For three seasons in a row, the rains that Amina Yusuf's family has timed their planting around for generations simply did not arrive when expected. What used to be a predictable window in March has become a gamble.
“We used to plant when the birds arrived. Now the birds are as confused as we are.”
Amina, a mother of four and a smallholder farmer in Kitui County, says the shift has forced her community to rethink everything from seed choice to planting calendars.
In response, a group of women in her village started a community seed bank, preserving drought-resistant varieties passed down from their grandparents alongside newer, climate-adapted strains distributed by a local agricultural extension programme.
The seed bank now supports over 60 households, and Amina says it has become as much a space for sharing knowledge as it is for storing seeds.
Climate scientists point to shifting rainfall patterns across East Africa as part of a broader trend linked to global warming, with smallholder farmers among those most exposed to its effects.