Monitoring Agricultural Drought: The Case of Kenya - Monitoring and Predicting Agricultural Drought: A Global Study - page 249

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indicating their agroecological conditions and drought resistance status.
Barley, kidney beans, soya beans, maize, and wheat can succumb to
drought conditions and rainfall that is not well distributed (table 18.3).
The potential effect of drought on agricultural production in Kenya has
been minimized through selection of appropriate and timely agricultural
practices such as Katumani composite B, Makueni composite B, and Mwezi
Moja beans variety.

C onclusions
Hazards related to rainfall events such as drought have devastating impacts
on almost all national socioeconomic activities in Kenya. It has been noted
that a single extreme drought, like the 1999-2001 ENSO-related drought,
can regress national socioeconomic growth by several decades. The best
strategy to minimize drought-related impacts include drought monitoring
and prediction for early warning purposes. Kenya has learned from past
mistakes and has now developed a disaster management plan that has
been passed to parliament for approval. The country has also established a
drought monitoring system that includes climatic and rural socioeconomic
indicators for 17 drought-prone areas. The program is being extended to
other parts of the country. Strong support is also being provided to the
national meteorological services and for some of their multidisciplinary
research efforts. For example, Kenya NMS has worked with several gov-
ernment departments through a United Nations Development Programme
project to address how climate information could be factored in the spe-
cific sectors and the national disaster management program. The NMS and
DMCN have played an important and useful role in providing weather and
climate advisories in Kenya and advance warnings of droughts. Some of the
drought-mitigating measures that have been used in Kenya include selec-
tion of appropriate and timely agricultural practices, use of farming and
water harvesting techniques to optimize production, and use of drought-
resistant crops.
The challenge ahead for agricultural drought monitoring in Kenya relies
heavily on the availability of skilled human resources, downscaled predic-
tion and early warning products, timely delivery of the required informa-
tion and products, and the ability to have sound drought shock-absorbers.
Also, it is important that an integrated approach to drought monitoring
be used that will include information about soil moisture, reservoir and
groundwater levels, stream flow, and vegetation health. Some of the issues
required to effectively address drought challenges in Kenya will require
regional and international cooperation.

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Re ferences
Ashley, J. 1993. Drought and crop adaptation. In: J.R.J. Rowland (ed.), Dryland
Farming in Africa. McMillan Education Ltd., London, pp. 46-67.