Locally Led Climate Action Fund supports Busia County ’s Climate-Smart Agriculture Initiative

Busia County’s commitment to locally driven climate resilience is gaining momentum through the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) programme, an approach strongly aligned with Pragmatic Social Action’s advocacy for community-owned adaptation solutions.

In Benga village, Nambale Sub-County, the County Government has established a 30-acre climate-resilient horticultural park—a model for scaling climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in Kenya. Under the initiative, 120 smallholder farmers each received a quarter-acre plot and training in CSA techniques. They were also provided with seeds for high-value crops including capsicum, kales, butternuts, and watermelon, all grown under irrigation systems to ensure year-round production.

The shift from rain-fed to irrigation-based farming ensures production even during droughts—one of the key principles of Pragmatic Social Action’s policy advocacy on building shock-resistant agricultural systems. Eight acres of the site use drip irrigation while 22 acres are under sprinklers, supported by solar-powered pumping and storage infrastructure.

Challenges and the Policy Call to Action

Despite these gains, farmers remain vulnerable to climate-induced hazards such as heavy rains and hailstorms, which can destroy entire harvests. “We need greenhouses to protect sensitive crops like capsicum,” urged Patrick Makokha, a farmer. “This would safeguard both our crops and our income.”

This call reflects Pragmatic Social Action’s stance that locally led adaptation financing must be flexible enough to address emerging community priorities. Investments in protective structures like greenhouses would not only reduce crop losses but also stabilise incomes and enhance climate resilience.

The horticultural park aligns with the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), which prioritises rural economic growth through agriculture and climate action. It also offers a replicable model for other counties seeking to operationalise the Climate Change Act (2016) and the Climate Change (Amendment) Act (2023), both of which mandate devolved, participatory climate planning.

This initiative demonstrates that when local communities have resources, training, and decision-making power, they can deliver solutions that address both climate challenges and economic needs. Pragmatic Social Action urges county governments and development partners to:

·         Expand CSA training to more farmers, integrating indigenous knowledge.

·         Invest in protective infrastructure (e.g., greenhouses, water harvesting) to reduce climate risks.

·         Ensure flexible funding within FLLoCA to meet evolving community adaptation needs.

·         Promote value addition and market access for climate-resilient crops to increase incomes.