 concur that northern areas of the 

country have become wetter, southern areas drier, and there also seems to be an increase in the 

proportion of heavy rainfall events (GoK, 2015). Rainfall projections show a likely increase in average 

rainfall (projections range from -3 to +28%) from October to May, and a decrease in the duration of dry 

spells, albeit increased in severity (-2 to +27%) (USAID, 2018). Changes in rainfall distribution and more 

frequent extreme events are projected to result in more frequent water shortages (World Bank & CIAT, 

2015).  

 



	 10	

To identify the likelihood of future climate hazards and their potential impacts in Kenya, we mapped 

them out for the 2050 period under a business-as-usual emission trajectory (Figure 1). Our projections 

for 2050 show that 73% of the land used for agriculture in Kenya is under threat from a combination of 

high to extreme climate variability, heat stress, and droughts, and another 18% is because of a 

combination of high to extreme climate variability and droughts (Figure 1.a). Climate hazards will hinder 

the agricultural production of cereals and livestock on over 40 million ha of land (Figure 1d). This would 

have substantial implications for the rural populations whose livelihoods depend on agriculture. The 

consequences for small-scale farmers include changes in water availability for crop and livestock 

production, as well as livestock losses, crop failures, and lower incomes. Other impacts of climate 

variability include greater incidence and prevalence of crop pests and diseases. On the other hand, in 

some places this might lead to opportunities for crop diversification and intensification (Rippke, et al, 

2016). Finally, more than 15 million rural people and USD 1.9 billion in crop and livestock value are 

exposed to climate hazards (Figure 1b and c). 

 

Figure 1: The distribution of predominant climate hazards in Kenya. All hazards are calculated for the 2050 period 
under Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5. Hazard categories: High climate variability (H-CV), Extreme to 
high Climate variability (E/H-CV), Heat Stress (HTS), Drought (D), Flood (F). A map of the geographic distribution 
of hazards (A). Exposure of total crop and livestock production value (B), of the rural population (C), and of the 
total physical area (D) to climate hazards for several farming systems in the Horn of Africa region by 2050 (RCP 
8.5). Note that the value of crop production is based on the 42 crops and crop categories of the MapSPAM 2017 
dataset (IFPRI, 2019). The production value is given per year.  



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3.1 Climate vulnerability across cereal and livestock value chains 

Without proper adaptation strategies, climate change will lead to serious consequences for key 

activities along the agricultural value chain at all stages, including input supply, on-farm production, 

post-harvest processing, and output markets. These impacts are exacerbated by relatively small farm 

sizes, land degradation, and deforestation, which characterize the agricultural production systems in 

the country. For this section, a selection of value chains was chosen for a deeper analysis of how 

climate change affects them. 

Maize: Maize production systems are prevalent across Kenya and are highly vulnerable to climate 

change. Annual losses by 2050 are estimated to be between USD $100 and 200 million (Herrrero, 2010). 

Moreover, yields are expected to decrease at a rate of 0.07 tons/ha/decade, reaching losses between 

12% and 23% by 2055, while food prices will increase between 75% and 90% by then (FICCF, 2013; 

Mumo, Yu, & Ke, 2018). Long, dry spells will affect maize production directly. In fact, the crop is very 

sensitive to water deficits from flowering to beginning of grain filling (Omoyo, et al., 2015). Earlier in 

2021, below-average precipitation amounts in the planning season forced several farmers to re-plant, 

causing irreversible damage in plants and reducing production by 8% (FAO, GIEWS, 2021). Flooding has 

also a negative impact on production, leading to crop yield losses, soil erosion, waterlogging, and the 

leaching of soil nutrients and fertilizers. The viability of seeds is also reduced as the seeds rot in the 

soil. Excessive rainfall–especially during the harvest–can bring about rotting. In addition, the 

inadequate drying of maize under wet conditions heightens the chances of aflatoxin contamination. In 

2020, the maize farms of Baringo County were flooded, and crops were lost to the floodwaters (KMD, 

2020). Maize can also be damaged by temperatures over 35⁰C, which are increasingly common in 

lowland regions (USAID, 2018). To counter the adverse effects of climate change, it is necessary to 

climate-proof agricultural crops through adaptation strategies, such as developing drought-tolerant, 

heat-resistant, and early maturing maize varieties (Omoyo et al., 2015). 

Livestock: In arid and semi-arid regions, pastoralism is the dominant production system, hosting 

approximately 70% of the national livestock herd (Chaudhury et al., 2020). However, it is characterized 

by unsustainable practices such as overstocking and open grazing. Additionally, the projected climatic 

trends are negatively influencing production. Pastoral communities in Kenya are already acutely 

affected: high temperatures are increasing heat stress, as well as pest and disease incidence in 

livestock. The decrease on annual rainfall leads to feed and water scarcity, impacting the quality and 

availability of pasture (USAID, 2018). In northern Turkana County, increased competition over grazing 

lands and water has already heightened the likelihood of conflict and insecurity (HRW, 2015). These 

are further exacerbated by poor physical and social infrastructure, resource conflicts, and low literacy 

levels, which further reduce the people’s adaptive capacity to droughts (KMD, 2021a). In recent months, 

livestock trekking distances from grazing fields to watering points have increased in several counties. 

In August 2021, the distances were 25% to 55% longer than average (FAO, 2021). Grazing resources in 

most northern pastoral areas and central and southern agro-pastoral areas have been severely affected 



	 12	

by two consecutive poor rainy seasons since October 2020. As of September 2021, drought conditions 

were reported in several counties, with particular concern for Marsabit County in the northwest, and 

Mandera, Garissa, Isiolo, and Wajir Counties in the northeast (FAO, 2021).  

Animal health is also affected by both extremely high or low temperatures and by the emergence and 

re-emergence of infectious diseases, some of them transmitted by vectors that are highly dependent 

on climatic conditions. In 2011, the livestock sector lost approximately around 6 billion USD because 

of drought (GoK, 2013). When disaggregated, 0.5 billion were lost due to costs from veterinary care, 

water, feed, and production decline, and 5.7 billion due to animal deaths. Climate change also reduces 

productivity. In fact, in mid 2021, milk production was 25% to 45% below average (FAO, 2021). The 

prices of livestock have declined by 10% to 30% due to rain shortage in the last two seasons. This is 

affecting particularly areas hit by prolonged droughts, such as northwestern Turkana, Samburu and 

Marsabit counties, and northeastern Garissa and Wajir counties (FAO, 2021). 

 

3.2  Factors that determine vulnerabilities and impacts to climate change 

The majority of Kenya’s population is dependent on agriculture, and generally has low adaptive capacity 

to withstand the negative impacts of climate change. In addition to the biophysical factors mentioned 

in the previous section, other factors play a role including poor infrastructure, weak institutional 

mechanisms, and lack of financial resources (GoK, 2015). There are several other socio-economic 

factors that leave the Kenyan population vulnerable to climate change, and adaptation efforts should 

take them into account, as they could represent a hindrance. Poverty is an example of this. In the Rift 

Valley, Eastern, and Nyanza regions, 40-70% of the population lives on less than USD 1.90 per day, and 

these areas lack essential infrastructure for adaptation to climate change. For example, efforts to 

expand irrigation are hampered by poverty and low technical capacity (Chaudhury et al., 2020; Ministry 

of foreign affairs Netherlands, 2018; HRW, 2015). Furthermore, population increase and the scarcity of 

non-degraded potential agricultural land leads to land fragmentation. This also hampers the economy 

of scale to invest in new technology or use part of the land to try out new varieties of practices.  

Smallholder, low-input, and rain-fed agriculture in the arid and semiarid lowlands are more vulnerable 

because of their dependence on climate-sensitive and natural resource-based economic activities. Over 

75% of the total agricultural output is produced on these small-scale farms, making the system 

especially vulnerable to climate shocks (GoK, 2015). Additionally, weak land administration and 

management due to a lack of comprehensive national policies has caused land fragmentation and 

disparities in ownership, resulting in inadequate conservation measures. The lack of clarity on 

ownership of resources, combined with resource degradation due to climate change, has caused 

conflicts in various parts of the country in recent years (Ministry of Foreign Affairs Netherlands, 2018).  



