
Study area
This research took place in the communities of Burat
and Kinna in Isiolo County, Kenya (Fig. 1). This study
area was chosen because (1) there is little agroforestry
research from semi-arid regions (2) Burat and Kinna
are the major agricultural areas of Isiolo County, and
(3) there have been no recent agroforestry projects in
these communities, and thus interview respondent’s
answers were not influenced by such projects. Burat
and Kinna fall into the only 5% of Isiolo County that is
classified as semi-arid (the remainder is arid or very
arid), with median annual rainfall ranging from 400 to
600 mm (Mati et al. 2005). At the time of data
collection (2014–2015) most farmers had no official
title to their land, although the process of land titling
was beginning in Burat towards the end of 2015.
Further, it is important to note that neither community
has taken part in any major agroforestry projects, and
that agroforestry adoption has instead happened
without any influence of an official project or inter-
vention. Instead, agroforestry adoption often took
place through interethnic exchanges, including busi-
ness and social interactions, between Meru farmers
and the other, predominately traditionally pastoralist,
ethnic groups.
Burat is located outside of Isiolo Town, and is
ethnically diverse, including Turkana, Meru, Somali,
Borana, and Samburu ethnic groups. Agriculture
began in Burat during the colonial period on small-
scale farms run by British government officials,
however agriculture began in earnest 40 years ago
when Meru from neighboring areas moved onto the
land (personal communication). Presently, irrigation
in Burat is through a system of pipes and generators
from the Isiolo and Aye Nakore rivers. Some of this
infrastructure is privately owned, and some was
constructed by aid organizations. Tree planting began
in Burat in the early 1970s, but agroforestry wasn’t
seriously adopted until the early 1980s (per sonal
communication).
Kinna is a 2 hour drive from Isiolo Town, and
60 km from Garbatulla town. Kinna is dominated by
the Borana ethnic group, with some Meru present.
According to Kinna elders, the Kinna irrigation
scheme (a system of canals fed by one spring and
two small rivers) was dug by the Kenyan National
Government in 1969 and land was allocated on a first
come basis (personal communication). Adopting
agriculture was a strategy for livestock poor Borana
in the decade after independence, when many live-
stock were lost from drought, disease, and negative
government policies (Otuoma et al. 2009).
Drought and flood are two climate change-impacts
that can and do occur in Isiolo County. It is important
to talk about the exposure of these communities to
droughts and flood as exposure is a key component of
vulnerability. According to Funk et al. (2010), since
the 1970s the long rains have declined by more than
100 mm and there has been a warming of more than
1 °C. Water scarcity and recurrent drought are major
constraints to agricultural developm ent in Isiolo
County (Mati et al. 2005) and this is reflected in
previous research in Isiolo County. Quandt (2017),
found that household survey respondents reported
major drought events in 2014, 2011, 2009, and 1984,
and reported a major flood event during the 1997 El
Nin
˜
o. Also, Quandt et al. (2017) found that in Burat
and Kinna 51% of survey respondents reported that
drought was more frequent than 10 years ago, and the
timing of the rains was less predictable (88%). In a
study of 7 communities throughout Isiolo County,
survey respondents reported that drought seriously
impacts agriculture (39% of respondents) and live-
stock keeping (44%), while flo ods impact agriculture
(71%) and livestock keeping (17%) (Quandt and
Kimathi 2017). Agroforestry in Burat and Kinna is
largely dominated by fruit trees, and the major tree
species planted, in order, were papaya, mango, guava,
banana, and neem (Quandt et al. 2018).
Data collection
A total of 20 households, 7 in Kinna and 13 in Burat,
took part in a series of qualitative interviews. At each
household the aim was to interview both the male and
female head of household in order to capture the
experiences of both male and female smallholder
farmers with agroforestry as a tool for climate change
adaptation, which may be different as has been
previously documented (Quandt 2019). However, this
was sometimes not possible when a household only
had a single household head or when one of the
household heads spent significant time away from
home. Each household took part in three rounds of
interviews including an initial interview (Sept 2014),
an interview during the dry season (Oct 2014), and
during the rainy season (Dec 2014). There were a total
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