Climate change risk, resilience, and adaptation among rural farmers in East Africa: A literature review

doi:10.1016/j.regsus.2023.05.004

Abstract

Abstract:

This study assesses the literature evidence on climate change risk, resilience, and adaptation measures used among rural farmers in East Africa. A systematic literature review was conducted comprising 30 papers from the Web of Science database published during 2000-2022. The results of the literature review showed that climate change risks have direct impacts on agricultural practices, limit rural farmers’ resilience, and exacerbate their food insecurity. The most prominent risks are increasingly shorter wet seasons and heat stress, which lead to droughts and food production losses. Responding to climate risks, farmers in East Africa adopt various adaptation strategies such as mixed- and inter-cropping, conservation tillage, early planting, crop diversification, etc. Also, this review summarizes the determinants of climate change adaptation strategy selection by farmers in East Africa, including age, gender, household size, economic status and household assets, landownership and livestock, education and training, etc. Overall, the choice of adaptation strategies to climate change is strongly determined by the gender of household heads, the results of gender as a determinant of adaptation differ greatly between different case studies. Although female-headed households (FHHs) tend to perceive changes in temperature more readily than male-headed households (MHHs), the latter are generally more likely to adopt different adaptation strategies. Despite the resilience and adaptation measures used by rural farmers in East Africa now, improved weather forecasting and early warning systems are needed as a better direction towards the future.

Key words: Climate change, Cliamte risk, Adaptation, Agriculture, Resilience, Farmer, East Africa

Tobias ACKERL, Lemlem Fitwi WELDEMARIAM, Mary NYASIMI, Ayansina AYANLADE. Climate change risk, resilience, and adaptation among rural farmers in East Africa: A literature review[J]. Regional Sustainability, 2023, 4(2): 185-193.

Figures/Tables 5

Table 1

Fig. 1.

Table 2

Selected 30 articles on the impact of climate change on agriculture in East Africa."

Article	Study area	Research theme
Amare and Simane (2018)	Ethiopia	Climate change adaptation and food security
Bornemann et al. (2019)	East Africa	Future climate change, adaptation decision, and uncertainty
Bryan et al. (2013)	Kenya	Household strategies and determinants of adaptation to climate change
Caretta and B?rjeson (2015)	Kenya	Gender differences in adaptation strategies to climate change and smallholder irrigation farming
Cholo et al. (2020)	Ethiopia	Gender differences in adaptation strategies to climate change and fragmented farm
d’Errico et al. (2018)	Tanzania and Uganda	Peasant household resilience to food insecurity
Eriksen et al. (2005)	Kenya and Tanzania	Dynamics of vulnerability and adaptation strategies to climate change
Gebre (2021)	Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania	Food insecurity and climate change,
Haile et al. (2020)	East Africa	Projection of climate change and drought pattern
Hussein (2011)	Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda	Impacts of climate change
Lutomia et al. (2019)	Kenya	Determinants of gender differences in household food security perceptions
Musafiri et al. (2022)	Kenya	Climate-smart agricultural practices
Mati (2000)	Kenya	Impacts of climate change on maize production
N?schen et al. (2019)	Tanzania	Impacts of climate change on water resources and future climate scenario
Ngigi et al. (2017)	Kenya	Gender differences in adaptation strategies to climate change
Ochieng et al. (2017)	Kenya	Farmers’ perceptions and adaptation strategies to climate change and trends of climate change
Ojara et al. (2022)	Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi	Drought, wet events, and impacts of climate change
Onoja et al. (2019)	Ethiopia and Nigeria	Climate-smart agricultural practices
Little et al. (2001)	East Africa	Risk management to desert flood
Aryal and Marenya (2021)	Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique	Adaptation strategies to climate risks
Roy et al. (2018)	Kenya and Tanzania	Impacts of climate change on water resources
Schlenker and Lobell (2010)	Sub-Saharan Africa	Impacts of climate change
Shikuku et al. (2017)	Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda	Determinants of adaptation to climate risks, farmers’ attitudes, and food security
Stefanovic et al. (2019)	Kenya	Climate change adaptation
Thornton et al. (2009)	East Africa	Spatial variation of crop yield response to climate change
Steynor et al. (2021)	East Africa	Links between climate change risk perception and action response
Tabe-Ojong et al. (2022)	Kenya, Tanzania, and Namibia	Food insecurity, food access disruptions, and impacts of COVID-19
Thornton and Herrero (2015)	Sub-Saharan Africa	Climate change adaptation
Wainwright et al. (2021)	East Africa	Extreme rainfall and future climate change
Zougmoré et al. (2021)	Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda	Food security and food system of low-income farmer

Table 2

Table 3

Table 4

Overview of the most important barriers and determinants of adaptation to climate change in East Africa."

