• Drought-resistant maize and green gram (mung bean) seeds play a key role in increasing the resilience of communities.
Farmers have been advised to work with extension officers in their regions to be advised on alternative crops as the drought continues to ravage the country.
Eunice Koech, a climate scientist and forecaster at the Igad Climate Prediction and Applications Centre has warned that maize is projected to perform poorly due to depressed rains.
“We have very low chances that we are getting more than 400mm which is required by most of the crops like maize,” Koech said.
“We require around 300mm to go throughout the season but we have very low chances that we are going to get that rain so we are looking at a situation whereby the normal crop that is the maize, we are not going to get a good harvest,” she added.
According to Koech, the Arid and Semi-Arid regions of Kenya Ethiopia and Somalia will be worst hit with extended widespread droughts expected to be experienced.
“Even if we get little rains in the coming season we are still looking at a situation where these extended widespread droughts are expected to be experienced,” she explained.
According to World Vision, drought-resistant maize and green gram (mung bean) seeds play a key role in increasing the resilience of communities to the adverse effects of climate change like droughts or long dry spells caused by insufficient rainfall.
However, a majority of rural farmers who are worst hit by perennial droughts, usually lack information on these ideal seed varieties or finances for purchasing them.
Farmers in Makueini, Kitui and Taita Taveta counties for instance have shifted from maize farming to drought-tolerant crops like green grams, sorghum, groundnuts and millet.
According to statistics from Feed the Future, smallholder farms in the ASALs account for 30 per cent of cereal production and 54 per cent of pulse production in Kenya.