As the devastating impact of climate change is all too apparent, farmers in Makindu, Makueni County, Kenya, are resorting to climate smart agriculture to put enough food on their table and to improve their lives.

The area, which had tall evergreen trees, large herds of healthy livestock and the flowing Makindu River 30 years ago, has now become a land of dust, with scarce water supply. The rain season, usually arriving in October, has been delayed. Farming is no longer a reliable source of income due to unpredictable rainy seasons and increasingly severe droughts.

Since 2020, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia have experienced their worst droughts in 40 years, following five consecutive failed rainy seasons. The drought left 3.5 million Kenyans in arid and semi-arid counties facing acute food insecurity and killed 2.6 million livestock in pastoral areas, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The innovative farming methods the Makindu farmers are investing in include sinking boreholes for irrigation, digging Zai pits, ripping their fields, planting drought tolerant crops, planting grass for pasture and making terraces.