Kwale: As climate change takes its toll on agriculture, small-scale farmers in Kwale are embracing climate-smart agriculture to mitigate climate-induced agriculture disruptions. Local farmers are adopting smart agriculture practices to mitigate the impacts of climate change aiming to enhance agricultural productivity, improve resilience, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
According to Kenya News Agency, climate-smart agriculture is an integrated approach to managing landscapes such as cropland, livestock, forests, and fisheries that address the challenges of food insecurity and climate change. Environmentalists blame extreme heatwaves, heavy downpours, and flooding that affect infrastructure, health, agriculture, forestry, transportation, air, and water quality on climate change.
A transformative smart agriculture is slowly gaining prominence in the coastal county with the help of the Global Evergreening Alliance’s Restore Africa Programme, World Vision, Restore Africa, Self Help Africa, Just Dig It, and Africa Harvest among others. The implementation of the Restore Africa Programme (RESAf), the world’s largest farmer-led, nature-based restoration initiative, is spearheaded in Kenya by World Vision and a consortium of development partners.
The restoration initiative seeks to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and farmers’ income, adapt and build resilience to climate change, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Elizabeth Nyagoha, Natural Resource Management Coordinator, World Vision says the conservation programme is working closely with farmers in Kwale, Elgeyo Marakwet, Kilifi, Migori, and Narok counties.
The initiative seeks to reduce overreliance on rainfed agriculture and promote sustainable farming practices such as organic farming and agroforestry to enhance soil health and reduce reliance on chemical inputs. With the help of World Vision and the consortium of development partners, small-scale farmers are emerging as active agents of change rather than passive victims of climate change.
Nyagoha says the programme aims to restore over 250,000 hectares of degraded land and improve the livelihoods of more than 250,000 small-scale farming and pastoral households. The World Vision official says the agriculture programme is empowering smallholder farmers to adapt to climate change, increase their disposable incomes, and produce nutritious food for their communities.
She says the project while bolstering farm productivity and sustainability is also playing a crucial role in supporting biodiversity and facilitating carbon sequestration. “The partnership between the development partners and the local farmers aims to enhance availability, accessibility, and quality of food while building resilience to climate change,” she said.
She says the consortium of development partners has stepped in with robust mitigation measures to ensure food and nutrition security for the communities by empowering farmers who are vulnerable to climate-related shocks. Nyagoha says the restore Africa programme is helping communities tackle the adverse effects of climate change by encouraging the natural regrowth of trees from existing stumps, contributing to both environmental restoration and sustainable livelihoods.
“We are also issuing them with seeds of indigenous trees, fruit trees, and exotic trees to help the communities restore their degraded land,” she said. She says climate change poses huge challenges such as erratic rainfall and extreme weather events threatening the livelihoods of farmers and jeopardizing food security.
“Climate-induced extreme weather like prolonged drought, flooding, and storms is affecting small-scale and subsistence farmers who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods,” she said, adding that climate-smart agriculture will help in poverty reduction and food security. Nyagoha says smart farming agriculture is the cornerstone of the restoration programme and is redefining farming amidst the challenges of climate change.
She says smart farming agriculture represents a radical shift from traditional agriculture to a more holistic environmentally sustainable and resilient approach. “By integrating innovative farming techniques, the conservation programme aims to boost crop yields and enhance soil health,” she said, adding that agroforestry not only helps mitigate climate change but also provides additional sources of income for farmers through the sustainable harvesting of timber, fruits, and other forest products.
She said a pivotal aspect of the restoration programme is the incorporation of agroforestry which merges agriculture and forestry practices bolstering farm productivity and sustainability. “Agriculture and agroforestry practices ensure a balance between cultivation and environmental conservation offering a suitable land use that benefits both the farmers and the ecosystem,” she said.
Perkins Omondi, World Vision Carbon Coordinator says as farmers face the growing challenges of climate change and environmental degradation the need to embrace smart agriculture is more urgent than ever. Omondi says climate-smart agriculture is emerging as a crucial approach to ensure sustainable agricultural growth and food security in Africa which is disproportionately impacted by climate change.
He stressed that the collaborations between the consortium of development partners and the farmers are key to promoting climate resilience, raising awareness, and ensuring sustainable change. Omondi who is an environmental, social, and governance expert noted that the impact of climate change is enormous and called on farmers to plant trees since it will go a long way in reducing the amount of carbon that is in the environment.
He asked journalists to continue highlighting the interconnectedness of climate change, biodiversity, and conservation. Omondi says climate-smart agriculture encompasses farming practices such as agroforestry systems and drought-tolerant crop varieties and techniques like crop diversification, conservation farming, crop rotation, and intercropping.
John Mutuku, one of the lead farmers under World Vision’s Green Farm Project termed the integrated approaches to agriculture as a “beacon of hope” that benefits the farmers, consumers, and the planet. Mutuku who has been in farming for over 30 years says the greening project is also empowering local farmers with the skills needed to implement and promote natural regeneration within their communities.
“We are embracing climate adaptation strategies including crop diversification and promotion of climate-resilient crop varieties,” he said. The farmer says the adaptation involves adjusting farming practices to changing environmental conditions while mitigation works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere and enhance carbon capture.
Befronia Kingethu a local crop farmer in Lungalunga sub-county, says the restoration efforts are paving the way for sustainable, climate-resilient agricultural practices and a prosperous future for local farmers. She says by integrating trees into agricultural landscapes local farmers can benefit from improved soil fertility, increased water retention, and enhanced food production.