Kenya's glaciers nearly gone as climate change forces farmers to adapt water strategy

Kenya's Mount Kenya and Mount Speke glaciers have lost 95% of their ice mass, a documented consequence of decades of warming that has eliminated a critical dry-season water source for downstream farming communities. As meltwater disappears, farmers across the region are implementing adaptation strategies including pond construction, soil restoration, and crop diversification to sustain livelihoods in an increasingly arid landscape. The loss demonstrates how climate change reshapes agricultural systems in East Africa, a region already vulnerable to drought and food insecurity. Scientists project the remaining glaciers could vanish entirely within years without significant climate intervention.