	 13	

Access to timely information is also key. Producers lack relevant weather forecast data and information 

that would assist them in reducing their losses and diversifying with more suitable crops, such as 

drought tolerant crops during the dry periods and slow-maturing varieties when conditions are wetter 

than normal (Marigi, 2017). Using digital tools for the production and dissemination of climate 

information can enhance it’s reach and use. However, the gap in (digital) illiteracy rates exacerbate the 

lack of access to climate information systems. Higher literacy and capacity building around using 

digital technologies could provide the public with a pathway for creating knowledge about climate 

change and an awareness of possible adaptation solutions.  

Additionally, the severity of the impacts of climate change are not evenly distributed over the 

population. Evidence from 8 African countries including Kenya, shows that climate change is correlated 

with increased migration of the youth, and this is especially strong for agricultural communities in 

drought prone areas (Bezu et. al., 2020). This effect is also stronger for men than for women due to 

fewer recourses and cultural constraints. On the other hand an important consideration regarding youth 

in agriculture is that this group has had a relatively better education and is more likely to use digital 

tools than older generations. When targeting digital interventions for adaptation it is therefore 

important to consider how the youth fits in, whether this is at the farm, extension, in the digital workforce 

or in agri-entrepeneurship levels. 

Women are another group that are often disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change. 

Women manage over 40% of smallholder farms and provide up to 80% of labor for crop production in 

Kenya (UNDP, 2012), but have a lower adaptive capacity to tackle negative climate change impacts 

because of less access to information, markets, mobility, alternative income sources, land ownership, 

access to credit and means of decision-making (Diiro et. al., 2018). Therefore women’s empowerment 

should be a key consideration when thinking about implementing digital services for adaptation as this 

not only contributes to reducing the gender gap in agricultural productivity, but also to a greater scale 

and impact of adaptation strategies.  

 

 

  



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4. Climatic adaptation needs 

4.1  Existing climate change adaptation strategies 

Integrating climate risks and actions into development planning–both across sectors and from the 

national to the local level–is essential for making it more resilient to climate change. Kenya is 

committed to climate change adaptation and mitigation through the development and enforcement of 

national policies and frameworks in collaboration with the United Nations Framework Convention on 

Climate Change (UNFCC). These include, for example, the National Forest Policy (2014), the National 

Climate Finance Policy (2016), the National Climate Change Framework Policy (2016), the Kenya 

Climate Smart Agriculture Strategy (KCSAS) 2017 – 2026, the National Climate Change Action Plan 

(NCCAP) 2018-2022), and the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Implementation Framework (2018-

2027). Certain counties have downscaled some of these policies to guide their specific development 

plans. For instance, the Kitui Climate Change Fund seeks to finance climate change resilience and 

mainstreaming programming and investment; Wajir county has a climate change act since 2016; 

Makueni county has enacted the County Climate Change Fund Regulations; and Turkana County has 

implemented the County Climate Change Policy. Furthermore, Isiolo, Wajir, Makueni, and Garissa 

counties have put in place the Climate Information Services Plans. Still, many counties have not taken 

action yet. It is therefore crucial for them to localize policies based on their climate change needs. 

In support of adaptation and mitigation efforts, Kenya published its second National Communication 

in 2015, and submitted its Updated Nationally Determined Contribution to the UNFCC in 2020. This 

helps improve the country’s ability to prepare for and respond to natural disasters and increase 

resilience. Currently, Kenya is working to meet the goals and adhere to its climate change strategies by 

investing in actions such as afforestation and reforestation, geothermal energy production and other 

clean energy development, climate smart agriculture, and drought management (Ministry of 

Environment and Natural Resources 2016). Regarding the agricultural sector specifically, on- and off-

farm adaptation measures are being currently implemented. 

Some of the successfully implemented on-farm adaptation practices include intercropping–which has 

an adoption rate of 60% in Western and Eastern Kenya–and mulching, which is mainly practiced in tea 

growing areas, which also has an adoption rate of 60% (World Bank & CIAT, 2015). Other practices are 

terracing, contour bunds, construction of dykes, changing planting dates, and enterprise diversification 

(Ochieng et. al., 2016). The effects of drought can also be reduced by cultivating drought-resistant 

crops and fodder such as cassava, millet, pigeon peas, green grams, cowpeas, and brachiaria, 

especially in semi-arid areas (CIAT, 2015). Other practices include planting early maturing crop 

varieties, staggered planting, and improved pastures management (CIAT, 2015). A recent survey in the 

Central Highlands showed that most farmers were adopting one or several types of adaptation 

strategies, with the most common used practices including crop rotation (60%), terraces (66%) and 

fertilizer plus manure (71%) (Mairura et. al., 2021). They also found a link between climate change 



	 15	

perceptions and the use of certain adaptation strategies; for example, almost all farmers who perceived 

climate variability implemented crop rotation practices, while no significant correlation was found 

between climate perception and nutrient management strategies. They found that adoption and the 

choice of a particular strategy was also related to the level of knowledge farmers had about the 

adaptation strategy, as well as their access to credit.   

To address the problem of increasing water scarcity, farmers are involved in its conservation and 

distribution, aiming to minimize drought impacts and improve agricultural production in dry regions. 

Water harvesting is a crucial adaptation measure in Kenya. This is done through several methods. 

Surface water harvesting includes the construction of earth dams, embankment dams, water pans, and 

sand dams; groundwater harvesting involves boreholes, shallow wells, and subsurface dams; rooftop 

rainwater harvesting, instead, is done by collecting excessive rainfall using water tanks. The availability 

of water has the positive effect of increasing productivity and reducing farmer-herder conflicts over 

access to water (MoALFC, 2021). Water is also crucial to reduce wildlife-human conflicts, which happen 

when animals invade farmlands in search of water. Irrigation is also a key measure that can address 

water scarcity. An example of its use is for rice cultivation in the Eastern parts of the country (MoALF, 

2016). However, in general, uptake is low due to the high cost associated with the development and 

maintenance of irrigation infrastructures. Out of the 6.4 million households practicing agriculture in the 

country, only 369,679 households are practicing irrigation (KNBS, 2019).  

Timely, early warning systems are one of the off-farm adaptation strategies in use in the country. Early 

Warning Systems enable farmers to know when and where to plant, and when to move with the livestock 

in the face of expected climatic shocks. This information is generated by Kenya’s meteorological 

department (KMD) and the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) and is promoted through 

websites, pamphlets, SMS, WhatsApp messages, and monthly bulletins, and is disseminated in 

vernacular radio stations (CARE, 2018).  

Adaptation strategies around post-harvest and market access include incorporating traditional 

knowledge and farmers groups. Traditional knowledge can add value to their produce and limit the 

increased post-harvest losses resulting from climate change and variability. For instance, farmers can 

process raw milk into ghee. Also, some farmers in Kenya are organized into farmer groups and 

cooperatives, increasing their capacity to benefit from economies of scale by reducing the costs of 

inputs, storage, and transport. Moreover, cooperatives and farmer groups play a critical role in the 

production, processing, and marketing of major agricultural commodities and services. Incorporating 

adaptation strategies at these levels will reduce the risks and bring adaptation technologies to scale 

and more rapidly.  

 



	 16	

4.2  Potential adaptation strategies 

Even though there are several ongoing adaptation strategies in the country, there is ample opportunity 

for more innovative and transformative measures to assist stakeholders across multiple value chains. 

For example, it is critical to increase water availability to vulnerable farmers, both in terms of quality as 

well as quantity. Some potential adaptation strategies include bringing irrigation facilities and surface 

water harvesting to scale. Similarly, pasture availability is a constraint in the pastoral systems. Farmers 

can be sensitized to practice the conservation of fodder and the production forage that is drought-, 

pest-, and disease-tolerant. It is also important to upscale disease surveillance, health management, 

breeding, and control of endemic diseases to ensure high-quality livestock products in the country. 

Similarly, farmers can be trained to correct and balance fertilizer application. Given the highly degraded 

soils of Kenya, it’s crucial for farmers to adopt a combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers to 

improve soil quality and fertility. Organic fertilizers may not only improve soil quality, but may also 

contribute to climate protection by increasing carbon sequestration in agricultural ecosystems (Zhang 

et al., 2016) 

To counter the detrimental impacts of soil erosion, sustainable land management practices can be 

promoted. These include: terracing; contour bunds; drainage canals; agroforestry; and perennial crops. 

