Extreme Temperatures are Hurting our Farmers at the Kenyan Coast! Climate Change is Real!!

It is exceptionally hot at the Kenyan Coast!!!!! Perhaps one of the hottest season, the Kenyan Coast has ever experienced in the last 20 years. And our Oyeska Greens www.oyeskagreens.com farmers are feeling the heat. 
Traditionally, we have grown crops like corn and vegetables like tomato. However, the extreme high temperatures are forcing us to reevaluate the crops we ought to be planting. Recent pictures from the Kenyan Coast tell the story! 
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Picture above shows how extreme temperatures are affecting crops like corn.

When times change...so must we ...
Having realized that times have changed and that the climate we relied and counted on is gone, farmers are beginning to make the transition. Kenyan Coast Oyeska Greens farmers are beginning to grow more drought tolerant vegetable species such as Mchicha! 

Meanwhile, other farmers are switching to drip irrigation. But the majority of our farmers are poor and cannot afford drip irrigation. For instance out of a community of more than 10 000 farmers, only one farmer has the financial capital and has invested in drip irrigation.

We continue to believe  in agriculture and the potential it has to lift millions out of poverty! But with climate change posing new threats to agriculture, farmers must find ways to cope with the changes. Planting drought tolerant crops, investing in drip irrigation and finding innovative ways to harvest rain water seem to be promising approaches to increase resilience of smallholder farmers against the impacts of weather and climate-related extremities.  ​