Assessing The Status Of Crop Farming And Strategies Used To Scale Up Yields For Enhanced Food Security In Turkana County, Kenya

Despite being a culture-centred livelihood activity, pastoralism alone has not guaranteed food and nutrition security for households in Turkana, Kenya. The frequency of droughts and their negative impact on livestock production in the County translate into reduced purchasing power of the pastoral households; causing perennial food insecurity and consequent human indignity. As a growing response to this perennial situation, rain-fed crop production has been introduced in the County at subsistence level. Most pastoralists however still tend to shy away from crop farming largely due to cultural factors and not their technical feasibility. This study assessed the current status of crop farming and analyzed factors limiting diversification to crop farming. Further it appraised measures towards increased adoption of viable crop production systems within households in five locations purposively selected from two Sub-counties of Turkana Central and Loima. A cross-sectional descriptive survey design targeting 357 respondents was used in this study. In addition data was collected from a few key respondents from sub-County Agricultural Extension Offices. Primary data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. On farm experimentation on crop performance under different treatments (drip & bucket irrigation methods) was done in order to demonstrate the potential inherent in crop farming under appropriate crop and land husbandry practices. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Experimental data was subjected to analysis of variance. Results showed that an increasing number of pastoralists are now venturing into crop farming for survival purposes; of which seventy three percent (73%) of the respondents were agro-pastoralists. With a change in attitude away from cultural pastoralism, this percentage can increase with more deliberate and targeted extension service at the County level. Annual average yield of maize in Turkana County was twelve 90kg-bags per acre, while its annual cost of production was Ksh 12,600/acre and the annual revenue was Ksh 32,400/acre.