These practices will increase soil carbon, improve the management of soil organic matter, and 

rehabilitate the already degraded lands. Additionally, intercropping nitrogen-fixing perennial woody 

species and trees with annual crops increases soil fertility, produces biomass, and reduces soil erosion. 

This practice also promotes carbon sequestration and redistributes carbon to deeper soil layers (KMT, 

2019). Furthermore, the low adoption of conservation agriculture in the country needs to be tackled.  

The use of new protocols and technologies concerned with credit acquisition will help farmers invest 

more in agricultural activities and consequently increase the adoption of tools that will safeguard 

farmers against the uncertainties arising with climate change. Another important use of digital tools in 

agriculture to aid smallholder farmers is for insurance. Several pilots have emerged worldwide testing 

different strategies, from using satellite images to registered local weather events, such as hail and 

lightning, to access the location and severity of the impact this has had on crops. Another way of doing 

so is through an app that uses pictures to process damage to crops, such as the picture-based crop 

insurance app2 that is currently being tested and used in Kenya. One issue that remains is that without 

ways of controlling for the using agronomic best practices, or investments possibilities in technologies 

like irrigation in drought prone areas, it has not easy for insurance companies to come to a sustainable 

business model. However, artificial intelligence and machine learning, in combination with easy to use 

apps, remote sensing and digital agricultural advisories, can lead to insurance companies 

mainstreaming the use and affordability of insurances and with that, reaching smallholder farmers at 

scale.   

	
2	https://www.ifpri.org/project/PBInsurance	



	 17	

5. Digital readiness 

5.1  Stakeholder network around digital technologies for adaptation 

Nairobi is the biggest digital innovation hub in Eastern Africa, hosting many of the most promising tech 

companies in the continent. There are several organizations working in the field of digital technologies 

that can be used for climate adaptation in agriculture in Kenya. This growth has been fostered by a 

friendly regulatory and policy environment. Innovation hubs have also facilitated the process by 

providing mentorship and business support to entrepreneurs. As a result, in 2020, 95 services were 

recorded in the field of agriculture (GSMA, 2020). These services include advisory, financial, 

procurement, e-commerce, and smart farming services, as well as several technologies, including 

adaptation strategies. 

There are also several public organizations working in the field of digital technologies for adaptation: 

the Kenyan Agriculture and Livestock Organization (KARLO) is directly involved in researching and 

developing solutions, often collaborating closely with entrepreneurs and startups. Kenya also has its 

own space agency (Kenyan Space Agency, KSA) which focuses, on agriculture, disaster management, 

and resource management among other things. It has a satellite imagery analysis portal, and it is 

working on developing an Open Data Cube for anyone who wants to access the images (Kenyan Space 

Agency, 2021).  

For a long time, the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) has been the only national institution 

providing climate information services. However, in recent years, collaborative, private sector–driven 

climate information service initiatives have been established. Furthermore, several international 

development agencies, NGOs, and private tech companies have been increasingly supporting efforts 

to provide climate information services (CIS) in the country. Examples include ICPAC, FAO, ACMAD, 

FEWSNET, AGRA, ILRI, ICRISAT, RCMRD, KALRO, Mercy Corps AgriFin, Esoko, aWhere, ACRE Africa, 

Upande, GCAP, GeoEnvigro, and AirtelKilimo (ICPAC, 2021, see stakeholder list in the annex). 

 

5.2  Coproduction 

The Kenya Meteorological department (KMD) provides the agricultural sector with weather and climate 

information. The KMD collects data through its own climate observation stations and collaborations 

with other institutions and volunteer observers. It maintains a large meteorological infrastructure 

comprising 40 synoptic stations, automatic weather stations, airport weather observing systems, and 

satellite receiving stations, often operated in collaboration with other international climate centers and 

volunteer observers (Meteo.Go.Ke, 2021). However, the data from the Automatic Weather Stations is 

not yet fully integrated into meteorological applications, as the quality of their datasets are yet to be 



	 18	

known (Muita, et al., 2021). These meteorological services are devolved, and each county has a 

coordinator in charge of disseminating climate information services.  

 

In 2020, KALRO launched the Kenya Agriculture Observatory Platform (KAOP), which provides real-time 

access to ward-level, seven-day weather forecasts including rainfall and temperature, all critically 

important inputs to inform farm operations. This platform has been recently updated through a 

partnership between KALRO and aWhere, in which KALRO gained use of aWhere’s 6,787 virtual weather 

stations in Kenya to provide advanced weather data and analytics.  

Early Warning Systems are also extremely relevant. Drought monitoring and risk management systems 

are key, especially because, as opposed to floods, the impact is less visible and more difficult to 

quantify in economic terms. To prevent drought damage, the National Drought Management Authority 

manages the Drought Early Warning System (DEWS) which operates at the national level. The system 

releases drought Early Warning bulletins for different regions in the country based on real time data, 

(NDMA, 2021). There is also the Predictive Livestock Early Warning System (PLEWS), which has been 

developed by several national and international agencies and aims to reduce livestock losses. PLEWS 

uses normalized difference vegetation index data and models it against edible vegetation based on 

high resolution satellite imagery and ground truthing, surface water availability, and past data (Matere, 

et al., 2020). The tool is still in its pilot phase, but it holds great potential, and it is planned to scale up 

to other countries in the Horn of Africa. 

Although there is a good data collection network, capacity to translate weather and climate inputs into 

user-friendly products generally remains low. Producers and other relevant stakeholders are therefore 

largely unaware of existing climate information services. To overcome this issue, KMD is in the process 

of establishing the National Framework for Climate Services in Kenya, which will provide an institutional 

mechanism for coordinating, facilitating, and strengthening collaboration to improve co-production, 

delivery, and use of climate services for decision making. An example of existing co-production 

approaches for climate products are the Country Climate Outlook Forums, which use Participatory 

Scenario Planning to produce downscaled seasonal forecasts and advisory services. The system is 

already being used by the KMD to develop forecasts for the planning season (ICPAC, 2021). Moreover, 

the KMD together with IGAD is establishing the National Framework for Climate Services in Kenya 

(NFCS), an institutional mechanism to coordinate, facilitate and strengthen collaboration among 

national institutions. The aim is to improve the co-production, tailoring, delivery, and use of science-

based climate predictions and services for decision-making. The process is still ongoing, and so far 

stakeholder consultations and workshops have been conducted (KMD, 2021b). 

 

 

 



	 19	

 

 

5.3  Translation 

Telecommunications infrastructure 

Almost 100% of the population has second generation (2G) network coverage, and 96% has 3G 

coverage. However, 4G reaches only 65% of the population, and fifth generation (5G) hasn’t arrived in 

the country yet (GSMA, 2021). Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) include Safaricom PLC, Airtel 

Networks Ltd, Telkom Kenya Ltd, Jamii Telecommunications Limited, and Equitel, with 64.2%, 26.9%, 

6.2%, 6.2%, and 2.3% market shares respectively. Although SIM penetration is very high (114 per 100 

habitants), the rate of unique subscribers is significantly lower (57.5%) and mobile phone ownership is 

even lower (49%) (ITU data from 2019, GSMA, 2021). This indicates that some people share the same 

phone but use different SIMs, while others have multiple SIM cards and other SIM cards are still 

registered but not in active use anymore. However, in 2019, only 23% of the population uses the Internet, 

and this is just a slight increase from 17% in 2014. (ITU data). This low rate can partially be explained 

by costs, since Internet data remains expensive, as 100MB are 44% of the monthly GDP per capita 

(GSMA, 2021). There are about 11 million social media users in Kenya, and this number has rapidly 

increased by 25% between 2020 and 2021 (Kemp, 2021). The number of social media users in Kenya 

was equivalent to 20.2% of the total population. However, when it comes to social media users, there 

is an important gender gap of 56% (GSMA, 2021), most likely connected with affordability, privacy, and 

security concerns.    

Regarding global indexes such as the Network Readiness Index, Kenya can be found quite high in the 

scale, ranking 82 out of 182. The score is especially high for governance and regulations (Portulans 

Institute, 2021). In the Digital Readiness Index, instead, Kenya was a bit lower, ranking 104 out of 141. 

