Gendered Relational Climate Information Services and Kenyan Pastoralist Adaptation

ABSTRACT Climate Information Services in Kenya operate as gendered socio‐technical assemblages that organise how forecasts gain authority, move through material and institutional gateways, and become usable in everyday adaptation. Based on 12 gender‐disaggregated focus groups in three pastoralist sites in Kajiado County, this study integrates Actor Network Theory with relational agency to analyse how climate information attains legitimacy within differentiated social and infrastructural settings and how this process is patterned by gender. The analysis traces convergences and divergences across the three sites, showing how gendered authority, documentation status, and infrastructural positioning determine whose interpretations are prioritised and who accesses information flows. The findings demonstrate that these relational and material configurations generate distinct adaptation pathways and underscore the need to redesign enrolment practices and strengthen inclusive local arenas.