Determinant	Detail	Reference
Age	Older household heads lack the skills and physical working capacity to seek additional employment, which is why many households have to reduce consumption instead; if the elderly were able to accumulate wealth, they usually draw on savings to cope with climate risks; and with age rises, the experience in using manure increasing.	Ochieng et al. (2017); Stefanovic et al. (2019); Aryal et al. (2021); Musafiri et al. (2022)
Gender	Gendered labour division leads to an additional workload for women; strong gender inequality in East Africa exacerbates climate change risks for FHHs; male-headed households (MHHs) are more likely to change farming practices, seek additional employment, use irrigation, etc.; and FHHs are observed to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices, but also undesirable adaptation strategies, e.g., reducing consumption. To sum up, MHHs have more adaptive possibilities than FHHs.	Caretta and B?rjeson (2015); Ngigi et al. (2017); Ochieng et al. (2017); Amare and Simane (2018); Stefanovic et al. (2019); Cholo et al. (2020); Aryal et al. (2021); Musafiri et al. (2022)
Household size	Workforce rises with the number of household members, which is why household size positively correlates with households’ adaptive capacity; larger households tend to seek additional jobs and change their farming practices instead of relying on government support; and labour-intensive practices are rather observed among larger farm households.	Bryan et al. (2013); Ochieng et al. (2017); Stefanovic et al. (2019); Aryal et al. (2021); Musafiri et al. (2022)
Economic status and household assets	Wealth benefits the adoption of adaptation strategies, especially irrigation, soil and water conservation, and mulching; poorer households often fail to adapt due to their inability to cover the costs related to adaptation; and drawing on savings and borrowings is a common strategy among asset-rich household, while reducing consumption is uncommon.	Bryan et al. (2013); Ochieng et al. (2017); Shikuku et al. (2017); Aryal et al. (2021)
Landownership and livestock	Landownership correlates with higher adaptive capacity; farmers with greater landownership do not need to reduce consumption; and the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices and integration of crop-livestock farming rise with the size of arable land.	Amare and Simane (2018); Aryal et al. (2021); Musafiri et al. (2022)
Education and training	More educated farmers find it easier to seek additional employment and government support; job opportunities rise with education; educated and trained farmers are better able to implement farming techniques and adopt more tolerant crop varieties; and good education brings higher incomes. In conclusion, education and training are crucial for coping with climate change risks.	Ochieng et al. (2017); Aryal et al. (2021); Musafiri et al. (2022)
Membership in farm associations and crop production groups	Group membership increases farmers’ adaptive capacity and enhances knowledge exchange and social learning.	Shikuku et al. (2017); Stefanovic et al. (2019); Aryal et al. (2021)
Access to markets and extension services	Access to markets and extension services is crucial for selling crops.	Aryal et al. (2021)
Access to weather forecasts and warning systems	Access to weather forecasts and warning systems allows farmers to better adapt to forecasted weather events and facilitates the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices.	Amare and Simane (2018); Musafiri et al. (2022)
Government support	Providing subsidies for fertilizers and irrigation technologies.	Ochieng et al. (2017)