The country has especially good scores for human capital (skilled labor force to support digital 

innovation), startup environment, and ease of doing business. However, concerning technology 

adoption (which includes internet adoption) and basic needs (for example access to clean water or 

energy) the scores are quite low (CISCO, 2019). Despite improvement over recent years, Kenya remains 

in the lower 30% of countries globally in the ICT Development Index. 

Kenya is a reference for mobile money in the region. Mobile money has been a game changer in Kenya, 

and due to its widespread use–even in rural areas–it can now be used for many digital financial 

services. Between April and June 2021, total active registered mobile money subscriptions rose by 4.7% 

to stand at 34.7 million, which could be attributed to increased uptake of digital payments to contain 

the spread of COVID-19.  

Access to climate and weather data  



	 20	

In Kenya, weather and climate information services are communicated using different channels such 

as mass media, print media, and the Internet. A report from 2016 breaks down the most used media: 

bulletin/newspaper (52%), radio (45%), intermediaries (41%), SMS (34%), Website (21%), and interactive 

voice response (IVR-10%) (World Bank Group, 2016a). Regarding radio, the KMD works with several 

local community radio stations to disseminate climate information to smallholder farmers and other 

vulnerable communities. However, it has been found that most farmers did not find the climatic 

information received through radios and local admin useful for operational decisions. All studies point 

to the fact that there is a mismatch between information provided and user needs, as well as an inability 

to interpret weather data and translate it into decisions, leading to decreased use of the information 

(Onyango, 2014, Masieyi, et al., 2021, Cherotich, 2012). On the other hand, intermediaries include 

extension services, which are the only channel that delivers not just information on climatic hazards 

but also support services for adaptation. KALRO and the MoALF, for example, have a network of 

extension officers who receive information from KMD. However, the MoALF extension services are still 

under resourced. In some instances, KMD provides early warning and climate information specific to 

flood prone areas, such as some parts of Western Kenya. 

  

Climate services tailored to end users 

There is a need to translate weather and climate inputs into user-specific products that aid climate 

adaptation decision making. The KMD is already working in this direction and has piloted a project on 

the western part of the country (which is the most populated area) to provide localized weather 

services. The project has included capacity building of staff and improvement in the dissemination of 

information. To reach the population, weather forecasts have been integrated into other existing 

information systems (such as farm inputs or advisory supplies emails or SMS services) (KMD, 2019). 

KMD also works closely with CABI Plantwise programme to generate pest risk information which is 

used as an early warning system and measure to ensure that farmers are aware of pest prone areas.  

 

5.4  Transfer 

Digital information transfer models  

TV: “Shamba Shape Up” aims to give farmers the tools they need to improve their farms (shambas). 

Each episode focuses on one farmer and their farm, reaching around 7 million Kenyans weekly (Shamba 

Shape Up, 2021). 

Radio: It is the most popular medium and is widely used for the transfer of agricultural information. 

Farm Radio has a strong presence in the country, potentially reaching 24 million listeners. There are 

also many radio stations that disseminate climate-related information. Some examples include, Nganyi 



	 21	

RANET, Kangema RANET, Bulala RANET, Wajir Community Radio, Pamoja Radio, Baliti FM, DARAJA 

Initiative under the WISER programme, and the ACREI project in Taita Taveta, amongst other initiatives. 

 

Interactive voice response (IVR), SMS, and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) 

• Arifu is a digital content and interactive, personalized, and free learning platform. It works 

through an omnichannel chatbot, allowing both smart and feature phone users to learn via SMS, 

WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. 

• iCow is a digital platform that aims to reduce cow mortality rates and educate farmers on 

proper agricultural practices. Farmers can easily register through USSD, where they are asked 

to provide specific information about their cows. Once the farmer has provided all the needed 

information the service sends them tailored SMS’ with tips about breeding, animal nutrition, 

and milk production. The service works as a calendar for cows. There is also an app version.  

 

Digital platforms and apps: 

• Safaricom DigiFarm is Safaricom’s integrated, mobile platform of digital services for farmers. 

Accessible on a basic feature phone, it brings together multiple input and service providers 

onto one platform. Farmers can order inputs, engage in learning, access input credit, harvest 

cash loans and insurance. connect with buyers, obtain soil testing, and aggregate their 

products. 

• MyAnga offers early warning and SMS alerts for pastoralists. It also provides weather forecasts 

and advice about weather and forage conditions (CTA, 2019). 

 

Digital payments: 

• Mpesa is an electronic mobile money service that allows users to store, send, and receive 

money on their mobile phone. It is also possible to withdraw cash by visiting an agent (typically 

in a corner shop) or transfer it to others from your phone. This makes it a quick, safe, and simple 

way to make payments and handle money. The service is integrated in the SIM card from 

Safaricom, and users can access it via USSD.  

• e-voucher program rolled out by the Kenyan Cereal Enhancement Program (KCEP) supplies 

farm inputs at affordable prices. Through the e-voucher platform, farmers can open bank 

accounts and budget their resources across different e-wallets. The vouchers can be used to 

buy pre-prepared input packages of seeds, equipment, and consumables from selected 

suppliers (KNA, 2020). 



	 22	

Insurance: 

Acre Africa, although not an insurance company directly, functions as a service provider working with 

local insurers and other stakeholders to provide index insurance products, including weather, soil 

moisture, vegetation, and multi-peril coverage for crops and livestock. This is done through risk 

assessments, product development and risk monitoring. 

5.5  Use 

Driven by increasing mobile phone usage, several AgriTech companies and private sector organizations 

are spearheading digital agriculture technologies to develop and disseminate climate and information 

services to enable adaptive agriculture. Yet, many existing solutions have not achieved mainstream 

use, and a lot of farmers remain unaware of their existence and benefits. Reasons hindering adoption 

are high technology costs, low digital literacy, limited infrastructure access, and weak enabling policy 

environment (Osiemo, et al., 2021). The urban-rural gap on ICT usage is especially noticeable, and can 

be explained by the lack of infrastructure and electricity, rather than human factors such as literacy and 

income. This divide is more pronounced than the gender gap (the rural-urban gap is 69%, while the 

gender gap is 31%), and is especially noticeable when looking at Internet users. In fact, most Internet 

nonusers are women (58%) living in rural areas (84%) (Nyambura Ndung’u, Lewis, & Mothobi, 2019). 

Women also encounter other disqualifying factors. For example, they are less likely to purchase their 

own smartphone due to affordability, and they are less aware of the Internet. This makes women less 

likely to use digital agricultural apps, increasing the gender gap in agricultural productivity. A great 

opportunity to overcome this is to design services specifically for women, applying an inclusive lens. 

Another factor to consider when it comes to digital technologies is cyber security. The Communications 

Authority of Kenya reported 10.2 million cyber threats in 2018 across all sectors. Capacity building for 

developers and end-users, together with further support of the public and private sector, is essential to 

ensure further benefits to the already thriving Kenyan digital ecosystem. Initial studies done by the 

AfBD, FAO, World Bank, and CIAT to assess Kenya’s digital ecosystem and prioritization of digital 

technology uses found that some of the biggest constraints producers face include a lack of decision 

support, knowledge access, and mechanization. Therefore, investing in weather stations, data 

analytics, and machine learning offer significant promise in terms of addressing these issues. 

 

 

 

 

Table1. Summary of key issues by stage in the information value chain including indicative relevant 
stakeholders in each stage.  



