Adoption Determinants of Sustainable Climate Adaptive Strategies in Arid and Semi-Arid Agro-Ecozones of Kenya: Smallholder Maize Farmers’ Perspectives

Abstract

Ensuring household food security through climate resilient and sustainable crop production continues to be a central challenge for rural farming households in Kenya. Therefore, the adoption of adaptation strategies to a changing climate is crucial in maize-growing regions. A multivariate probit model was deployed to understand determinants of the adoption of climate adaptation strategies and drought-tolerant maize varieties among 819 smallholder farmers in arid and semi-arid areas. The survey was conducted in four major maize-growing counties in Kenya. Results show that most climate change adaptation strategies implemented by maize-dependent smallholders are complementary. Multivariate logistic coefficients showed a significant inverse relationship between marital status and the adoption of soil and water conservation strategy in Machakos (−2.321; p = 0.01). Secondary education was significantly associated with the adoption of water harvesting in Machakos (2.538; p = 0.001), while it was associated with soil and water conservation in Homa Bay (2.208; p = 0.0001) and Migori (1.538; p = 0.01), respectively. Unemployment was positively (21.726; p = 0.01) linked with the adoption of water harvesting in Machakos, with the probability of a farmer adopting water harvesting strategies in Machakos (1.460; p = 0.01). Remarkably, soil and water conservation strategies in Machakos (1.807; p = 0.001) and Migori (2.458; p = 0.0001) positively correlated with food insecurity. Incidentally, only farmers in Migori County had a significant (1.024; p = 0.01) likelihood of adopting drought-tolerant maize varieties with increasing land size. In the same county, the source of maize variety was positively associated with the adoption of drought-tolerant varieties. There is a need to promote policies like informal and formal education and awareness creation to enhance smallholder farmers’ capacity to adopt multiple sustainable climate-smart adaptation strategies that can promote the continued adoption of drought-tolerant maize varieties.