Utilisation of Climate Information and Community Resilience in Garissa Township Sub-County, Kenya

Climate information services (CIS) can contribute to decisions on climate-sensitive livelihoods, but it is essential to understand and use the information and make it part of the community's action to increase their resilience. This study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional mixed-methods research design which involved the use of both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques. Climate information utilisation and its link with community resilience in Garissa Township Sub-County, Kenya was investigated. The study population was 1200, of which 300 completed the household questionnaires, resulting in a 96.7% response rate. A separate 10 participants were selected purposefully, and all participated in the key informant interviews (KIIs). The data from the questionnaires were analysed descriptively and through Spearman's rank order correlation, and the data from the interviews were analysed thematically. Utilisation of climate information was moderately high (item means range from 3.70 to 3.93 on a five-point scale). The highest mean was for perceived contribution of climate information towards reducing livelihood risk (M = 3.93, SD = 1.015). Resilience response ranged from 3.64 to 3.86. However, utilisation of the climate information was only very weakly positively correlated with community resilience since the relationship was not statistically significant (ρ = 0.035, p = 0.549). Qualitative evidence indicated that the use of a forecast for decisions on livestock movement, household provisioning and preparedness, along with challenges in the interpretation of forecasts and the lack of resources to act on the advice. The results, however, did not prove that there is a direct link between the use of climate information and the improvement of resilience. Rather, accessibility, availability of localised and locally relevant communication, and financial and institutional factors which facilitate household information use was stressed.