Y1 Progress report | Ruth Wainaina

Enhancing Climate Resilience through Innovative Science Communication:

A Case of Smallholder Farmers in Murang’a County, Kenya

1. Background

The research project seeks to strengthen climate resilience among smallholder farmers in Murang’a County through innovative, culturally responsive and context-specific science communication. The research recognises that effective climate resilience depends not only on the availability of scientific information but also on how that information is communicated, understood, trusted, and translated into action within local communities. It also recognised that any community relies on a particular knowledge system over time.

During the first year of the fellowship, the research progressed from understanding the physical and socio-economic context of Murang’a County, through field-based evidence generation, to the development, validation and initial operationalisation of context-specific climate science communication strategies. The process provided important lessons on the interactions among climate risks, local knowledge systems, culture, religion, and access to climate information. The year, therefore, evolved beyond the initial expectation of simply generating research findings. It became a process of learning with communities and stakeholders, validating evidence and beginning to translate research into practical approaches to strengthen climate resilience. The research has evolved to a slogan, “Communicate it their way”.

2. Research Approach and Progression

The research followed a sequential process in which each stage informed the next;

Step 1: Understanding Murang’a County's climatic and ecological context

The research began with a review of the climatic and ecological characteristics of Murang’a County. This establishes that the County is characterised by three broad ecological/climatic regions: the highlands, midlands and lowlands. Understanding these differences was important because the climate risks, agricultural practices, information needs, and vulnerabilities experienced by farmers vary across the three regions. The subsequent fieldwork, therefore, deliberately engaged farmers from the different ecological zones rather than treating Murang’a as a homogeneous climate-risk environment. The field research subsequently confirmed that livelihoods in the County are predominantly dependent on rain-fed agriculture and that farming is a major source of household livelihood and income.

Step 2: Desktop literature review – Understanding the influences on climate communication

The next stage involved a desktop review of literature examining factors that influence how climate information is communicated, understood and acted upon. A review of key communication studies in Africa was conducted to identify factors influencing communication in the African context. A key learning from this process was that communication cannot be separated from the social and cultural context in which it occurs. Religion, culture and Indigenous Knowledge emerged as important determinants of how communities interpret environmental changes, understand climate information and make decisions about adaptation. This insight subsequently became an important conceptual foundation for the project. Rather than approaching science communication as simply transferring scientific information to farmers, the research began to view communication as a dialogue between scientific knowledge and existing community knowledge systems. The language used for communication was also highlighted as an influential factor. This understanding was reinforced through the fieldwork, where Indigenous Knowledge emerged as an important framework for farmers' interpretation of weather patterns, seasonal changes, and environmental conditions.

Step 3: Baseline and field data collection

The next stage involved field-based data collection across the three climatic regions of Murang’a County. Through Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), the research engaged smallholder farmers and other relevant stakeholders to understand their experiences of climate risks, existing adaptation practices, information sources and communication barriers. Through the FGDs, misconceptions were identified, and key areas needing demystification were established. The Year 1 research generated evidence on climate risks, adaptation practices, Indigenous Knowledge, communication pathways, gender dynamics and institutional support mechanisms.

The fieldwork established that smallholder farmers constitute a significant part of the communities examined and are highly dependent on agriculture, making them particularly vulnerable to climate variability. Several climate-related risks emerged from the fieldwork, including:

• Prolonged drought and dry spells

• Failed and declining crop production

• Water scarcity

• Human-wildlife conflict, particularly during prolonged dry periods, occurs when people and wildlife increasingly compete for scarce resources

• Mudslides and related impacts in the highland areas during periods of heavy rainfall

• Post-harvest losses

The research also found that farmers were already employing a range of adaptation practices, including crop diversification, water harvesting, conservation agriculture, agroecological practices, and the integration of Indigenous and scientific knowledge. However, the research demonstrated that the availability of adaptation practices does not automatically translate into their uptake. Access to information, misconceptions, cultural and religious beliefs, socio-economic constraints and institutional limitations all influence how farmers understand and respond to climate risks. Important to indicate that the people of Murang’a are largely religious, and matters related to the environment are linked to a higher control of a supreme God and not anything to do with their actions. This belief undermines the adoption of innovation for climate resilience. It was therefore advisable to demystify the misconceptions within the same religious structures.

3. Communication is as important as the information

One of the most important lessons emerging from the research was that effective climate resilience communication requires more than providing communities with scientific information. The fieldwork demonstrated that farmers already possess knowledge, experiences and interpretations of climate and environmental changes. Indigenous Knowledge, cultural practices and religious perspectives influence how climate events are interpreted and how communities make decisions.

