Uptake of climate-smart agricultural practices among smallholder sorghum farmers in Busia County, Kenya

With global climatic shifts and increase in greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, agriculture is a contributor, but it is largely affected by the effects, particularly affecting the smallholder farmers. Climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices provide the best solution for adapting to climate change and variability. Moreover, some CSA practices act as carbon sinks, thereby helping reduce GHG build-up in the atmosphere. These practices may include conservation agriculture, agroforestry, water conservation, use of tolerant varieties and breeds, as well as the use of risk insurance. Despite the highlighted benefits, the uptake of CSA practices among smallholder sorghum farmers in Busia county is still low. From the foregoing, this study sought to evaluate factors affecting the level of uptake of CSA practices among smallholder sorghum farmers in Busia County. With the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire, primary data were collected from 423 smallholder sorghum farmers selected through multistage sampling technique. Data were analysed using the standard Poisson regression model. The average number of CSA practices adopted by sorghum farmers in the past one year was two, with a minimum of zero and a maximum of thirteen. Age of the farmer, farming experience, ownership and the proportion of land under farming, access to credit, frequency of receiving agrometeorological information, trust in the information, number of farmers' trainings attended, and exposure to climate shocks, significantly influenced CSA practices uptake level. Findings give insights on provision of agrometeorological information and trainings as possible ways to encourage the uptake of CSA practices at the small farm level.

Automated summary

With global climatic shifts and increase in greenhouse gases emissions, agriculture is largely affected, especially smallholder farmers. Climate-smart agricultural practices offer a solution to adapt to climate change and act as carbon sinks. However, the uptake of these practices among smallholder sorghum farmers in Busia County is still low.