	 23	

 
Stag
e 

Stakeholders  Key Challenges 
Pr

od
uc

tio
n  

 
Service providers: meteorological 
services institutes such as GPCs, 
RCCs and NMHSs, 
observers, modelers, forecasters, 
product developers, research 
institutes, climate 
science institutes, community level 
traditional forecasters  

 
• Capacity and motivation to change and 
develop new ways of working  
• Infrastructure for weather and climate data 
collection  
• Accuracy of forecasting  
• Minimal effort to obtain feedback from users; 
where feedback is sought, the process is not 
regular or systematic  
• Limited coordination across government 
ministries with NMHS and other actors  
• Complexity of forecasts vs. user  
• Limited understanding  
• Cost and limited financial resources  
• Limited coordination across government 
ministries and with NMHS, civil society and the 
private sector   

Tr
an

sl
at

e 
an

d 
tr

an
sf

er
 

 
Sectorial experts and ministerial 
departments (e.g., Agriculture, DRM, 
Water, Health, Energy), communicators 
and boundary organizations 
(e.g., Broadcast Media, ICTs, 
vernacular radio, Telecom companies, 
Agricultural Extension Officers, NGOs, 
CBOs), enablers and partners from 
government, public and private 
institutions, Non-Governmental 
Organizations (NGOs), Community-
Based Organizations (CBOs) and Faith 
or Farmer-Based Organizations 
(FBOs)   

 
• Weather & climate services 
technical expertise  
• Mainstreaming climate services into policy, 
planning, and decision making  
• Agricultural extension agencies are not 
generally involved in the preparation or 
dissemination of agrometeorological bulletins  
• Most agrometeorological bulletins target 
government agencies, NGOs, and regional and 
international organizations, only about 20% 
target farmers and the general public  

Us
e 

 
People i.e., farmers, pastoralists, 
fishermen, forest, water and natural 
resource users and managers, climate 
sensitive sector departments, relevant 
specialized institutions, planning 
officials, decision- and policymakers, 
relevant ministries and authorities, 
public and private media, NGOs, 
CBOs, small 
enterprises &organizations that 
benefit from access to and the use 
of climate information    

 
• Owning a mobile phone  
• Mobile network coverage  
• Internet coverage  
• Internet use & Affordability   
• Electricity (in rural areas)  
• Educational level/Literacy level  
• Digital literacy  
• Poor quality assurance  
• Use of mobile payments  
   



	 24	

6. Use of digital technologies in climate-smart 

agriculture 

 
This section gives a selective overview of digital services currently available to and used by many 
farmers in Kenya. In general, the development of these solutions has been driven by entrepreneurialism, 
while government interventions have focused on providing an enabling environment, including 
investments into digital infrastructure. Over recent years, Kenya has seen the emergence of digital tools 
that take advantage of the widespread mobile phone use and increased uptake of mobile money. These 
instruments formalize agricultural value chains and deliver efficiencies for agricultural stakeholders, 
including smallholder farmers, crop aggregators, crop buyers, and agribusinesses. The most common 
digital agriculture services in Kenya include advisories (24%), financial inclusion (20%), market linkages 
(18%), agriculture intelligence (16%), and supply chain management (8%) (Osiemo et al, 2021). A 2019 
report by the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA) subdivides digital agriculture tools 
available in Kenya into three categories: market linkage tools, direct-to-farmer hubs, and last-mile digital 
tools.  Market linkage tools allow crop producers and buyers to connect through mobile-based online 
platforms, such as Twiga Foods. Direct-to-farmer hubs are centralized online, mobile-based hubs that 
offer a range of agricultural information, inputs, and loans. The hubs provide platforms through which 
third-party agricultural service providers can offer services directly to farmers, while buyers can place 
orders to farmers. An example of a direct-to-farmer hub is DigiFarm for Consumer, an integrated mobile 
platform that offers farmers “one-stop” access to services such as discounted inputs, advice on input 
use, crops and animal information, and financing. Last-mile digital tools provide solutions that digitize 
transactions (procurement, payment, receipts) and streamline communication. They additionally create 
digital profiles for farmers and enable track-and-trace. An example of this is Virtual City.  
 
Some of the main services are listed below to exemplify existing efforts to apply digital climate-smart 
agriculture technologies to adapt to adverse climate impacts and ensure food security.   
 
WeFarm is an SMS-based, free-of-charge platform where over 2.4 million farmers worldwide connect 
to solve problems, share ideas, and spread innovation. WeFarm aims to keep the service for farmers 
free of charge while relying on crowsourced funding and bringing in revenue through their marketplace 
and by selling data about found agricultural trends. WeFarm’s service employs the latest machine 
learning technology to provide tailored, crowd-sourced information to help farmers increase yields, gain 
insight into pricing, tackle the effects of climate change, source the best quality of seeds, fertilizers, 
and loans, and diversify their agricultural interests.  
 
iShamba is a call center for farmers and send localized weather information weekly to almost half a 
million farmers. Users can SMS their questions or call and speak to an expert for instant help. 
Agricultural experts oversee requests. Once farmers have signed up, they also receive agri-tips on crop 
and livestock, market prices, and weather updates. 
 
myAnga is an agri-weather information app created for pastoralists that provides them access to 
accurate weather data, allowing them to enhance their response to harsh weather conditions and 
climate variability. The app provides daily weather observations from the past seven days, daily weather 
forecasts for the next seven days, rainfall distribution over the past 30 days, expected moisture 
conditions, and expected drought conditions. They currently have a reach of 500 herders in two 
counties, but aims to reach more than 300.000 pastoralists in Kenya over the next five years. 
 
 



	 25	

Acre Africa is a service provider linking over 1 million farmers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda with 
local insurers, facilitating investment in their farms. The offered products vary from crop, livestock, and 
index insurance to shield farmers against unpredictable weather conditions. The ACRE Africa team 
undertakes risk assessment, product development and risk monitoring to facilitate smallholder access 
to crop and livestock insurance products. With customized agriculture microinsurance products, 
farmers can confidently invest in quality inputs, increase productivity, and access agricultural loans. In 
addition, the team has developed insurance products to cover a variety of crops against weather risks 
like drought, storms, flood and erratic rains, as well as other production risks. 
 
Apollo Agriculture, serving over 40,000 farmers since inception, bundles everything a farmer needs: 
financing, farm inputs, advice, insurance, and market access when possible. The company builds credit 
profiles for its small-scale farmers using machine learning models. It does so by verifying the identity 
of farmers and taking satellite coordinates of their fields. The obtained data is then used to build 
automated digital processes for each step in a farmer’s lifecycle—from customer acquisition to training 
to collecting payments. These data collection and analysis procedures and credit building processes 
guide the company in making scalable lending and credit decisions for farmers. Additionally, the 
company helps them access increasing levels of their investment over time. 
  
Kuza Biashara serving over 3,500 agri-entrepreneurs and 500,000 farmers is a mobile micro-learning 
platform offering youth, women, and micro-entrepreneurs from informal communities the opportunity 
to learn, connect, and grow on their terms and convenience.  The platform includes packages on digital 
extension.  
 
National Livestock Market Information System (NLMIS) provides livestock market price and volume 
information on a near real-time basis using mobile technology across Kenya. The system works by 
collecting price and volume data from designated markets and conveying it to the NLMIS server in 
Nairobi using SMS-enabled cell phones and a data coding system. This data is then available to all 
interested parties via SMS query, on the server, or through the Internet portal. The information assists 
pastoralists and other stakeholders in critical risk management decision-making and market linkages. 
 
There are also several digital technologies and/or platforms where there might not be a direct 
connection to climate adaptation, but are still worth highlighting as these technologies when bundled 
with other services can serve as climate adaptation technologies in agriculture. For example, 
integrating climate information services or advisories climate smart agriculture with the highlighted 
technologies below can enhance the impact of these services separately for adaptation purposes.  
 
DigiFarm is a free mobile-based platform offered by Safaricom to over 1.3 million registered 
smallholder farmers. It offers them a marketplace to access products and services from financial 
institutions, agro-input providers, and other value-added services. The service is accessible through 
USSD, and once the user has registered, it allows them to access loans through their M-Pesa account 
and discounted inputs from selected depots. Users also have access to learning content.  
 
iProcure is an agricultural supply chain platform. It connects product suppliers and retailers, providing 
procurement, distribution services, business intelligence, and data-driven stock management across 
supply chains. Through this model, product suppliers can benefit from the retailers' network and reach 
the remotest locations.  
 
Twiga Foods is a mobile-based supply platform for Africa's retail outlets, kiosks, and market stalls. It 
provides a business-to-business supply platform to access distribution into the millions of small and 
medium-sized vendors in African urban markets. The platform connects farmers to vendors, reducing 
the number of intermediary steps, lowering the product’s final price, and increasing the farmers’ 



	 26	

income. The platform claims that over 100,000 customers use its services across Kenya while 
delivering more than 600 metric tons of produce to 10,000+ retailers daily. 
 