Some of these knowledge systems complement scientific information, while in other instances, they contribute to misconceptions about climate change and appropriate adaptation measures. For example, the fieldwork identified beliefs linking certain environmental occurrences to drought and the use of responses unsupported by scientific evidence.

This learning changed my own understanding of science communication. I initially viewed effective communication largely as making scientific information simpler and more accessible. Through the research, I have come to appreciate that effective science communication is a two-way process involving dialogue, mutual learning and respect for existing knowledge systems. This became the basis for developing communication strategies that do not dismiss local knowledge, but instead seek to engage it critically alongside scientific evidence.

4. From research findings to communication strategies

The evidence generated through the literature review and fieldwork was synthesised into a set of context-specific climate science communication strategies for Murang’a County. The strategies considered the realities identified during the research, including:

• The three climatic regions of the County

• Farmers' existing climate information sources

• Language and accessibility barriers

• The influence of religion and culture

• The role of Indigenous Knowledge

• Existing misconceptions

• Trusted community institutions

• The need for communication approaches that are affordable, accessible, practical and locally relevant

The emerging strategies were therefore designed to move away from a one-way dissemination model towards participatory and locally trusted communication approaches.

5. Stakeholder validation and capacity strengthening workshop

Rather than limiting the final stage of Year 1 to a conventional dissemination workshop, I used the research findings to facilitate a broader capacity-strengthening and stakeholder-engagement process. In partnership with Murang'a University, a workshop was convened to share the fieldwork findings, strengthen farmers' understanding of climate risks and adaptation measures, discuss misconceptions and validate the proposed approaches to climate science communication. The workshop brought together farmers from the highland, midland and lowland regions, alongside representatives from the County Government, Murang'a University, agricultural extension services, cultural and religious leadership, KALRO, teachers of Agriculture, students and other stakeholders. This composition was intentional, as the project recognised that sustainable climate resilience communication requires collaboration between communities, knowledge institutions, government, extension services and trusted local actors. The workshop provided a platform for farmers to:

• Understand climate risks experienced across the three ecological regions

• Discuss adaptation measures identified through the research

• Share additional experiences and locally relevant adaptation practices

• Identify and discuss sources of climate information

• Interrogate misconceptions surrounding climate change

• Engage with scientific and local knowledge; and

• Contribute to the refinement of proposed science communication strategies.

The workshop design was deliberately participatory, using presentations, panel discussions, stakeholder reflections, validation exercises and other interactive approaches. The original workshop concept similarly emphasised participatory engagement, validation of field findings and stakeholder contributions to the development of communication strategies.

6. Language as a critical dimension of climate science communication

An important finding from the research was that language is a significant barrier to accessing and understanding climate science information. Consequently, the workshop was largely conducted in Kikuyu, the local language, to enable farmers to participate more freely, ask questions, share experiences, and engage with the scientific information presented. This was an important learning for the project. It reinforced the understanding that accessibility is not simply about making information technically accurate or simplifying scientific terminology. The language, messenger, communication channel and social context influence whether information is trusted, understood and acted upon. This learning will directly inform the implementation of the communication strategies in the next phase.

7. Partnerships and opportunities for scale

The workshop also created an important platform for partnership development. Bringing together farmers, researchers, the university, County Government representatives, extension officers, KALRO representatives, teachers, and religious and cultural leaders created opportunities to explore how different actors can contribute to climate resilience communication. The engagement demonstrated that the proposed communication strategies cannot be implemented by researchers alone. Their sustainability will depend on working through existing institutions, trusted community structures and channels, and locally accessible communication platforms. The project therefore moved from focusing on the question, "What climate information do farmers need?” to a broader question, "Who is best placed to communicate this information, through which channels, in what language and in what way that farmers could trust and act upon it?” This represents an important transition from researching communication strategies as researchers to co-designing an implementable, community-inclusive communication system that benefits from the project.

8. Looking ahead: Year 2

Year 2 will focus on implementing the established climate science communication approaches within communities in Murang'a County. The recommended climate science strategies to be implemented in the second year include: 1. Mediated communication channels, radio: local radio programmes, interactive radio sessions; television: television programmes and advertisements; pamphlets and brochures, posters, billboards, SMS and WhatsApp platforms, community video testimonials, website(s). 2. Community & interpersonal platforms (general public platforms: religious gatherings, Chiefs' Barazas, community dialogues, community elders and opinion leaders, women's groups and chamas, youth groups and schools; targeted/specific platforms: agricultural extension services, farmer field schools, farmer-to-farmer learning, market-day outreach. 3. Performance-based/narrative approaches (indigenous storytelling and oral narratives, farmer-acted plays and community theatre, cartoon clips and animated videos).

Annual report submitted by Dr Ruth Wainaina

(summarised for publication by Heidi Sonnekus for the FAR-LeaF Programme)