Adapting to Kenya’s Changing Climate

The World Metereological Organisation’s 2023 Kenya State of the Climate Report highlighted growing climate risks across the country. As global temperatures rise, the year was marked by above-average temperatures across Kenya, continuing a long-term warming trend. Increased levels of rainfall variability contributed to severe flooding events, destroying homes and agricultural land. 

Since the 1960s, the mean annual temperature of Kenya has increased by around 1℃, with temperatures projected to increase by 1.7℃ by the 2050s and 3.5℃ by the end of the century. 

The combination of protracted periods of drought and heavy rainfall has had an outsized impact on Kenya’s smallholder farmers. Haller’s small-scale interventions have helped farmers adapt to meet these climatic challenges while preserving the ecosystem they rely on for future generations. 

One female farmer spoke with our team about the challenges Haller’s work has helped her overcome. 

This farmer explained her efforts to conserve water for spells of drought through the creation of a pond. But with an ineffective liner, water simply seeped into the soil and was not captured in the pond for longer-term usage. 

In addition, the combination of protracted periods of drought and intense heavy rainfall has led to waterlogging, which has destroyed crops and threatened her livelihood. 

Working with Haller, she has been equipped with the knowledge and materials to improve agricultural output. One key area of transformation was the production of compost, which she uses to maintain her kitchen garden. 

Faced with a lack of water, Haller has helped her focus her efforts on security foods such as bananas and cassava. Her planting methods have also been adapted to account for increasingly extended periods of drought. She now uses Zai pits and terraces to conserve water and prevent soil degradation, planting seeds in a zigzag pattern to maximise potential yields. 

80% of the farmers Haller supports in Kenya are women who rely on smallholder farming to support their families. The increased incidence of droughts and flooding has placed a huge pressure on their capacity to produce sufficient food to feed their family with surplus to sell at the market. 

As the impacts of climate change have intensified, Haller’s work has become increasingly critical to ensure farmers can adapt to ever more challenging climatic conditions.