{"id":58454,"date":"2026-05-14T10:38:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/?p=58454"},"modified":"2026-05-14T10:38:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:38:00","slug":"in-kenya-better-information-helps-farmers-manage-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/05\/in-kenya-better-information-helps-farmers-manage-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"In Kenya, Better Information Helps Farmers Manage Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) are working with Kenya\u2019s farmers to help them respond to risks and make the right decision for their livelihoods and communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jordan Chamberlin, an agricultural economist and a principal scientist at CIMMYT, works with his colleagues to understand the constraints farmers face and how they allocate their resources. All of this helps the team target \u201cthe bottlenecks for unleashing the potential farmers have,\u201d he tells Food Tank.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Kenya, producers are <\/span>working in rainfed systems<\/span><\/a>, which are \u201cinherently risky,\u201d Chamberlin explains. He notes that many solutions being developed for farming systems aim to harness big data and analytics to provide better predictions and site-specific advice that will help producers thrive. But these tools don\u2019t account for everything.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CIMMYT\u2019s researchers acknowledge that each suggestion provided by these new and emerging tools demand investment from farmers upfront. But recommendations to adopt a new technology or follow a set of practices to grow their crops doesn\u2019t offer the full picture. Farmers may not understand the potential or the risks associated with that approach, making them reluctant to make a change. Knowledge can empower them to make more informed choices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to ask: How do we think about the information that we present to farmers to clarify what the value proposition is if we\u2019re trying to encourage technology change on smallholder farms that don\u2019t have a lot of resources?\u201d Chamberlin says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In agriculture, however, the return on investment can take years to see and in the face of inconsistent rainfall patterns, pests, and price uncertainty, it\u2019s not always easy to predict. That\u2019s why Chamberlin\u2019s modeling is trying to \u201cbetter characterize that kind of variability.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Once researchers have the information, the next step is to share it with farmers who are often coming from different educational backgrounds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the work that we\u2019ve done indicates that farmers respond better to information about the variability of financial returns,\u201d Chamberlain tells Food Tank. And they\u2019ve seen that presenting this clearly can help producers \u201covercome some of the inertia in the face of all this uncertainty.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen to or watch the full conversation with Jordan Chamberlin on Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg to hear more about how we can better mitigate risks for farmers, what CIMMYT is doing to help producers improve soil health, and the effects of funding shocks and conflict that are rippling through communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n