Table 4

References 48

[1]	Ahmed S.M., 2020. Impacts of drought, food security policy and climate change on performance of irrigation schemes in Sub-saharan Africa: The case of Sudan. Agric. Water Manage. 232, 106064, doi: 10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106064. doi: 10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106064
[2]	Amare A., Simane B., 2018. Does adaptation to climate change and variability provide household food security? Evidence from Muger sub-basin of the upper Blue-Nile, Ethiopia. Ecol. Process. 7(1), 124-135.
[3]	Aryal J.P., Sapkota T.B., Rahut D.B., et al., 2021. Climate risks and adaptation strategies of farmers in East Africa and South Asia. Sci. Rep. 11, 10489, doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89391-1. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89391-1 pmid: 34006938
[4]	Ayanlade A., Oladimeji A.A., Okegbola O.M., et al., 2022a. Effect of climate change on water availability and quality:An assessment of socio-resilience in Nigeria. In: Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience:Disaster and Social Aspects. Cham: Springer, 245-262.
[5]	Ayanlade A., Oluwaranti A., Ayanlade O.S., et al., 2022b. Extreme climate events in sub-Saharan Africa: A call for improving agricultural technology transfer to enhance adaptive capacity. Clim. Serv. 27, 100311, doi: 10.1016/j.cliser.2022.100311. doi: 10.1016/j.cliser.2022.100311
[6]	Ayanlade A., Smucker T.A., Nyasimi M., et al., 2023. Complex climate change risk and emerging directions for vulnerability research in Africa. Clim. Risk Manag. 40, 100497, doi: 10.1016/j.crm.2023.100497. doi: 10.1016/j.crm.2023.100497
[7]	Beegle K., Christiaensen L., 2019. Accelerating Poverty Reduction in Africa. Washington D.C.: World Bank, 65-74.
[8]	Bornemann F.J., Rowell D.P., Evans B., et al., 2019. Future changes and uncertainty in decision-relevant measures of East African climate. Clim. Change. 156, 365-384. doi: 10.1007/s10584-019-02499-2
[9]	Bryan E., Ringler C., Okoba B., et al., 2013. Adapting agriculture to climate change in Kenya: Household strategies and determinants. J. Environ. Manage. 114, 26-35. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.10.036 pmid: 23201602
[10]	Caretta M.A., Börjeson L., 2015. Local gender contract and adaptive capacity in smallholder irrigation farming: a case study from the Kenyan drylands. Gend. Place Cult. 22(5), 644-661. doi: 10.1080/0966369X.2014.885888
[11]	Cholo T.C., Peerlings J., Fleskens L., 2020. Gendered climate change adaptation practices in fragmented farm fields of Gamo Highlands, Ethiopia. Clim. Dev. 12(3/4), 323-331. doi: 10.1080/17565529.2019.1618234
[12]	Cimato F., Watkiss P., 2018. Overcoming the Barriers to Climate Change Adaptation. [2022-10-12]. https://www.futureclimateafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/fcfa_gcap_economics-guide_pr41.pdf.
[13]	d’Errico, M., Romano, D., Pietrelli, R., 2018. Household resilience to food insecurity: evidence from Tanzania and Uganda. Food Secur. 10, 1033-1054. doi: 10.1007/s12571-018-0820-5
[14]	Eriksen S.H., Brown K., Kelly P.M., 2005. The dynamics of vulnerability: locating coping strategies in Kenya and Tanzania. Geogr. J. 171(4), 287-305. doi: 10.1111/geoj.2005.171.issue-4
[15]	Gebre G.G., Rahut D.B., 2021. Prevalence of household food insecurity in East Africa: Linking food access with climate vulnerability. Clim. Risk Manag. 33, 100333, doi: 10.1016/j.crm.2021.100333. doi: 10.1016/j.crm.2021.100333
[16]	Haile G.G., Tang Q.H, Sun S.A., et al., 2019. Droughts in East Africa: Causes, impacts and resilience. Earth-Sci. Rev. 193, 146-161. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.04.015
[17]	Haile G.G., Tang Q.H., Hosseini-Moghari S.M., et al., 2020. Projected impacts of climate change on drought patterns over East Africa. Earth’s Future. 8(7), e2020EF001502, doi: 10.1029/2020EF001502. doi: 10.1029/2020EF001502
[18]	Houghton J.T., Meira Filho L.G., Callendar B.A., et al., 1996. Climate Change 1995:the Science of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group I to the Second Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 35-38.
[19]	Hussein M.A., 2011. Climate change impacts on East Africa. In: Leal FilhoW., (ed.). The Economic, Social and Political Elements of Climate Change. Berlin and Heidelberg: Springer, 589-601.
[20]	IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Climate Change 2014-Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Part B: Regional Aspects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 80-84.
[21]	Little P.D., Mahmoud H., Coppock D.L., 2001. When deserts flood: risk management and climatic processes among East African pastoralists. Clim. Res. 19, 149-159. doi: 10.3354/cr019149
[22]	Lutomia C.K., Obare G.A., Kariuki I.M., et al., 2019. Determinants of gender differences in household food security perceptions in the Western and Eastern regions of Kenya. Cogent Food Agr. 5, 1694755, doi: 10.1080/23311932.2019.1694755. doi: 10.1080/23311932.2019.1694755
[23]	Mati B.M., 2000. The influence of climate change on maize production in the semi-humid-semi-arid areas of Kenya. J. Arid. Environ. 46(4), 333-344. doi: 10.1006/jare.2000.0699
[24]	Muchuru S., Nhamo G., 2019. A review of climate change adaptation measures in the African crop sector. Clim. Dev. 11(10), 873-885. doi: 10.1080/17565529.2019.1585319
[25]	Musafiri C.M., Kiboi M., Macharia J., et al., 2022. Adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among smallholder farmers in Western Kenya: do socioeconomic, institutional, and biophysical factors matter? Heliyon. 8(1), e08677, doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08677. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08677
