Historical Climatic Trends and Smallholder Farmers' Perceptions of Climate Variability and Change in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of Kenya

This article presents an overview of smallholder farmers' perceptions climate variability and change in synchrony with historical trends Machakos County, Kenya. Farmers' were obtained using focus group discussions household interviews. Monthly rainfall temperature (minimum maximum) data for the period 1983-2014 used analysis. The interview analyzed descriptive statistics while from qualitative content Mann-Kendall test linear regression analysis to detect statistically significant trends. Meteorological provided some evidence support changes temperature. revealed showed increasing both Most farmers (77.7%) perceived decreasing amounts seasonal contrary trends, which increase rainfall. experienced variations expose farming systems risks. To managing risks, there is a need enhance their adaptive capacity through effective adaptation planning implementation.