ABSTRACT Climbing beans were developed by International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and are heavily being promoted over bush beans in humid highlands of South Western Uganda; characterized by steep degrading hill-slopes. Climbing beans yield two to four times more than bush beans and are characterized with heavy vegetation cover and longer maturity period of 200 days over bush beans. These two types of beans are the major legume cover crops heavily cultivated at the middle landscap...
ABSTRACT Land degradation is a major threat to food security and natural resources management in Rwanda as well as in SSA. The major objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of tillage methods, residue management and fertilizer application on bean and maize yield, soil properties and water productivity in Bugesera District, Rwanda. Experiment was established in Bugesera district located in Eastern province of Rwanda. The experimental design was Split Plot with 4 replications. The m...
Abstract Soil erosion and declining soil productivity still continue to manifest in most of the agricultural systems found in Sub-Sahara Africa and this has threatened the agricultural productivity, biodiversity, water quality and availability as well as the livelihoods of the poor who depend on land. In Uganda, this has been attributed to poor land use practices with inadequate SWC measures and persistent nutrient mining of the soils with little or no replenishment. Highland areas of Kabale...
ABSTRACT Wetland ecosystems provide a wide range of goods and services that are important in supporting the livelihood of many rural communities. Despite their importance, overexploitation and in the absence of conservation measures, wetlands continue to be degraded by hurrian activities. Population growth pressure and .subsequent food insecurity have lead to the communities living near the wetland areas to reclaim the wetlands, thereby threatening the existence of the ecosystem. Factors res...
ABSTRACT Health problems associated with the consumption of untreated drinking water is one of the greatest concerns in Kabale District inspite of government’s efforts to provide safe drinking water to the people. Household water treatment and safe storage has been shown to be an effective means of reducing health problems associated with unsafe drinking water. The purpose of this study was to examine household water treatment technologies (HWT) and evaluate their ability to improve microbi...
ABSTRACT Mulching is one of the major soil and water conservation measures applied for conserving soil moisture and modifying soil physical environment. The study aimed at assessing the effect of mulching on soil hydro-physical properties and its adoption in Kibaale sub-catchment, Uganda. Specific objectives were; to determine the effect of mulching on soil hydro-physical properties and to determine the farmers‟ socio economic and institutional factors affecting its adoption. Samples were o...
ABSTRACT The global demand for fresh water exceeds supply leading to scarcity, especially in sub-Saharan African countries such as Kenya, the latter with 647 m3 of water per capita per annum against the recommended level of 1000 m3. Kenya therefore experiences water scarcity that is severe for the households in the semi-arid regions such as Machakos County. Rooftop-Rain-Water-Harvesting (RRWH) can improve domestic water supply but there is limited information on the effects of rainfall variab...
ABSTRACT Yesterday, development initiatives favoured elaborate and costly programmes/projects. Today, emphasis has shifted to poverty reduction strategies. Diaz-Bordanave (1979) argued that the heavy investments in development programmes coupled with their very large number appear incommensurate with outcomes. Recently, Sachs (2005), in a study on achievements of Millennium Development Goals, aimed at poverty reduction, concludes that progress so far has been spotty, and extreme poverty is, ...