Josephine Kihu has invested heavily in her coffee farm in Nyeri, but unreliable rain leaves her unsure whether she’ll harvest anything. Goat farmer Charles Ndung'u has lost 40 animals, and his family has no money. Farmers are bearing the costs of disrupted weather and agricultural losses, doctors say, as climate change and a looming super El Nino add uncertainty to harvests and income.
Farmers Carry the Losses
Kihu said prolonged sunshine forced her to switch to a more resilient variety of coffee bean. Farmers once relied on rain to water seedlings, she said, but now they must pay someone to water the coffee trees. A light shower brought little relief. “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.
Her investment remains at risk. “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,” Kihu said. She believes unpredictable weather has affected farmers’ mental wellbeing, though some may not recognise the source of their distress.
At Kiawara, Charles Ndung'u said goat farming had traditionally provided reliable income despite the area's semi-arid conditions. March rainfall did not provide enough pasture to sustain the animals through a prolonged dry spell. A livestock disease outbreak in June added to the shortage, and losses mounted. From July, some goats grew too weak to stand. Ndung'u said he lost 40 goats in three months.
Early rainfall could wash away the small amount of dry feed the goats have survived on. Fresh pasture will take time to grow. “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.
Income, Children and Mental Strain
Ndung'u said his family depends on the goats to pay school fees. “You would sell one or two and send children to school. Without the goats and money, we have many problems,” he said. The losses threaten household income and the means his family uses to send children to school.
Kahindo Gacago, a clinical psychologist at Outspan Hospital in Nyeri, said climate-related challenges are contributing to mental-health concerns among farmers. He described “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.” Distress can intensify, he said, when farmers feel they’ve lost control over weather they cannot control.
Gacago said he believes about a third of his patients are farmers experiencing mental health issues linked to repeated agricultural losses. Changing climatic conditions can also contribute to a loss of identity when farmers abandon familiar practices, adopt different lifestyles or relocate in search of more promising conditions. Some may turn to alcohol or other substances to cope, he said.
Support Proposed, Losses Continue
Gacago urged policymakers to include mental wellbeing in farmer support programmes, promote climate-smart agriculture and improve access to irrigation. He identified those measures as responses to the pressures farmers face. Kihu pays someone to water coffee trees; Ndung'u reports lost goats. Their accounts show how unpredictable weather affects farm work, income and family expenses.
Farmers in the report describe spending money without knowing whether their crops or animals will bring a return. Kihu says she may invest and harvest nothing. Ndung'u says his family has no money after livestock losses and waits to see whether seeds will sprout. The mental-health concerns doctors describe accompany those material uncertainties.