[26]	Näschen K., Diekkrüger B., Leemhuis C., et al., 2019. Impact of climate change on water resources in the Kilombero Catchment in Tanzania. Water. 11(4), 859, doi: 10.3390/w11040859. doi: 10.3390/w11040859
[27]	Ngigi M.W., Mueller U., Birner R., 2017. Gender differences in climate change adaptation strategies and participation in group-based approaches: An intra-household analysis from rural Kenya. Ecol. Econ. 138, 99-108. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.03.019
[28]	Ochieng J., Kirimi L., Makau J., 2017. Adapting to climate variability and change in rural Kenya: farmer perceptions, strategies and climate trends. Nat. Resour. Forum. 41(4), 195-208. doi: 10.1111/narf.2017.41.issue-4
[29]	Ogalleh S.A., Vogl C.R., Eitzinger J., et al., 2012. Local perceptions and responses to climate change and variability: the case of Laikipia District, Kenya. Sustainability. 4(12), 3302-3325.
[30]	Ojara M.A., Lou Y.S., Babaousmail H., et al., 2022. Evaluation of drought, wet events, and climate variability impacts on maize crop yields in East Africa during 1981-2017. Int. J. Plant Prod. 16, 41-62. doi: 10.1007/s42106-021-00178-w
[31]	O’Neill, B., van Aalst, M., Zaiton Ibrahim, Z., et al., 2022. Key risks across sectors and regions. In: Pörtner, H.-O., Roberts, D.C., Tignor, M., et al., (eds.). Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the 6^th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2411-2538.
[32]	Onoja A.O., Abraha A.Z., Girma A., et al., 2019. Climate-smart agricultural practices (CSA) adoption by crop farmers in semi-arid regions of west and east Africa:evidence from Nigeria and Ethiopia. In: CastroP., AzulA.M., Leal FilhoW., et al., (eds.). Climate Change-Resilient Agriculture and Agroforestry. Cham: Springer, 89-113.
[33]	Pachauri R.K., Reisinger A., Bernstein L., 2007. Climate Change 2007 Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the 4^th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC. Geneva, Switzerland.
[34]	Pachauri R.K., Meyer L., Allen M.R., et al., 2014. Climate Change 2014 Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the 5^th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC. Geneva, Switzerland.
[35]	Parry M.L., Canziani O.F., Palutikof P.J., et al., 2007. Climate change 2007-impacts, adaptation and vulnerability: Contribution of Working Group II to the 4^th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 35-84.
[36]	Rahut D.B., Aryal J.P., Marenya P., 2021. Understanding climate-risk coping strategies among farm households: Evidence from five countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. Sci. Total Environ. 769, 145236, doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145236. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145236
[37]	Roy T., Valdés J.B., Lyon B., et al., 2018. Assessing hydrological impacts of short-term climate change in the Mara River basin of East Africa. J. Hydrol. 566, 818-829. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.08.051
[38]	Schipper E.L.F., Revi A., Preston B.L., et al., 2022. Climate resilient development pathways. In: PörtnerH.-O., RobertsD.C., TignorM., et al., (eds.). Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the 6^th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2655-2807.
[39]	Schlenker W., Lobell D.B., 2010. Robust negative impacts of climate change on African agriculture. Environ. Res. Lett. 5(1), 014010, doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/5/1/014010. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/5/1/014010
[40]	Shikuku K.M., Winowiecki L., Twyman J., et al., 2017. Smallholder farmers’ attitudes and determinants of adaptation to climate risks in East Africa. Clim. Risk Manag. 16, 234-245.
[41]	Stefanovic J.O., Yang H., Zhou Y., et al., 2019. Adaption to climate change: a case study of two agricultural systems from Kenya. Clim. Dev. 11(3/4), 319-337. doi: 10.1080/17565529.2017.1411241
[42]	Steynor A., Pasquini L., Thatcher A., et al., 2021. Understanding the links between climate change risk perceptions and the action response to inform climate services interventions. Risk Anal. 41(10), 1873-1889. doi: 10.1111/risa.13683 pmid: 33472279
[43]	Tabe-Ojong M.P.J., Gebrekidan B.H., Nshakira-Rukundo E., et al., 2022. COVID-19 in rural Africa: Food access disruptions, food insecurity and coping strategies in Kenya, Namibia, and Tanzania. Agric. Econ. 53(5), 719-738. doi: 10.1111/agec.v53.5
[44]	Thornton P.K., Jones P.G., Alagarswamy G., et al., 2009. Spatial variation of crop yield response to climate change in East Africa. Glob. Environ. Change. 19(1), 54-65. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.08.005
[45]	Thornton P.K., Herrero M., 2015. Adapting to climate change in the mixed crop and livestock farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Nat. Clim. Chang. 5, 830-836. doi: 10.1038/nclimate2754
[46]	Trisos C.H., Adelekan I.O., Totin E., et al., 2022. Africa. In: Pörtner, H.-O., Roberts, D.C., Tignor, M., (eds.). Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the 6^th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1285-1455.
[47]	Wainwright C.M., Finney D.L., Kilavi M., et al., 2021. Extreme rainfall in East Africa, October 2019-January 2020 and context under future climate change. Weather. 76(1), 26-31. doi: 10.1002/wea.v76.1
[48]	Zougmoré R.B., Läderach P., Campbell B.M., 2021. Transforming food systems in Africa under climate change pressure: role of climate-smart agriculture. Sustainability. 13, 4305, doi: 10.3390/su13084305. doi: 10.3390/su13084305