Hello Tractor tackles the lack of mechanization, connecting tractor owners with smallholder farmers. 
The start-up provides Internet-of-Things-enabled (IoT) digital solutions that allow farmers to optimize 
their productivity. It is the largest marketplace for agricultural equipment in Africa. To date, Hello 
Tractor has mechanized over 500,000 farmers in 15 countries and has more than 3,000 tractors on its 
marketplace. The company can also provide a pre-screened pipeline of borrowers in need of asset 
financing, accompanied by the assurance that financed tractors are pre-booked on its marketplace and 
able to earn revenue to pay-off financing. 
 
Virtual City is a solutions provider specialized in developing and deploying mobile-based retail and 
financial solutions for agribusinesses. Their work revolves around supply automation, mainly across 
tea, coffee, dairy, horticulture, and grain verticals, aiming to create efficiency, visibility, and transparency 
for all key stakeholders. They provide digital tools that accelerate financial inclusion for farmers and 
de-risk investment decisions for financial service providers. An example of one of their solutions is an 
electronic weigh-scale that, combined with a device connected to the Internet, allows to keep track of 
the products that farmers bring to their cooperatives for accurate payments.  
 
 
 
 



	 27	

7. Assessment of the potential of digital technologies 

for adaptation  

 

On November 30th, 2021, a national stakeholder consultation workshop was held in Nairobi to assess, 
validate, and prioritize a potential long list of digital adaptation technologies identified through a 
comprehensive literature review. Several key stakeholders from a range of sectors participated in the 
workshop. These included public, private, local, and international research centers, as well as academia, 
NGOs, and international development partners. The workshop provided an opportunity to assess and 
validate the current viability and future potential of key digital adaptation technologies appropriate for 
Kenya’s national context. The long list digital adaptation technologies were subdivided into nine digital 
service categories (Porciello et al., 2021): digital financial services, water and irrigation, livestock 
knowledge and information, weather and climate, value chain management, extension and pest 
management, general agronomy and community supported agriculture (CSA), seed and fertilizer, and 
precision agronomy and soils. Existing and potential new digital adaptation technologies were 
assessed and validated through a stakeholder lens based on practical experience and knowledge in 
designing, adopting, and scaling digital adaptation technologies in the agricultural sector. 

A digital technologies for adaptation support readiness index was developed to inform digital 
adaptation priorities using the Progress, Policy, Potential, Efficiency, Equity, and Environment 
(PPP/EEE) method to shortlist the digital adaptation technologies based on their respective service 
category. Based on this, stakeholders scored the shortlisted digital services according to a set of 
criteria. These included existing digital infrastructure, current technology maturity, ICT policies, 
economic prospects, technology drivers, adoption barriers, effects on equality and the environment, 
and future impacts of the respective tools. The results are depicted in a heatmap in figure 2.  

The PPP/EEE analysis results indicated that several digital adaptation technologies are already in 
small-scale adoption stages, except for digital finance services and water and irrigation, which are 
already in the scaling-up stage. Precision agronomy, seeds, and fertilizers stand behind the rest of 
digital services as these are still in the research and development phase. The current uptake is low for 
most technologies, reaching only 0-40% of the targeted users. As a result, profitability is also low. This 
is because the existing ecosystem offers a wide range of services, while simultaneously being highly 
fragmented—which can be very confusing for farmers. Additionally, a lack of focus on developing 
sustainable business models and user readiness for technology design led to lower uptake and 
profitability.  

An enabling environment with supportive policies and programs is being created for most digital 
adaptation services, especially for general agronomy and CSA practices. However, there is still room 
for improvement, most notably for policies concerning weather and climate, seeds and fertilizer, and 
precision agronomy and soils technologies. There is also room for direct and indirect government 
support for all categories. Some examples are indirect programs that focus on overcoming barriers 
related to smartphone access, data sharing, and digital literacy while providing actionable information 
to users and developing frameworks for transparent and safe data sharing. 

Most categories are seeing some degree of investment. However, in most cases, this is not enough to 
ensure the successful and widespread use of these technologies, except for digital adaptation services 
under the category of water and irrigation.  At the same time, the expected ten-year return on investment 
for each digital adaptation service is moderate to high, except for seed and fertilizer and precision 
agronomy and soils. The adaptation technologies with the highest expected profitability are digital 



	 28	

financial services, water and irrigation, extension and pest management, and general agronomy and 
CSA. This shows that the expected return on investment would not happen without substantially 
increasing current investments, and there would be a gap due to the loss of profits on both sides of the 
demand and supply chain.   

The efficiency, equity, and environmental outcomes are especially favorable for solutions in the areas 
of water and irrigation, and weather and climate. Nevertheless, it is expected that all digital adaptation 
technologies will increase the efficiency of farmers and pastoralists by reducing labor and promoting 
the efficient use of input and resources. All technologies have received a favorable score in terms of 
equity due to their high potential to increase fairness while aligning with different demographics, 
gender, and agro-ecological contexts. However, the livestock knowledge and information and value 
chain management categories have scored low. To overcome the associated potential shortcomings, 
implementers must pay particular attention to them. For example, reaching small-scale (nomadic) 
pastoralists is not as straightforward and profitable as reaching larger-scale livestock producers that 
use digital technologies. This could considerably increase the gap between the two, and interventions 
must ensure that digital adaptation technologies will also serve small-scale producers to enhance 
equity. Moreover, most of these technologies’ categories are also expected to positively impact the 
environment and natural resources. Still, digital financial services, seeds and fertilizers, and precision 
agronomy and soils could have a negative impact if not managed with the appropriate knowledge. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 2: PPP Assessment of Digital Adaptation Technologies per Service Category  



	 29	

 

8. Enabling digital for adaptation of agriculture 

 
The digital transformation of Kenya’s agricultural sector provides farmers and pastoralists with new 
ways to understand, manage, and transform their practices and activities. This becomes crucial in light 
of climate change.  Over the past decades, there has been significant progress in the digital 
transformation of Kenya. The government has backed this transition, creating an enabling environment 
that promotes the provision and use of ICT services, including several supportive laws, strategies, and 
policies that promote digital, innovative solutions.  As a result, Kenya ranks high in the Global 
Innovations Index (GII), and it is the third most innovative country in Africa (GSMA, 2018), featuring one 
of Africa’s most advanced digital ecosystems (World Bank, 2017). Nevertheless, the benefits of this 
recent development are not distributed equally, and women and minority groups still face multiple 
challenges in terms of digital accessibility. This section will address several enabling factors and 
critical barriers that need to be tackled to ensure greater use of digital adaptation services. 
 
 
 

8.1  Key enablers of digital solutions for adaptation in Kenya  

Digital infrastructure  

ICT infrastructure plays a crucial role in catalyzing and supporting digital technologies for adaptation 
in agriculture. The growing network coverage and the increased quality of mobile data are key enablers. 
At a continental scale, Kenya’s digital infrastructure is relatively well-developed. Over the last two 
decades, the Kenyan government has invested in fiber-optic cables and broadband network stations, 
leading to significant improvements in digital service availability, including in rural areas. Multiple 
undersea cable providers serve Kenya’s high-speed Internet connectivity. These include the East 
African Submarine Cable System (EASSy), The East African Marine System (TEAMS), the Lower Indian 
Ocean Network 2 (Lion II), and Seacom cables. Five major mobile network providers compete on the 
Kenyan market, which Safaricom and Airtel currently dominate. This has led to an overall satisfaction 
rate of 96 % for Kenyans using a third-generation (3G) network and more than half of the adult 
population owning a mobile SIM subscription (GSMA Mobile Connectivity Index, online). Currently, there 
are about 33 million feature phones and 26 million smartphones subscribed (CA, 2021). These 
promising statistics are partially aided by public efforts towards rural electrification, which currently 
covers a minimum of 62 % of the rural population—the highest rate in the Horn of Africa region (World 
Bank, 2022). However, network connectivity remains scanty in many rural areas despite general 
network availability. Moreover, with an average of USD 2.25/GB, the cost of mobile data is relatively 
high in Kenya, reducing the affordability of digital services that require Internet access (cable.co.uk, 
2021). Policy interventions that lower the cost of data packages, such as public subsidies, could help 
make digital adaptation solutions more inclusive. 

