Abstract:
Secondary school agriculture curriculum was introduced in Kenya to equip learners with
knowledge on the basic principles of farming. The intention was to bring out school
graduates who would embrace self-employment and even create employment for others in
their farms. Agriculture sector contributes significantly to economic development of this
country through; provision of food, employment, market for industrial goods, raw materials
for industries and foreign exchange. To realize these, agriculture syllabus need to be abreast
with the contemporary issues influencing the agricultural production. Successful farming is
partly dependant on climatic conditions. Therefore, the escalating climate change and
variability occasioned by global warming has added to the numerous risks and uncertainties
facing farming practices. The knowledge gap this study sought to bridge, therefore, was the
inconsistencies in the existing secondary school agriculture syllabus to address climate
change and variability problem. Descriptive opinion survey research design was adopted for
the study. The target population was one hundred and thirty five (135) respondents who were
purposefully drawn for the study. The target population was used, implying there was no
sampling. However, due to natural attrition, the respondents who participated in the study to
the end were one hundred (100). A Likert’s score scale rating process was deemed an ideal
instrument for data collection. Validation of the instrument was done in close consultation
with supervisors and other experts in Agricultural Education and Extension Department of
Egerton University. Reliability of the instrument was established through a pilot study in
Makueni County and calculated to a Coefficient alpha of 0.72 using Cronbach’s Coefficient
formula. Data were analysed and presented using frequencies and percentages. The key
finding of the study was that, 79.1% of the respondents held positive perceptions on
integrating climate change topics into secondary school agriculture syllabus. The main
conclusion drawn from the key finding was that, there is a need to integrate climate change
topics into the existing secondary school agriculture syllabus. The finding further validated
the conventional agriculture teaching resources and methods as reliable in teaching the
climate change concepts.
