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27/04/26

Turning climate science into advice farmers can use

Turning climate science into advice farmers can use
Despite a growing focus on climate-smart agriculture, many smallholder farmers in Africa struggle to adopt these practices due to socio-economic and technological constraints. Copyright: Cecilia Schubert/ Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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Season 4, Episode 64

Across Sub-Saharan Africa, farmers are facing growing pressure from unpredictable rainfall, longer dry spells, and declining soil conditions, making it harder to produce food reliably.

Climate-smart agriculture has been promoted as a way to help them adapt, but despite years of research and investment, many farming systems continue to struggle.

In this episode of Africa Science Focus, our reporter Michael Kaloki, examines how agricultural science can be better translated into climate resilience in farmers’ fields.

Kaloki begins in western Kenya, where farmers describe how changing weather is disrupting their livelihoods and how advisory messages delivered to their phones are starting to guide decision-making.

Lilian Kirwa, product manager at the iShamba advisory platform, explains how the service combines weather forecasts with practical, local advice.

Much of that advice is shaped by iSPARK, a research project that is testing which agricultural practices actually build resilience in western Kenya, and for whom. Led by CGIAR’s International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, the University of Leeds, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), and iShamba, the project aims to turn its evidence into farming advisories, policy pathways, and investment plans.

Eduardo Garcia, a data scientist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, is working to find out which innovations work best for farmers.

Andy Challinor, professor of climate impacts at the University of Leeds, says intercropping, irrigation, and soil health are critical for building climate resilience.

But for solutions to scale, policy has to move too. Victor Kagot, a lecturer at Maasai Mara University, Kenya, says policymakers act when evidence shows an intervention is practical, scalable, and reduces risk.

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Africa Science Focus is produced by SciDev.Net and distributed in association with your local radio station

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.