 
Sectorial policies and strategies 

National policies and government strategies provide an enabling environment for digital adaptation 
technologies, including a robust institutional and legal framework supporting the growth of the 
agricultural sector. For instance, the Data Protection Act (2019) and the Agricultural Sector 
Transformation and Growth Strategy (ASTGS, 2019) provide regulatory guidelines for digital initiatives. 



	 30	

The Data Protection Act, which has been primarily modeled on the European General Data Protection 
Regulation, ratifies a right already present in the Kenyan constitution: the right to privacy. The legislation 
focuses on protecting users’ right to privacy and data security concerning the processing of personal 
data on a national or transnational level. In the ASTGS, the government has committed to “establish[ing] 
a digitally enabled extension program led by ~3,000 county-based youth extension agents” with the aim 
of “supplement[ing] the current estimated workforce of 4,000-4,500 extension officers.” The ASTGS 
also foresees strong cooperation with private companies and NGOs in the field of digitally enabled 
agricultural extension and encourages the use of digital decision-support tools that have been proven 
to work outside of Kenya, such as the ‘Rice Doctor3.’ 

The liberalization of the policy framework around digital communication has attracted many players to 
join the industry. In 2008, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) introduced the Unified Licensing 
Framework (ULF) based on unified technology neutrality licensing. The ULF permits any form of 
communications infrastructure to be used to provide any type of communications service that an 
operator or service provider is capable of offering. This regulation effectively abolished multiple 
licensing regimes where services were grouped based on technology. ULF also simplifies licensing 
procedures, new application development, internet penetration, and infrastructure investment. As a 
result, there has been an increase in infrastructural development and entrepreneurial activity, partly 
driven by international companies. 

Yet, while the sector’s strategies and policies articulate the government’s position on digital 
technologies for adaptation, specific laws and regulations regarding digital agriculture have also been 
introduced in recent years. In addition to the Kenya Information and Communication Act (2008), the 
National ICT policy (2016) is the primary policy document that defines the agricultural sector’s digital 
development environment. However, outstanding concerns around third-party liability and appropriate 
consent from farmers and other primary data providers are yet to be addressed. 

In 2010, the Kenyan government released multiple regulations to govern the ICT sector. Among these, 
the Fair Competition and Equality of Treatment Regulations promote competition, equal treatment, and 
protection against abuse of market powers or other anti-competitive practices essential to developing 
a vibrant digital technologies for adaptation sector. In addition, universal access and service regulation 
seek to provide a regulatory framework for achieving equitable access to digital services in Kenya. 
Established in 2010 and governed by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), the ‘Universal 
Access Fund’ collects a mandatory fee of 1% gross revenue from all commercial communications 
licensees operating in Kenya. In accordance with the ULF Framework, the fund aims to support 
widespread access to quality ICT services through targeted investments into infrastructure, innovative 
service development, and capacity-building projects. 

Proliferation of ICT-based initiatives  

Nairobi is a major hub for providers of digital adaptation solutions across sub-Saharan Africa, including 
both established players and many start-ups. Farmers in Kenya have many established digital services 
at their disposal. The Digital Agri Hub currently lists 67 functional solutions in Kenya, which is more 
than in any other country worldwide, and GSMA listed 95 solutions in the agricultural sector (GSMA, 
2020). In addition to providing a favorable policy environment, the Kenyan government has co-invested 
into multiple tech hubs such as iHub and NaiLab in Nairobi, where start-ups can work and connect with 
investors and partners (World Bank, 2016b). A relatively well-developed infrastructure and mobile 
phone penetration in farming communities, along with a pool of trained IT talent, have led to many 
initiatives focused on developing and piloting new services in collaboration with Kenyan farmers. While 
many of these initiatives offer real benefits for their users, public efforts in coordinating different 
solutions are limited—for example, regarding content clearance for coherent messaging at farmers. To 

	
3	http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/decision-tools/rice-doctor	



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date, there are no official certification schemes that would allow public staff—including extension 
officers—to promote the uptake of certain digital services by farmers. The Kenyan government’s 
supportive yet hands-off approach to private sector-driven innovation has yielded the establishment of 
many promising digital adaptation services. However, many small start-ups struggle to move from the 
application development stage to full-fledged businesses.  Currently, scaling the most promising 
projects depends on garnering public support and reaching out to marginal communities. This could 
happen through direct credit provision, tax exemptions, subsidies, or public-private partnerships 
between start-ups working on digital climate smart solutions and public offices like KALRO. Together 
with the World Bank, the Kenyan government is already improving this situation through the One Million 
Farmer Platform. The platform aims to bring innovations to scale and connect them to different 
counties. These types of initiatives can be combined with a farmer registry, which would facilitate all 
registered farmers to access a comprehensive set of governmental services, including vouchers, 
insurances, and advice.  

 

8.2  Key barriers for digital adaptation solutions in Kenya 

 
Gendered access to digital technology 

Overall, Kenya’s rural population is relatively well covered by digital infrastructure and end-user devices, 
including smartphones. However, women are currently less likely to benefit from digital adaptation 
solutions. Mobile phone ownership is lower among women than men (figures vary by source but lie 
between 5 and 20 %). Women are also more likely to own a feature phone rather than an internet-
enabled phone or smartphone, meaning that the divide in accessing advanced digital solutions is 
greater than the divide in mobile connectivity (Alozie & Akpang-Obong, 2017; GSMA, 2019; Osiemo et 
al., 2021; USAID, 2021b). In addition, gender gaps in schooling, literacy, and numeracy make it harder 
for women farmers to access, understand, and use the information provided in digital adaptation 
solutions, especially if these solutions are text-based and use English rather than a local language. 
Furthermore, women are more risk-averse to technology use than men, and less likely to trust digital 
information systems (Stumpf et al., 2020). On average, learning styles also differ between genders, 
where women are usually more systematic in learning how to use new tools, while men have a stronger 
preference for tinkering—i.e., learning-by-doing (Stumpf et al., 2020). This has implications for the 
design of digital adaptation solutions, as decisions on user experience or content design can affect the 
engagement of women and men differently. Human-centered design (HCD) processes for new digital 
adaptation solutions can help to ensure that digital services fit women’s digital capacities, abilities, and 
preferences. In HCD, digital developers actively engage a diverse range of farmers—especially women 
and marginalized social groups—in defining the features of the digital adaptation solution (Müller et al., 
2022; Steinke et al., 2022). Kenyan authorities such as CA or KALRO can mainstream gender 
considerations in licensing, investors can emphasize the need for gender balance among users, and 
publicly supported hubs and start-up programs (e.g., Startup Savanna, startupsavanna.com) could offer 
methodological support in implementing successful HCD processes. 

Gaps in awareness and digital literacy 

Because the agricultural extension sector in Kenya is highly fragmented and privatized, no centrally 
controlled organization reaches out to farmers. In addition, the strong cultural and biophysical diversity 
makes it challenging for digital initiatives— particularly small start-ups—to create awareness among 
farmers and scale their user base. As a result, farmers in Kenya now have numerous digital solutions 
at their disposal but are insufficiently aware of potentially useful digital adaptation options. Low levels 
of digital literacy among the farming population reinforce this problem (Osiemo et al., 2021; Coggins et 



	 32	

al., 2022). While many farmers are familiar with making phone calls, using WhatsApp, and navigating 
Facebook, the wider Internet and other mobile apps are much less common among the rural population. 

Limited “service discoverability” has been identified as a key barrier to Kenyan farmers’ adoption of 
digital solutions (Kieti et al., 2022). More centralized coordination—for example, by CA—and public 
support in the promotion of prioritized services may help. However, Kenya still lacks an easily 
accessible, central platform or database that can provide interested farmers with an overview of 
functional digital adaptation options. A quality-certified, continuously maintained, one-stop digital 
marketplace where farmers can identify and try out digital adaptation solutions could simultaneously 
address low trust and low awareness issues. It has been suggested that public or private investments 
into building and maintaining an inclusive, user-friendly “aggregator platform for digital services in 
agriculture” would pay off via increased uptake of digital solutions by farmers (Kieti et al., 2021). An 
aggregator platform could be implemented as a website, app, or an IVR- or USSD-based 
recommendation (and registration) system. However, setting up this system will require significant 
collaboration from the diverse private and public sector stakeholders in the digital technologies for 
adaptation space. 

