NAIROBI, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Wednesday launched a framework to help provide guidance in mainstreaming climate-smart agriculture (CSA).
Andrew Tuimur, chief administrative secretary in the ministry of agriculture, livestock and irrigation, said the 2018-2027 framework will help reduce vulnerability of agriculture systems by cushioning them against the impacts of climate change.
"The framework is aimed at reducing greenhouse gases emissions and mainstream CSA to support the transformation of Kenya's agricultural sector into an innovative, commercially oriented, competitive and modern sector," Tuimur told journalists in Nairobi.
The framework will also help the government and stakeholders develop a sustainable system that will help achieve coordinated, coherent and cooperative governance in CSA, he added.
Over the years, Kenya has experienced climate change impacts that include increase in temperature and change in rainfall patterns that have led to reduced crop and livestock production, Tuimur said.
CSA is an approach for transforming and reorienting agricultural development under the new realities of climate change, providing the means to help stakeholders to identify agricultural strategies suitable to their conditions, he said.
The framework will also help strengthen communication systems on CSA extension and agro-weather issues toward achieving a sustained food and nutrition security for all, Tuimur said.
Gabriel Rugalema, Kenya representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), welcomed the framework as a timely intervention in climate change management.
He called on the government to translate the framework into local languages so that farmers and communities who are most affected by climate change could understand the content to make required decisions.
"Climate change information and planned activities must be shared out to everyone since it is currently increasing the cost of doing business in agriculture and threatens food security in the country," Rugalema added.
