Impact of Agricultural Financial Services Accessibility on the Adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture Practices among Smallholder Farmers in Mwingi West Sub-County, Kitui County, Kenya
Abstract
Climate change poses a significant threat to agricultural productivity and food security in Kenya, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions where smallholder farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture. Increased climate variability, characterised by erratic rainfall and rising temperatures, has undermined rural livelihoods and exposed limited adaptive capacity. Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) offers a promising path to resilience, but its adoption is heavily influenced by access to agricultural finance, a persistent challenge for rural farmers. This study examined how access to financial services affects CSA adoption among smallholder farmers in Mwingi West Sub-county, Kitui County, Kenya. Key factors analysed included financial awareness, credit access, proximity to financial institutions, group membership, and barriers to service utilisation. CSA practices assessed were conservation agriculture, mulching, water harvesting, irrigation, integrated pest management, agroforestry, weather advisories, inorganic fertiliser use, zai pits, and soil conservation structures. Using a cross-sectional design, data were collected from 393 randomly selected farmers and key informants through interviews and focus group discussions. Statistical analysis, chi-square and binary logistic regression using SPSS v26, showed that while 64.9% of respondents were aware of financial services, only 13% had accessed them. Major barriers included low financial literacy, lack of collateral, high interest rates, and poor accessibility. Awareness of financial services was significantly associated with CSA adoption (p = 0.000), as were distance to institutions (p = 0.022), type of financial services (p = 0.001), ease of access (p = 0.000), and group membership (p = 0.003). The study recommended that, to boost CSA adoption, financial institutions provide tailored loans with flexible collateral and interest terms. Additionally, the government and partners should strengthen financial literacy and expand financial access through mobile and agent banking, especially in remote areas.
Downloads
References
Bilal, M., & Jaghdani, T. J. (2024). Barriers to the adoption of multiple agricultural innovations: insights from Bt cotton, wheat seeds, herbicides and no-tillage in Pakistan. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2024.2318934
Campbell, S., Greenwood, M., Prior, S., Shearer, T., Walkem, K., Young, S., ... & Walker, K. (2020). Purposive sampling: complex or simple? Research case examples. Journal of Research in Nursing, 25(8), 652-661.
Central Bank of Kenya (2024). Agriculture Sector Survey of July 2024. CBK, https://www.centralbank.go.ke/2024/08/13/agriculture-sector-survey-of-july-2024/#:~:text=The%20agriculture%20sector%20continues%20to,percent%20of%20the%20rural%20populace.
FAO. 2013. Climate-smart agriculture sourcebook. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Iliyasu, R., & Etikan, I. (2021). Comparison of quota sampling and stratified random sampling. Biom. Biostat. Int. J. Rev, 10(1), 24-27
KCIDP. (2018). Kitui County Integrated Development Plan 2018-2022. County Government of Kitui
Kenya County Climate Risk Profile: Kitui County. (n.d.). https://cgspace.cgiar.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/0399f645-5ca6-4476-8b60-504abe985345/content#:~:text=Agriculture%20contributes%20about%2087%25%20of,activities%20(KNBS%2C%202019d)
Kenya Meteorological Department. (2022). Annual climate and weather report: Kitui Sub-County. Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
Kitui County. (2015). Kitui County Villages Act, 2015. Kitui County Gazette Supplement No. 2 (Acts No. 1), 2015. https://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/pdfdownloads/Acts/KituiCountyVillagesAct2015.pdf
KNBS (2019). Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume, I: Population by County and Sub-County. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
Kogo, B. K., Kumar, L., & Koech, R. (2021). Climate change and variability in Kenya: a review of impacts on agriculture and food security. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 23(1), 23-43.
Kogo, B. K., Kumar, L., Koech, R., & Hasan, M. K. (2022). Response to climate change in a rain-fed crop production system: insights from maize farmers of western Kenya
Maier, C., Thatcher, J. B., Grover, V., & Dwivedi, Y. K. (2023). Cross-sectional research: A critical perspective, use cases, and recommendations for IS research. International Journal of Information Management, 70, 102625.
Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. (2024). KilimoSTAT, https://statistics.kilimo.go.ke/en/kiamis/
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. (2017). Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Strategy 2017–2026. Government of Kenya.https://www.adaptation-undp.org/sites/default/files/resources/kenya_climate_smart_agriculture_strategy.pdf#:~:text=Due%20to%20these%20challenges%2C%20the,weather%20events%20while%20minimizing%20its
Mogeni, S. H. (2024). Climate Change and Food Security in Arid Kenya: Examining Resource Accessibility, Agricultural Practices, and Socio-Economic Implications. Agricultural Practices, and Socio-Economic Implications (December 04, 2024).
Muriithi, L. N. (2021). Adoption of Selected Climate Smart Agriculture Technologies among Smallholder Farmers in Lower Eastern Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, University of Embu
Musyoka, P. K. (n.d) Challenges of financing climate adaptation in Kenya's smallholder agriculture
Mwanzia, D. K., Mbala, S., & Akuja, T. E. (2025). Assessment of the level of awareness of climate-smart agricultural practices among smallholder farmers in Mwingi West Sub-County, Kitui County, Kenya (submitted for publication), African Journal of Climate Change and Resource Sustainability (AJCCRS)
Noor, S., Tajik, O., & Golzar, J. (2022). Simple random sampling. International Journal of Education & Language Studies, 1(2), 78-82.
Nyoro, J. K. (2019). Agriculture and rural growth in Kenya. Tegemeo Institute.
Toromade, A. S., Soyombo, D. A., Kupa, E., & Ijomah, T. I. (2024). Reviewing the impact of climate change on global food security: Challenges and solutions. International journal of applied research in social sciences, 6(7), 1403-1416.
Waaswa, A., Oywaya Nkurumwa, A., Mwangi Kibe, A., & Ng'eno Kipkemoi, J. (2024). Adapting agriculture to climate change: institutional determinants of adoption of climate-smart agriculture among smallholder farmers in Kenya. Cogent Food & Agriculture, 10(1), 2294547.
Copyright (c) 2025 David Kawioo Mwanzia, Simon Mbala, Thomas Ekamais Akuja
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
