10th U6+ Consortium of African Universities International Conference

At the wake of climate change, natural resources remain central to the livelihoods and resilience of rural African communities, particularly those dependent on rain-fed agriculture. Increasing climate variability, characterized by erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts and declining water availability, continues to undermine agricultural productivity, food and nutrition security, and the sustainability of local ecosystems. Although climate information services have expanded across Africa, many vulnerable communities remain underserved and continue to rely on indigenous knowledge, locally vailable natural resources and nature-based solutions to respond to climate risks. Despite their practical significance, these locally grounded adaptation strategies receive limited attention within formal policy and climate governance processes. Drawing on evidence from Murang'a County, Kenya, this study examines the sources of climate information accessed by smallholder farming communities and explores how natural resources support locally driven climate resilience strategies for sustainable food and nutrition security. A qualitative research design was employed involving three Focus Group Discussions with smallholder farmers in different climatic regions within the county; the highlands, the midlands and the lowlands, and four Key Informant Interviews with agricultural extension officers, environmental regulators, climate communication experts, and community development practitioners. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that farmers continue to use ecological indicators such as behaviour of dragonflies, sparrows, ants, and frogs to forecast rainfall and guide planting decisions. The interpretation of their behaviour and natural phenomena is based on indigenous knowledge, though rarely documented, but passed from generation to generation. However, climate change, biodiversity loss, and habitat degradation have reduced the reliability of many traditional indicators, contributing to the erosion of indigenous forecasting systems. The study revealed that natural resources are not merely ecological assets but also communication platforms through which indigenous knowledge of climate adaptation is generated, shared and sustained. It also found the emergence of hybrid adaptation systems in which farmers combine indigenous knowledge with improved crop varieties, crop diversification, extension services, agro-dealer support, and peerlearning networks. The findings underscore the interaction between formal climate information systems and community-based adaptation practices. Despite these innovations, knowledge integration is constrained by social stigma, religious fatalism, intergenerational knowledge loss, and tensions between indigenous and scientific knowledge systems. The study concludes that strengthening climate resilience requires knowledge co-production approaches that integrate indigenous and scientific climate information while supporting biodiversity conservation and indigenous knowledge preservation. It also recommends more inclusive climate resilience policies that recognise indigenous knowledge, strengthen climate information services and promote sustainable natural resource management for resilient food systems.