Farmer Attitudes On Climate Change, Farming Practices, and Livelihood Threats, and the Impact to Conservation in the Kasigau Wildlife Corridor, Kenya

Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are facing threats to their livelihoods including climate change, unsustainable farming practices, increasing water scarcity, and crop raiding herbivores, among other challenges. How demographic, economic, and social factors impact farmers’ attitudes and responses to such threats and the relationship to conservation initiatives remains an underexplored topic. With the aim of informing policy and management priorities locally, but with broad applications, we developed a set of a priori hypotheses related to the impacts of livelihood threats and alternatives for farmers. To assess these hypotheses, we surveyed 206 farmers across 6 villages in the Kasigau Wildlife Corridor of Kenya. Most respondents believed that climate change had negatively affected their lives and a third of respondents had not been exposed to alternative crop types. However, sociodemographic factors were poor predictors of farmer beliefs and knowledge, suggesting a homogeneity of views. Nearly half (48%) of respondents preferred to continue farming despite other possible means of income, potentially indicating a strong sense of place. Survey questions revealed other disparities such as 55% of respondents had no formal farm training outside of school, and most had never visited the nearby national parks. Compared to other studies, an above average belief in the benefits of wildlife was notable across the villages. Our findings can inform programs that work with local farmers to create specific management priorities that assist stakeholders in building resilience to threatened natural resources and increase food security which could bolster support of conservation programs.