Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of on-farm testing on the adoption of banana production technologies among smallholder farmers in the Meru region, Kenya. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopted a pragmatic paradigm and a cross-sectional survey design, sampling 370 and 30 farmers proportionately from 269,499 to 19,303 smallholder banana farmers in Meru and Tharaka-Nithi Counties of Kenya, respectively. Findings – The study revealed that ...
Abstract The Kenya Government prioritized the development of the agricultural sector to achieving the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of sustainable food production. Kenya’s strategic plan, Vision 2030 positions agriculture as a key driver for delivering a 10% annual economic growth and is expected to have an average growth rate of 7% by 2015. Agriculture contributes over 80% of all employment opportunities in the country, but Kenyan youths are not taking advantage of these opportu...
Abstract Declining land productivity is a major problem facing smallholder farmers in Kenya today. This decline is as a result of reduced soil fertility caused by continuous cultivation without adequate addition of manures and fertilizers. Low soil fertility is one of the greatest challenges facing farmers in the central highlands of Kenya. A farmers’ participatory trial was established in Meru South District, Kenya in 2000 to investigate feasible soil nutrient replenishment technologies f...
Abstract Rainwater harvesting has been practiced among smallholder farmers for centuries in many parts of the world. Recently, it has gained more attention due to the reported increasing water demand and the need for sustainable water management. Drawing on data from a cross sectional survey of 384 household heads (HH), the research study explored the determinants for rainwater harvesting among smallholder farmers in Murang’a County, Kenya. Multistage random sampling technique was employed...
Abstract The study investigated the socioeconomic and institutional factors influencing uptake of multiple climate change adaptation practices among smallholder farmers in lower Eastern Kenya. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 384 small-scale farmers. Percentage and regression were used in the analysis. Among the socio-economic factors, gender positively and significantly influenced adoption of conservation agriculture and water harvesting at 5%, respectively. Among the instit...
Abstract: The typical dry bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, is the essential food legume for direct human consumption. They play a significant role in food security and nutrition. Despite their nutritional importance, its production growth rates have declined in Kenya due to diseases, insect pests, plant nutritional deficiencies, and drought. Therefore, this study's main objective was to determine whether there are differences in bean varieties' tolerance to whitefly transmitted viral diseases. The ...
Abstract: There is evidence that food insecurity has been increasing recently in Sub-Saharan Africa. The foundation of this statement is that development of agriculture can contribute both to the increase of food supply and constitute the main source for generating income, thus ensuring access to food by the greater proportion of food insecure people. This study was guided by various objectives in reviewing the global concerns and trends underlying the threat to food security. Emphasis is on...
Abstract: The general study objective was to assess the effect of devolved governance in strengthening food security Mandera County. The study was guided by the following research questions: How does devolved governance affect provision of credit facilities to farmers in their pursuit to supporting food security in Mandera County? What is the effect of devolved governance on capacity development of farmers in enhancing food security in Mandera County? Lastly, how does devolved governance aff...
Abstract: Businesses operate in a world in which information is more readily and publicly available than ever before. Thanks to the development of the Internet, information on market trends, legislation, customers, suppliers, competitors, distributors, product development and almost every other conceivable topic is available at the click of a mouse. Search engines, online libraries, company websites and other sources provide information in an increasingly plentiful, easy to find, and easy to...
Abstract: Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) are relatively common top predators and major consumers within the Southern Ocean. This study aimed to describe the at-sea behaviour of a small population of southern elephant seals at Marion Island and to place this behaviour into an ecological and evolutionary context. Calculations of life-time habitat use for animals from this population revealed that seals spent an average of 77.59% of their lives diving at sea, 7.06% at the sea surfac...
Abstract: Increase of agricultural production and productivity is very important to achieve the goal of food security. An efficient use of the existing resources by farm households improves their productivity and thereby increases their output. Wheat is one of the dominant crops and its productivity is low in the study area. This means that it is possible to obtain additional output from existing inputs used, if resources are properly used and efficiently allocated. This study aimed to estim...
Abstract: The study was aimed at analyzing ware potato value chain in Tiyo district. The objectives were identifying ware potato value chain actors, linkages and their roles; estimating marketing margin; identifying determinants of market participation and extent of participation; and determinants of marketing channel choices. A two-stage random sampling procedure was employed to select 126 households from 5 kebeles. The data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The data w...
Abstract: The performance of the agricultural sector in many developing countries has been rated as belowaverage, in particular the staple cereal crops whose productivity is limited by both biotic and abioticfactors. Furthermore, underperformance by the agricultural sector has in part been attributed to theinability of women to access resources, yet they represent a crucial resource in agriculture and the ruraleconomy through their roles as farmers and entrepreneurs. These challenges can be ...
Abstract: Citrus production in Kenya has been declining due to myriad of challenges, top among them, being pest and disease infestations, with most severe ones noted to be the African citrus triozid (ACT) and false codling moth (FCM) pests and Huanglongbing (HLB) disease. In order to strengthen citrus industry in the sub-Saharan Africa, including in Kenya, the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) and its partners are proposing an alternative strategy for addressing t...
Abstract: Push–pull technology (PPT) is one of the most viable low-cost agroecological practices that reduces the effects of insect pest infestations (e.g., stemborer) and parasitic weeds (e.g., Striga) in croplands. PPT was evaluated in low-fertility soils and two farming practices, minimum-tilled conservation agriculture practice (CA), and conventionally tilled practice (CP), in contrasting agroecological zones at the Chitedze, Mbawa, and Chitala stations in Malawi. Stemborer and Striga ...