**6. Conclusions and recommendations**

The findings show that the Suba district has suffered significant changes in climate patterns in recent times. Some of the experiences and observations of the survey

respondents are confirmed by analyses of long-term data for climate change in Kenya, such as those pointing at an incremental change in the mean temperature since the 1960s [39–41]. The survey results also suggested that many of the respondents did not attribute the climate change phenomena to anthropogenic activities, but rather to natural causes only, confirming that education levels do influence perceptions on climate change as suggested in other studies [21, 37, 38]. The research also showcased a relatively wide utilization of traditional knowledge in coping strategies. Indigenous knowledge in predicting seasonal weather and rainfall patterns, preserving grains for planting purposes, and various traditional farming support systems can be explored and adopted to lessen the impacts of climate change on their agricultural activities. Conversely, robust modern technologies for forecasting weather patterns remain under-utilized in this area. Merging local knowledge with modern science in Africa could, therefore, help in developing agronomical knowledge among farmers in climate change coping and adaptation.

The data confirmed that food availability in the Suba district had reduced due to climate change. Crop failure and low agricultural produce were greatly attributed to unreliable rainy seasons, droughts, and floods among other climate-induced factors, such as the increase of crop pests and diseases. Overall, low food production means low income, low self-sufficiency, and low levels of well-being in the household, thereby threatening human security. From the findings, it is further evidenced that climate change has proportionately caused more problems for the poor households in the Suba district due to their high levels of poverty, poor access to health care facilities, and their limited capacity to adapt to climate change. Low levels of human and physical capital, as put forward by the sustainable livelihoods approach, therefore, have a detrimental impact on households' resilience and ability to cope with the changes brought by climate change.

The formation of network groups by the three villages created viable opportunities for intervention strategies that supported livelihood stability and climate change adaptation in a community participatory approach. Development practitioners in the three villages should, therefore, be careful not to undermine the traditional safety nets present, such as informal coping networks and traditional leadership when introducing or considering new community-based projects. Maintaining these networks of social capital has brought an element of flexibility to livelihood coping strategies during droughts and floods.

Institutional support from both government and donor aid agencies to mitigate the impact of climate change on the target population mostly came in the form of emergency support. This support was only a reaction, and not anticipatory, making the rural population continually dependent in a way that may not be sustainable in the long term. Climate services that should be considered by institutions include meteorological forecasts at finer (local) scales to help farmers adjust their planting and marketing strategies in line with reliable forecasts. Fishermen may also benefit from such meteorological forecasts, where they can avoid fishing in erratic thunderstorms. In addition, such reliable meteorological services will help disaster managers to be better prepared. The introduction of schemes to increase borehole ratio per radius in communities should also be considered. This will help communities to avoid the long-distance travel to access clean and safe water, which is often more than 3 km away, except where communities benefit from nearby institutions, such as schools. Sustainable technologies, such as rainwater harvesting, can also be introduced to store rainwater in tanks for the domestic and agricultural needs of the communities.

## *Climate Change, Rural Livelihoods, and Human Well-Being: Experiences from Kenya DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104965*

The introduction of incentives and compensation for environmental services can support coping strategies implemented by the communities in the study area. Communities might help in reforestation by planting trees and grasses in designated areas to maintain abundant grazing lands for livestock. Such initiatives can be combined with other mitigation efforts, such as rehabilitation of degraded landscapes and general landscape management. This will, however, require substantial funding from local and international institutions, together with dedicated leadership to manage the program sustainably.

Lastly, exploring social and predictive adaptive behaviors among vulnerable communities and identifying them through formative research can be helpful in designing successful programs that support or contribute to climate change adaptation.
