Many are struggling to find new careers as unpredictable weather short-circuits their skills
p>VIHIGA, Kenya (AlertNet) - In the face of erratic rainfall patterns, persistent droughts and poor food production, many Kenyan farmers are struggling to maintain their livelihoods.But another group is also finding itself a casualty of the country’s unpredictable weather -rainmakers.
A traditional and familiar part of agricultural life in western Kenya, rainmakers have long been called upon to predict the coming of rain so farmers will know when to sow their crops.
But many are finding their skills short-circuited by the new weather conditions, which are likely related to climate change.
“Nowadays, with the change of climate and rainfall patterns, (farmers) do not wish to be disappointed,” said Samson Munywoki, a lecturer in sociology at the United States International University in Nairobi.
“In some incidences, when a traditional rainmaker predicts rain in a certain season and it fails, the farmers cease (using) his services.”
In search of reliable information, many farmers are turning instead to meteorologists, scientists and agricultural specialists, in the hope that that these experts have the answers to their problems.
Traditional rainmakers, meanwhile, must find other work.
"I used to make a reasonable amount of profit advising farmers, but now I am thinking of switching to another career which may bring better opportunities, such as brick making,” said Peter Muhatia, a rainmaker from Western Kenya.
“I am not so educated and never managed to go to a secondary school classroom, but I am a hardworking person.”
Muhatia says that a small number of rainmakers still make a reasonable living because they have managed to establish and maintain a rapport with many farmers for decades.
The Kenyan government does not keep records of the numbers of rainmakers, and relies on meteorologists for matters relating to climate. Rainmaking is a skill that is often passed down within families, from father to son.
MAKING PREDICTIONS
Rainmakers make their predictions to farmers in special ceremonies, sometimes relying on aches in their bodies to foretell the coming of rain, or interpreting signs in the natural world.
The best rainmakers can sometimes predict the onset of rain with astonishing accuracy. But they lack other occupational skills, and the majority do not know how to read and write, making it difficult for them to find other work.
"I cannot go to any other job because of my age and I only have (informal) education,” said Shilavula Khamadi , 78, a rainmaker from Vihiga. Khamadi says that his children and grandchildren, who are educated, give him occasional financial support.
Wafula Masakhalia, who owns a 10-acre farm in Western Kenya, said rainmakers still have some value.
"I do not despise traditional rainmakers. There are times when we farmers need them,” he said. "They help our local community to know when is the best time to prepare our land and sow our seeds.”
But Masakhalia feels that the rainmakers’ specific predictions are no longer reliable.
“I have been a victim of crop failure when rains fail to come," he said.
Many of those who still seek the services of rainmakers are small-scale farmers, but the rainmakers’ fees, which can be as much as 2,000 Kenyan shillings (about $20) for a session, are seen as increasingly expensive, particularly as incomes are hit by drought and other weather-related problems.
“We spend so much money on them for nothing, yet we could (use) that money to feed our children,” said 32-year-old Anna Shikuku, 32, a single mother and farmer.
Some rainmakers are trying to expand their skills and give more general agricultural advice to farmers, instructing them to grow different crops in order to cope better with drought.
“Offering extension services to farmers gives us more money than predicting rain," said James Wafula, a rainmaker in Western Kenya.
Even Kenya’s meteorologists are finding predicting the country’s erratic weather a struggle, they admit.
METEROLOGISTS ALSO STRUGGLING
Peter Ambenje, deputy director of the Meterological Department of Kenya, said the unpredictable rain patterns sometimes confuse even the Meterological Department itself. But he expects the current drought to last beyond the upcoming short rainy season in October and November.
“As a scientist, I really feel for the farmer as they are the ones who suffer the heaviest losses,” he said.
"Obviously climate change is real and it is here to stay,” he added. “The only thing that can be done is to minimize its impacts.”
Munywoki, of the United States International University, said he has respect for the skills of traditional rainmakers, and believes the best way to preserve their occupation would be for them to team up with meteorologists to tackle climate change.
"Yes, climate change has affected them, but one thing for sure is that they have good predictions, at times even stunning meteorologists," he said.
But he feels traditional rainmakers will have to cede their leading position to more modern professionals, in the same way that traditional home birth attendants have given way to hospital births.
Gitonga Njeru is a science journalist based in Nairobi.
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