Adoption of Climate-Resilient Crops in Eastern Africa

Climate variability and population growth threaten food systems in Eastern Africa, necessitating climate-resilient crop adoption. This descriptive study synthesized regional adoption trends of improved varieties between 1990 and 2020 using secondary data from the FAO, IITA, CGIAR, and national statistics analysed via MS Excel. Results reveal widespread but heterogeneous technology diffusion across crops and countries. Improved beans and cassava recorded the highest regional uptake, rising from 14.7% to 66.9% (led by Rwanda at 77.1%) and 13.2% to 60.8% (led by Tanzania at 78.5%), respectively. Improved sorghum adoption reached 42.9%, led by Ethiopia (50.0%). Legumes showed moderate gains, with cowpeas at 28.9% and pigeon peas at 25.7%, primarily driven by Kenya. Conversely, drought-resistant maize (18.8%), bananas (11.4%), and pearl millet (7.5%) exhibited lower regional adoption. Ultimately, these trends underscore significant progress toward climate adaptation and food security, while highlighting critical cross-country and cross-crop disparities in innovation uptake.