ABSTRACT Prunus africana (Hook. f) Kalkman happens to be among the very important tree species. Its bark is used to treat prostate gland hypertrophy (PGH) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The increased demand for its medicinal value, together with other uses, has led to the over exploitation of this species in its natural habitat. Its cultivation by small-scale farmers appears to be the only long-term solution for meeting future products needs and its conservation. There is however li...
ABSTRACT French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an increasingly important vegetable crop in Kenya accounting for a significant proportion of foreign exchange earned from horticulture. Farmers in Kenya experience insufficient and unreliable rainfall that affects yields and subsequent family incomes. Attempts to address this situation have been further hampered by poor rainfall distribution. Integration of plant growth regulators in French bean production are among the options that have been su...
ABSTRACT The maintenance of proper levels of soil organic matter (SOM) has been advocated as one of the main ways of combating soil fertility decline in sub Saharan Africa (SSA). SOM levels can be increased through increased aggregate formation as soil aggregates physically protect SOM, from its loss through decomposition. The objective of this study was to investigate how the amendment of soils of varying texture and fertility levels with fertilizer-N and organic resources affects aggregate ...
ABSTRACT The macadamia industry in Kenya has been faced with numerous operational and marketing challenges forcing the government to impose export ban of raw nuts since 2008 to date. The then Ministry of Agriculture appointed a task force in 2011 to specifically look into challenges that have been facing the macadamia industry including import ban of Kenya’s kernel by USA. Export of macadamia nuts from Kenya has also dropped from 2 nd to 5 th position in sales volume in the world from 1990...
ABSTRACT Food insecurity and hunger are global challenges attributed to poor crop harvests, land degradation, low soil moisture and declining soil fertility. Low maize yields and household food insecurity in Kajiado, Kenya could be alleviated by use of sustainable agricultural practices such as conservation agriculture (CA), integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) and increased water use efficiency. This study was carried out in Kajiado during the long rainy season of March-July, 2016 to...
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 This study sought to examine the different ways in which secondary school based clubs in Jinja District, Uganda addressed Nile basin environmental threats. The ultimate goal of the study was to enhance secondary school based clubs capacity to address the environmental threats in Uganda effectively. Primary data was collected through use of questionnaires, Focus Group Discussions (FGD), photographs and observation methods from selected secondary schools. Secondary data was gathered fr...
Cereal banks in Kenya were started by Government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society with the aim of enhancing local food security, improving incomes and livelihoods for maize farmers through collective marketing. Despite efforts of establishing them, majority have collapsed once outside support is withdrawn. Generally it is known that farmer organizations including cereal banks tend to collapse if there is no participation in group activities, poor group manag...
ABSTRACT Recently, there has been emergence in the use of modern Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in the different operations of agrienterprises. This ranges from the provision of agricultural information to marketing of agricultural products through the use of ICT tools such as mobile phones, television and radio. Despite the potential of ICT tools to enhance efficiency in agrienterprises operations, little is known about the effect of ICT use on performance and farm income of sm...
ABSTRACT Recently, there has been emergence in the use of modern Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in the different operations of agrienterprises. This ranges from the provision of agricultural information to marketing of agricultural products through the use of ICT tools such as mobile phones, television and radio. Despite the potential of ICT tools to enhance efficiency in agrienterprises operations, little is known about the effect of ICT use on performance and farm income of s...
The study assessed the status of Sanitation in selected public schools of Kabushi Constituency in Ndola district. The study employed a cross sectional or survey design. The target population consisted of the Ndola city council public health department, school administrators, teachers and pupils in public schools. Purposive sampling was used to select Ndola as the study area, four (4) headteachers and two key informants from the department of health. The simple random sampling method was us...
ABSTRACT Upland rice contributes substantially to food and nutritional security in many African countries. Introduction of NERICA cultivars was meant to boost the production and hence area under upland rice. Factors such as poor soils and inadequate rainfall limit both the quality and achievement of yield targets. The research aimed to establish the impact of water levels, fertilizer rates on nutrients uptake and performance of NERICA 1 rice variety. It was carried out in a greenhouse settin...
ABSTRACT Soya bean is an important crop grown globally. It is the main source of dietary protein and oil and is used commercially to produce livestock feed and food for humans as well. Soy farming is mostly practised in the western and central regions of Kenya but the yield is low compared to other countries. Production is low in Kisii yet the potential for optimum yield is documented. Poor soya bean yield is thought to be caused by infertile soils due to poor agronomic and management practi...
Abstract Amaranth is an important crop owing to its highly nutritious grains and leaves. The leaves have high vitamins and calcium levels while grains are rich in proteins. Amaranth flour is used to fortify other flours due to its highly digestible proteins. Some industrial and medicinal properties have also been associated with amaranth leaves and grains. Green grams, common beans, and cowpeas are important sources of proteins from plant. This makes them cheap and valuable substitutes for me...
ABSTRACT Livestock provide food to humans and income to producers. Chicken and their products provide 28 per cent of all meat globally. Chicken producers are always looking for new feed ingredients for use in feed formulations. In Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of Kenya, Acacia tortilis trees grow in the rangeland and produce large quantities of seeds during the dry season. The leaves and pods are eaten by ruminants and hence, presents an opportunity to fed chicken. There exists no empirical evide...