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Climate change and land degradation adversely affect food security in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Smallholder farmers are the most affected. Therefore, it is imperative to identify technologies that boost resilience to climate change, and restore lands. Push-pull technology is among proposed solutions. This technology controls stem borers, fall armyworm, striga, mycotoxins; improves availability of nitrogen and phosphorus, and stores increased carbon in biomass and soils. Though much has been published about push-pull technology, there is a lean in publications about how this technology can help smallholder farmers to cope with climate change and variability. Here, we present perceptions of adopters of push-pull technology in western Kenya with regard to climate change and land degradation, and discuss reasons it should be adopted widely. We compared push-pull and other maize-based cropping systems in western Kenya, through interviews. Push-pull technology produces 0.3–1.1 ​t more maize ha−1 compared to maize-bean intercrop, and maize monocrop when the season is drier than normal. Additionally, push-pull provides 3.6–9.8 ​t more fodder during drought-stricken seasons. Push-pull technology covers 70% of the soil surface compared to 20% cover found in maize-bean intercrop and maize monocrop. In push-pull farms, 150–280 ​kg nitrogen, 13–24 ​kg phosphorus and 370–470 ​kg potassium can be recycled through biomass and this is five times greater than the potential for maize-bean intercrop and maize monocrop. There is need for wide adoption of push-pull technology to increase resilience of farmers to climate change and restore degraded lands.

Push-pull technology improves agricultural productivity. However, its long-term effect on biomass carbon and soil organic carbon (SOC) is not yet known. The aims of this study were: to assess the effect of push-pull technology on (1) biomass carbon and (2) SOC, considering climatic conditions and the length of time that push-pull had been practiced on a farm; and (3) to establish the relationship between biomass carbon and SOC on farms. Aboveground biomass carbon and SOC were measured on 36 farms in western Kenya, encompassing three contrasting sites (Bondo, Siaya and Vihiga) and six cropping systems (push-pull and five non-push-pull systems). Farms in western Kenya stock between 3.0 ± 0.3 and 4.0 ± 0.4 t C ha−1 in crop biomass and between 24.4 ± 2.1 and 37.0 ± 2.6 t C ha−1 in the soil for those practicing push-pull, and between 1.1 ± 0.3 and 2.1 ± 0.2 t C ha−1 biomass carbon and between 19.2 ± 2.1 and 31.1 ± 1.7 t C ha−1 soil carbon for those without push-pull. There was no correlation between biomass carbon and SOC. Adoption of push-pull offers opportunities to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration in plants and soils in low-, medium- and high-rainfall environments in both long and short rain seasons.