AGRICULTURAL SECTORS VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND VARIABILITY IN MACHAKOS COUNTY: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Identifying the extent of exposure, agricultural systems sensitivity, and adaptive capacity is essential in addressing agricultural vulnerability in an area and can lead to timely, appropriate, and effective adaptation strategies.Using the systematic literature review approach, this paper documented the vulnerability to climate change and variability of the agriculture sector in Machakos County, Kenya. The results revealed high exposure to climate change and variability, high sensitivity, and low adaptive capacity. With regard to exposure, a warming trend was observed in the County, while climate model outputs predicted enhanced warming and drying towards the end of the 21st century. Farming systemswerefound to be highly sensitive to impacts of climate change and variability, characterized by high incidences of drought, high rural population density, high percentage of smallholder farmers, and extremelyhigh susceptibility to land degradation. Adaptive capacity is generally low but depicted by substantial social capital and highly diversified agricultural production.