Item	Option
Literature type	Academic periodical article and chapter article of book
Spatial scope	East Africa
Period	2000-2022
Language	English
Keywords	(“climate change” and “risks” and “resilience”) and (“adapt” or “adaptation”) and (“East African” or (“Sudan” or “Djibouti” or “Somali” or “Seychelles” or “Comoros” or “Ethiopia” or “Eritrea” or “Kenya” or “Rwanda” or “South Sudan” or “Burundi” or “Tanzania” or “Uganda”)) and (“farmers” or “agric”)

Adaptation strategy	Description
Mixed- and inter-cropping	Common adaptation strategy and effective measure for risk reduction	Ogalleh et al. (2012); Stefanovic et al. (2019)
Conservation tillage	Common adaptation strategy to reduce soil erosion	Stefanovic et al. (2019)
Early planting	Replanting if germination fails; reducing risks related to higher rainfall variability	Bryan et al. (2013); Stefanovic et al. (2019)
Planting new crop varieties (crop diversification)	Popular and widely adopted among rural farmers in East Africa; important for the productivity and resilience of crops; and important for (vulnerable) food systems	Bryan et al. (2013); Ochieng et al. (2017); Shikuku et al. (2017); Trisos et al. (2022)
Irrigation and water management	Generally disfavored by farmers in East Africa and only be observed among a few farmers in some areas (e.g., in the Muger sub-basin of the upper Blue Nile, Ethiopia)	Ochieng et al. (2017); Shikuku et al. (2017); Amare and Simane (2018)
Savings and borrowings	Common adaptation strategy among older household heads, women, and married couples; landownership positively influences this adaptation strategy in Ethiopia but not in Tanzania	Aryal et al. (2021)
Reducing consumption	Common adaptation strategy among female-headed households (FHHs); uncommon among older and more educated farmers and households that live close to trading centers; COVID-19 pandemic positively influences the adoption of this adaptation strategy; and consuming undesirable food is a related strategy	Aryal et al. (2021); Tabe-Ojong et al. (2022)
Seeking additional employment	Uncommon among elderly household heads and in FHHs	Aryal et al. (2021)