 
 
 



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9. Recommendations 

9.1 Enhancing the enabling environment 

 
By now, numerous private sector initiatives have successfully demonstrated both technical feasibility 
and the existence of farmer demand for diverse digital adaptation solutions. This includes various agro-
advisory, marketing and procurement, and machinery rental services, that either directly or indirectly 
(as a partner company) bring adaptation practices to producers and other stakeholders. While services 
such as Twiga Foods, WeFarm, or Hello Tractor have already gained large user bases across the 
country, many other initiatives remain operative at a small scale and will struggle to become financially 
sustainable without donor or government support. Kenya can now reap the benefits of providing a 
stimulating environment start-ups working on digital technologies for adaptation and should identify 
the most promising digital services that align with user needs and government and donor agendas in 
agricultural development. Market dynamics and venture capital drive current digital development in 
Kenya. Therefore, poor smallholder farmers' uptake of these digital tools will continue to be slow 
without interventions from government or non-profit organizations programs, as they are not the main 
target group of these commercial initiatives. The AfDB and GCA program AAAP’s pillar 
ClimSmartDigitAg is a key example of such a program that aims to mainstream the use of digital 
climate smart technologies. Another example is that through public calls for tenders, Kenyan 
authorities and their partners may now identify priority solutions to support their scaling through 
public-private partnerships. Consultations among CA, KALRO, the Ministry of Agriculture, and county 
governments will help define which extant digital technologies for adaptation providers best suit the 
development goals. Public-private partnerships around digital technologies for adaptation could then 
take multiple forms, including direct commissioning of services by the Ministry of Agriculture—which 
is subject to robust evaluation of impacts on farmers’ livelihoods—or providing privileges, such as 
subsidies, tax exemptions, or free access to meteorological or agronomic data held by KMD or KALRO. 
The ultimate goal of these partnerships is to enable promising digital solutions for adaptation to grow 
their user bases, become financially sustainable through business models, and increase their impacts 
on the Kenyan farming sector. 

Kenya’s agricultural sector provides multiple public goods, including food, employment, and landscape 
management. Given the sector’s vulnerability to upcoming climate change, investments by the Kenyan 
government and international donors into digital technologies for adaptation seem warranted but can 
be unreliable. Digital adaptation strategies should prioritize self-sustaining business models in the 
interest of a permanent, sustainable transformation. With growing numbers of users, many digital 
solutions for adaptation can offer their services at minimal costs per user. ‘Freemium’ schemes are 
also feasible. Here, subsistence farmers are provided with free services (or at a symbolic cost), while 
funds are drawn from commercial users such as larger farms or other value chain actors. Developing 
farmer registries across individual services with government-verified farmer data will be helpful to 
design fair pricing schemes. 

The fragmentation of the existing digital solutions for adaptation sector and a lack of coordination and 
cooperation among its stakeholders currently create barriers to successful, large-scale digital 
adaptation solutions. In addition, the fragmentation causes transaction costs and creates confusion 
among potential users. A more centralized, hands-on approach might enable farmers to efficiently 
identify trustworthy solutions that meet their needs. One recommendation is creating an overview 
platform that allows farmers, extension officers, and other stakeholders involved in agricultural value 
chains to identify suitable digital services. An essential quality criterion will be official accreditation 
and continuous quality control by public authorities or national research organizations. This should 



	 34	

ensure consistency and complementarity in the information and advice provided across different digital 
adaptation services.  

Eventually, the fragmentation of digital adaptation solutions and resulting transaction costs can be 
reduced by promoting vertical integration and bundling of services along and across value chains. 
Rather than engaging with multiple digital services—each with a unique user interface—farmers should 
eventually be able to access a wide variety of services such as personal credit, input procurement, 
climate information, agro-advice, and output marketing within a single bundled ‘master’ service. Such 
integration will likely require significant efforts by public institutions (i.e., facilitation, financial 
incentives). Establishing a dedicated government body in charge of governing and promoting digital 
technologies for adaptation might help. Such an organization could be staffed by CA, the Ministry of 
Agriculture, or both and would need a clear political mandate to be accepted by other industry 
stakeholders as a driving agent of digital adaptation solutions in Kenya. It should operate within a clear 
legal framework and ensure innovation, quality, compliance, and accountability within the sector. 

Despite an overall positive trend in the past, resource-poor farmers in Kenya continue to be 
disproportionately underserved by electricity and mobile data network. The digital divide between urban 
and rural areas, men and women, and large and small farms persists across most of the country. 
Directing public or private investments into last-mile connectivity will be a major priority for enabling 
inclusive digital development. Past experiences have shown that the growing availability of high-quality 
mobile networks can stimulate farmers, including women, to invest in internet-enabled devices that run 
digital adaptation services. However, the relatively high costs of mobile data have been another factor 
discouraging farmers from using existing digital adaptation solutions. Since access to data can now 
be considered a vital input to modern farming, policymakers may consider policy action to lower 
consumer prices for mobile data. Worldwide, mobile data is particularly cheap where market 
competition is strong and government regulation of the telecommunications sector is weak. Market 
competition among mobile service providers could be governed by more selective licensing. Digital 
literacy programs—for example, in public schools—could also help strengthen demand for and future 
use of digital adaptation solutions. As the general population becomes more aware of data privacy 
concerns, ensuring that sound policies are in place will protect producers and maintain trust in digital 
tools for adaptation in the future.  
 

9.2 Recommendations by solution space 

In addition to the recommendations around an enabling environment in the previous section, table 2 
depicts specific recommendations by solution space. These solution spaces were determined through 
the stakeholder consultation workshop as discussed in chapter 6. The recommendations listed below 
are the result of a combination of the literature review and the stakeholder consultation process. It is 
important to note that although these recommendations take both the supply and demand side into 
account, further fine-tuning of these digital technologies needs to be done in close consultation with 
the end-users. This should be an ongoing process to ensure that the digital technologies grow with the 
needs and skills end users have.  
 
The recommendations in table 2 are around both the technical and the implementation side of digital 
technologies, and together can be seen as a package for their solution space. In some cases these can 
be implemented successively, but in most cases are important to be implemented as parallel 
processes. There are many technological overlaps between the different solution spaces and individual 
solutions. As capacity increases in one area, this will likely result in increased capacity in support of 
other solutions and solution spaces. Although these recommendations take both the supply and 
demand side into account, further fine-tuning of these digital technologies needs to be done in close 
consultation with the end-users. This should be an ongoing process to ensure that the digital 



	 35	

technologies grow with the needs and skills of end-users. Table 2 also links these recomendations with 
the Climate Smart Digital Technologies for Agriculture and Food Security pillar in the GCA and AfDB 
Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program. Finally, important ideas and considerations are listed under 
the column 'Actionable Insights’. 
 
 
  



	 36	

Solution

Space

link to the

AAAP program
Reccomendations actionable insights

W
ea

th
er

 &
 C

lim
at

e

Further system and capacity development
in working with real-time early warning systems
based on satellite data for floods, drought, and
pests, in partnerships with international (science)
organizations.

Development and continuous upgrading of the
back-end and front-end system for real-time
early warnings.   

Improvement of digital information services,
including hazard mapping and short-term
seasonal forecasts.

Promoting the use and understanding of
early warning systems amongst the producers
and pastoralist communities through community
outreach and training programs.

Many of the capacities and technical
systems associated with these
recommendations are already established
in national programs, but can further
benefit from partnerships with
international research centers and
universities.

Early warning systems should be coupled
with advice on how to prepare for the
imminent hazard and should be
presented to users in their local
languages in order to maximize uptake.

Multi-pronged strategies are required to
reach the broadest possible user base,
including focus on improving digital
literacy, increased access to technology,
and multi-channel information flows (e.g.,
radio, text messages, infomediaries),
especially targeting women producers
and minority groups.

Climate 
services

Climate 
services

Digital
upskilling

Climate smart
agriculture

Development of forecasting models for
watershed management and soil