Ndwiga, Olive Wanjiru
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COMMUNICATION FACTORS INFLUENCING SMALLHOLDER FARMERS' ADOPTION OF CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION MEASURES IN KENYA’S EMBU COUNTY Ndwiga, Olive Wanjiru; Mutambu, Dominic; Manguriu, Daniel; Mucheru-Muna, Monicah
Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development Vol. 8, No. 2
Publisher : UI Scholars Hub

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Abstract

Climate change in Kenya has severely impacted the agricultural sector, affecting food security. It is crucial to enhance farmers’ adaptive capacity to cope with these threats. Effective communication of climate variation risks and coping measures is essential to improve farmers' adaptive capacity. Nevertheless, the adoption of adaptation measures remains low. This is because the influence of communication factors remains underexplored. Therefore, this study focuses on exploring the communication factors affecting the adoption of climate variation adaptation measures in Embu County. The study was conducted in 2023 and 2024 and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The cross-sectional study design was used, involving structured questionnaires (n=227) and interviews (n=10). The communication factors were the independent variables, while the adoption of adaptation measures was the dependent variable. Cronbach's alpha test for reliability and validity resulted in an acceptable value (0.8). The analysis methods used in this study include descriptive statistics, such as frequencies, percentages, mean, and binary logistic regression. The findings show that the sources of climate information used by farmers include broadcasting media, print media, agricultural extension agents, fellow farmers, shows, and exhibitions. Lack of training (p=0.01), non-membership in groups (p=0.01), limited access to agricultural extension services following the introduction of agricultural technologies (p=0.00), and low literacy levels (p=0.01) were found to significantly influence the adoption of adaptation measures at 0.05 while lack of practical orientation (p=0.08) was significant at 0.1. Thus, improving farmers’ literacy levels, access to practical orientation, providing extension services and training, and encouraging group membership are necessary to enhance climate change adaptation. The Ministry of Agriculture should establish local training centres for smallholder farmers. Additional studies are required to assess the effectiveness of extension agents on the adoption of adaptation measures.