Assessing opinion leadership strategies used to communicate Adaptive Climate Change Information among Residents of Kitui Central Constituency in Kenya

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of opinion leadership strategies used to communicate adaptive climate change information (ACCI) among residents of Kitui Central Constituency (KCC) in Kenya. A sample of 564 respondents was surveyed. The study had two specific objectives (1) to evaluate attributes of opinion leaders who communicate ACCI among residents of KCC (2) to examine opinion leadership strategies used to communicate ACCI among residents of KCC. The study found that various community leaders in KCC were opinion leaders (OLs) of ACCI. They were rated highly if they were knowledgeable, social and trustworthy. They used various strategies to reach the residents with simple, applicable and therefore understandable messages. The study concluded that opinion leadership remains a highly rated method of simplifying the complex climate change discourse and recommended that it be embraced by experts who seek to enhance the climate change adaptive capacity among Kenyan ASAL residents