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 Börjeson (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
Näschen 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 Börjeson (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

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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)