TITLE:
Socioeconomic Determinants of Adaptive Capacity to Climate Variability among Smallholder Crop Farmers in Kuria East Sub-County, Kenya
AUTHORS:
Mwita Chacha, George Makokha, Christopher Shisanya
KEYWORDS:
Adaptive Capacity, Climate Variability, Smallholder Farmers, Socioeconomic Factors, Kuria East Subcounty, Migori
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.13 No.4,
April
22,
2026
ABSTRACT: Climate variability remains an urgent challenge to food security in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly for smallholder farmers who depend on rain-fed agriculture. Better access to collective and institutional support through climate education and access to credit can strengthen their ability to respond effectively to the challenges posed by climate variability. This paper delves into the socioeconomic factors influencing farmers’ ability to adapt to climate variability in Kuria East Sub-County, Migori County, Kenya. Using cross-sectional data from 361 smallholder farmers, the paper analyses the socioeconomic factors that determine smallholder farmers’ ability to adapt to climate variations while examining their current level of adaptation. The descriptive results show that farmers have low adaptive capacity, mainly due to a lack of access to climate education and financial support. The results of the chi-square test (χ2) show that access to credit (p