For a country like Kenya, in which agriculture is so central to the economy, climate change is a critical cause for concern. It is, then, no surprise, to find that there is a considerable amount of activity occurring in the agricultural sector in relation to climate change. As the production of Kenya’s National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS) demonstrates, the issue has acquired the status of a key national policy challenge. A climate bill is being prepared to go before the Kenyan Parliament, and a large number of actors are engaged across government, the private sector and civil society.
This research update argues that whilst the critical mass building up around climate change policy is clearly to be welcomed on many levels, there are a number of issues that may adversely impact both the efficacy and the legitimacy of climate policy processes. Taken together, these make up a ‘policy quandary’ that needs to be unraveled in order for a policy to make a more meaningful and more appropriate difference in practice to the Kenyan farmers most vulnerable to climate change impacts. We present in this update the following key issues: