ABSTRACT Corporate Social Responsibility, otherwise known as CSR, has been defined as the continuing commitment by businesses to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families, as well as the local community and society. Studies have shown that businesses can no longer ignore communities within their areas of operations otherwise they risk harmonious coexistence. For many companies, managing CSR is no longer seen as an extra cost or...
ABSTRACT A lot of effort is put on 'proximate' threats to conservation, overlooking the 'ultimate' conservation goals in the process. Ultimately, attempts need to be made to conserve not just individuals or populations, but processes that have been on-going over vast geographical space and long evolutionary time, such as gene flow and natural selection. So far, little is known about these historical processes that decisions affecting the management of species in fragmented landscapes are alw...
ABSTRACT This study was designed to analyze profit and risk management strategies in selected agribusinesses in Imo, Nigeria. The methods of proportionate sampling, followed by random sampling techniques were adopted in selecting the Local Government Areas and the sample size. Data were collected with the use of questionnaire administered on 168 agribusiness entrepreneurs (87 food crops and 81 livestock entrepreneurs). The data collected were analyzed using frequency distribution, percentage...
ABSTRACT Trees provide both direct and indirect benefits to humans, who depend on them for their livelihoods. Forest ecosystems are vulnerable to over-utilization and exploitation due to the sensitivity of its complex and highly diverse ecosystem. The aim of the study was to determine the human impact on tree species diversity, abundance, plant population structure and uses of forest trees by local communities adjacent to Chemususu forest Reserve in Koibatek Sub-County, Baringo County. Ques...
ABSTRACT Reduced food productivity in smallholder farms is the principal cause of food insecurity in semi-arid parts of Kenya. This is mainly attributed to decline in soil fertility, low and unreliable rainfall, land degradation and adverse effects of climate change. The solution lies in the efficient use of nutrients and planting of drought tolerant crop varieties that can cope with the low rainfall in the ASALs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of FYM, mineral fertilizers a...
ABSTRACT Gulella taitensis is a land snail of the family Streptaxidae and genus Gulella. It is endemic to Taita hills and categorized as endangered on the IUCN Red List. The species is threatened by habitat loss and disturbance due to human activities. Two people sampled snails at four sampling plots using standard timed direct search for one hour. Soil samples were collected from four different points within these sampling plots, and its pH, calcium and electrical conductivity obtained using...
ABSTRACT Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) culture in Kenya is mainly conducted in low input ponds where supplementary feed is given alongside pond fertilization. Excess nutrients in the culture water in form of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) may make the culture environment susceptible to invasion by disease-causing microorganisms. In the recent past, probiotics have received much attention as a new strategy in fish health management and have been documented to improve fish growth p...
ABSTRACT An experiment was carried out for two seasons in Kiambu County to investigate the influence of organic and inorganic fertilizer on growth, anti-nutrients characteristics in amaranth species and the changes in the soil rhizosphere. This is because continuous usage of inorganic fertilizer affects soil structure. Hence, organic manures can serve as alternative to mineral fertilizers. Application of pesticides and inorganic fertilizers had adverse effects on nutrient leaching, pesticide...
ABSTRACT The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), undertook a biological control (BC) programme for control of stemborers from 1993 to 2008, to reduce cereal yield losses due to stemborer attack in East and Southern Africa. The programme released four biological control agents—Cotesia flavipes, Cotesia sesamiae, Telenomus isis and Xanthopimpla stemmator—to control the economically important stemborer pests Busseola fusca, Chilo partellus and Sesamia calamistis. ...
ABSTRACT The tea industry in Kenya is rural-based and provides a livelihood to over three million people. Tea is grown in prime agricultural land and can be potentially productive for 100 years if well managed. Peak yields under optimal management are obtained at 20–40 years after planting only if gaps that arise due to factors such as lightening, pests, diseases, unfavorable climatic conditions and incorrect pruning are taken care of through an elaborate infilling program and use of appro...
ABSTRACT Drier parts of Embu County endure high atmospheric heat, prolonged dry spells, declining soil fertility and erratic rainfall. Local soil and climatic variability contributes to large variations among replications of experimental treatments and inconsistence in research results leading to poor comparability of results within and without different agro-ecological zones (AEZs) hence need for site specific scenario analyses through modelling. Thus, this study sought to; i) evaluate seaso...
ABSTRACT Nitrogen is a major mineral nutrient limiting growth, development and production of crops in Kenya. The cost of production is way beyond the purchasing power of smallholder farmers, coupled with the low availability of nitrogen in the soil has significantly contributed to the reduction in rice productivity in Kenya. In rice growing regions, including Busia, Kisumu and Kirinyaga counties, there is evidence of pollution due to high losses of N experienced from agricultural fields. Redu...
ABSTRACT Populations of riverine fishes have been on a continuing decline since the early 1970s. This has been attributed to channeling, destruction of riparian vegetation, agricultural and industrial pollution, hydrologic alterations, introduction and invasion of exotic fish species, illegal methods of fishing such as the use of herbs and nets with small mesh sizes and other anthropogenic factors. Estimates from throughout the globe suggest that 75 to 95 percent of riverine habitats are deg...
ABSTRACT Riverine benthic communities play a crucial role in trophic relationships by providing major sources of energy to economically and ecologically important fishes. With the declining production of the Lake Victoria fisheries, the importance of surrounding rivers as sources of fish will continuously increase. There is therefore need to refocus the management of the riverine ecosystems in order to improve their fisheries production, particularly concerning their natural fish food product...
ABSTRACT Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is an under-utilized crop that is tolerant to drought, flooding, saline-alkaline, infertile soils and high temperature. Farmers maintain landraces through preference selection and obtain seed from different sources. Local germplasm provides greater genetic variability and may provide useful traits to broaden the genetic base. Decline in use may erode the genetic base, preventing use of distinctive traits in crop adaptation and improvement w...