Unpredictable rainfall and agricultural losses are placing growing emotional and financial pressure on farmers in parts of Kenya, according to farmers and a clinical psychologist in Nyeri.
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Farmers in Nyeri and Kiawara have described difficulties linked to prolonged dry conditions, weak pasture growth, livestock disease and rising costs. Kahindo Gacago, a clinical psychologist at Outspan Hospital in Nyeri, said repeated losses and uncertainty over weather conditions were contributing to mental-health concerns among farmers.
Coffee production under pressure
Josephine Kihu, who has farmed coffee in Nyeri for three decades, said extended periods of sunshine had forced her to replace her usual coffee variety with a more resilient type.
She also had to hire someone to water the coffee trees after rainfall became insufficient. Kihu said rainfall had previously been reliable enough that farmers did not need to water their seedlings themselves.
“Let’s see now you can see it’s raining. Is it really raining? This is drizzling. It cannot help the tree. So it forces us to employ someone to water the coffee tree,” she said.
The additional expense has added to the risks faced by farmers who invest in their crops without certainty that they will receive a financial return. Kihu said unpredictable weather was affecting farmers’ mental wellbeing, although some may not identify weather-related uncertainty as the source of their distress.
“Can you imagine how much money, you have invested here? I have invested a lot and finally I don’t harvest anything, I might die. As a farmer, you could go insane,” she said, describing the emotional impact of crop losses.
Goat losses and uncertain pasture
In Kiawara, livestock farmer Charles Ndung’u said rainfall earlier in March did not produce enough pasture to sustain his goats through a prolonged dry spell.
The pressure on his herd increased after a livestock disease outbreak in June. Ndung’u recorded significant losses, and said conditions became worse from July. He said he lost 40 goats over three months.
Ndung’u said the limited dry feed available to the goats could be washed away if rain arrived early, while new pasture would take time to grow. He was also uncertain whether seeds already in the ground would sprout and whether the rains would continue.
“The seeds are in the ground and we are not sure if they will sprout. We are waiting to see if the rains continue. If they don’t grow, that’s more stress. We don’t have money,” he said.
Goat sales are an important source of household income for Ndung’u’s family, including money used for school fees. “Without the goats and money, we have many problems,” he said.
Psychological effects of repeated losses
Gacago said farmers were facing cumulative losses and chronic stress from repeatedly having to plan around weather conditions outside their control. He estimates that about one-third of his patients are farmers dealing with mental-health issues linked to repeated agricultural losses, though that estimate is not independently verified.
“The cumulative losses and also the chronic stress that comes with always having to plan to know what to do at this time or when,” Gacago said.
He added that the psychological impact can intensify when farmers feel they have lost control over their livelihoods. Changing climatic conditions, he said, may contribute to loss of identity, lifestyle changes and relocation. Some farmers may also turn to alcohol or other substances as coping mechanisms.
“Especially when you feel like you’ve lost control, because something like the weather it’s not something in your control,” Gacago said.
Gacago urged policymakers to include mental wellbeing in programmes supporting farmers. He also called for greater promotion of climate-smart agriculture and improved access to irrigation as farmers contend with increasingly uncertain growing conditions.
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