Economic Analysis Of Climate Change Adaptation Strategies At Community Farm-Level In Ijara, Garissa County, Kenya

ABSTRACT 

The semi-arid Ijara sub-county borders Fafi sub-county to the north, Lamu and Tana River counties to the south and west respectively and republic of Somalia to the east. It occupies agro-ecological zones IV to VI, that change to V and VI, moving away from Boni forest with an estimated 1000km2 arable land suitable for crop agriculture. Temperatures range 15ºC – 38ºC with average relative humidity 68%. Rainfall data from Kenya Met Services 1970-2008 indicated shift from the traditional trend to erratic and definite decline. However recent predictions across models showed positive rise in both precipitation and temperature year 2030 onwards along the coastal belt where study sites locate. But, the high temperature-induced evapotranspiration annul gains from rainfall increases. The climatic changes expose the area to shocks arising from frequent drought and flooding. Given the shocks that outwit traditional coping mechanisms, farmers spontaneously took to water harvesting pans, Aloe crop and pasture enterprises as adaptation strategies. The spontaneity translated into unclear costs and benefits which the study clarified by isolating them for analysis and measuring the strategies‟ viability for adaptation. Significance of the assessment was reduction of existing data scarcity and informing climate-smart agriculture productivity and realization of the most valuable policy results. Costs-benefit-analysis was the design used, complemented by the financial market-driven 15% discounting rates and net present values. Also co-ordinated regional downscaling experiment models were used to ascertain climate performance and projection. Household questionnaire was administered to 240 sample size calculated from 9000 farmer population. Based on the sample size, households in Handaro, Sangole-Ijara and Bothai were randomly selected for interview. Results showed 57% pastoralists had embraced agro-pastoralism to incorporate Aloe, and on-farm rain-fed Sudan grass, whose input costs were Kshs 120,000/ha/season with estimated yields of 1.8 tons/ha of dry matter. Cash flow across three rain-fed seasons netted Kshs 1,925,091, 4,069,234.55 and 6,103,851.83 per hectare from one, two and three seasons respectively. Overall net present value was Kshs 180,041p.a. Equal to 50.5% agro-pastoralists produced fodder that cushioned against the high costs on inter-county importation. Land size inadequacy and the communal tenure upset 86.26% producers whereas 47.5% were concerned that drought raised production costs the most after that lack of skills 53.08%, feed deficit at 30.41%, and diseases 20.41% in that order. Aloe crop netted Kshs 37,500/ha/season. The benefits compared favorably with investment of Kshs 125,000/ha given that some capital costs e.g. fencing were one-off. Annual water pan cash flow netted present value Kshs 512,349.25. Overall benefits from the three strategies exceeded costs, making the investment viable for adaptation. Going forward and considering the limited adaptation capacities, disease control and feed deficit costs, policies need to focus on formulating livestock improvement guidelines to include revitalizing traditional grazing management practices. Other pertinent investment opportunities include strategic value-chain linkages and infrastructure, promotion of rain-fed and irrigated fodder production technologies incorporating climate-smart water harvesting. Equally crucial is enriched soil stabilization using multi-benefits crops e.g. Aloe, supporting post-harvest feed reserves technologies, reviewing land tenure system and investing in local farmer-friendly weather data collection and application.