Socioeconomic Determinants of Adaptive Capacity to Climate Variability among Smallholder Crop Farmers in Kuria East Sub-County, Kenya

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 < 0.05) and climate education (p < 0.05) have relatively significant influences on farmers’ adaptive capacity. On the other hand, formal education (p = 0.509), farm size (p = 0.497), and farming experience (p = 0.249) have no significant effect on adaptability. Overall, 60.4% of the farmers have low adaptive capacity, mainly due to climate education inadequacy and limited financial support. These results show that socioeconomic conditions determine smallholders’ climate adaptation capacity. This underscores the need to strengthen farmer-centered climate information systems and expand inclusive credit mechanisms as these are key drivers of effective and sustained adaptation. The findings provide an empirical basis for guiding the implementation of Kenya’s National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 13 and 2) at the county level.