Abstract:
Climate change and variability have been singled out as one of the modern
challenges that affect economies of several countries leading to food scarcity
and food insecurity in various parts of the world and represent a fundamental
contemporary environmental shock. Kenya is no exception. This research was
conducted in Kisii County, a perceived Kenyan national bread basket and investigated the trend in climate variability between the years 1983-2013. The
objective of the study was to examine the precipitation and temperature trend
in Kisii County. The research question was to find out whether there was any
significant trend and pattern of rainfall and temperature as indicators of climate variability. The study examined climate variability for thirty one years
(1983 to 2013). Data was obtained from Kenya Meteorological Department
and their annual means were computed. Mann Kendall statistic test was applied to establish whether the observed trend of precipitation and temperature was significant. From the analysis, rainfall did not show any significant
trend in Kisii County whilst temperature revealed a significantly upward trend
over the years, at 95% confidence level. The study recommends a need to incorporate weather prediction and early warning systems by the Ministry of
Agriculture in Kisii County and also promote afforestation programmes to
protect water catchments. To build resilient systems to climate shocks, introduction of high temperature tolerant food crops as well as adoption of climate
smart agriculture (CSA) should also be explored.
