ABSTRACT Jojoba is a dioecious desert shrub which produces oil of high quality equivalent to that of sperm whale. It is used mainly in the cosmetic and lubrication industry. Currently, there is low production of jojoba globally mainly due to high male to female ratio in the plantations since they are mainly established from seed. To overcome this problem, five experiments were set up with the aim of characterization, propagation and management of jojoba in semi arid areas of Kenya. The exper...
ABSTRACT Information Communication Technologies (ICT) have been used as one of the intervention strategies in the reduction of loss along the agricultural value chains in the developing countries. ICT has been used in Malian agriculture in general as an intervention strategy to acquire information in agriculture sector, but not necessarily in dairy sector alone. In recent years, there has been an improvement in the dairy sector due to the development of peri-urban dairy farming. This has res...
ABSTRACT Weather and climate variability are the major production risks and uncertainties impacting agricultural systems performance and management. This study investigated the access and factors that influence the utility of agro meteorological information by smallholder irrigation farmers in Lari Wendani and Perkerra irrigation schemes in Kenya. A systematic random sampling procedure was employed to select 255 farmers from a total population of 776 farmers. In Lari Wendani 33 farmers were ...
ABSTRACT Agricultural universities invest substantial resources in postgraduate research and generate knowledge products with the aim of providing practical solutions to known practical constraints impeding productivity in the livestock value chains. However, enhancing utilization of the knowledge products by the target beneficiary actors in the value chain has remained a challenge because of not using effective knowledge sharing strategies. Consequently, the gaps between research outputs an...
ABSTRACT Food production in Kilifi district, like in other parts of Kenya, has been declining over the years, lowering food sufficiency to about 30 percent down from 50 percent. Food production continues to decline despite all the efforts put in by the Government and non-governmental agencies, and this has been exacerbated by changes in climate. The adaptation strategies that are in place have not lead to any meaningful improvement and farmers continue to get reduced crop yields each year. F...
ABSTRACT DespitetheimportanceofagricultureinKenya’seconomy,academicachievement ofsecondaryschoolagriculturestudentshasnotbeensatisfactory.Thestudents’ meanscoresinthesubjectfrom theyear2007to2013werelessthan50percentof theexpectedscorenationally.ThemeanscoresinAgricultureinEldoretEastSub County ranged between 5.11 and 5.62 outofthe possible 12.00.This poor performancehasbeenpartiallyattributedtostudents’learningstyles;theirinterest inthematerialunderstudy,motivationandthelearningenviron...
ABSTRACT Secondary school Agriculture in Kenya should equip the learners with knowledge and practical skills necessary for creation of employment. Agriculture is believed to be the backbone of the Kenyan economy contributing to over 30% of the Gross Domestic Product and employs about 80% of the rural population. Kenya Vision 2030 positions agriculture as a key driver for delivering the 10% annual economic growth. It is estimated that 64% of unemployed persons in Kenya are youth, indicating a ...
ABSTRACT Secondary school agriculture curriculum was introduced in Kenya to equip learners with knowledge on the basic principles of farming. The intention was to bring out school graduates who would embrace self-employment and even create employment for others in their farms. Agriculture sector contributes significantly to economic development of this country through; provision of food, employment, market for industrial goods, raw materials for industries and foreign exchange. To realize the...
The central aim of agricultural education at secondary school level is to train students in basic principles of agriculture and develop their skills. Although most schools offering agriculture subject have the school farm, few teachers often use supervised practical lessons. The study sought to determine; the availability of school farm, the level of secondary school students’ access to the school farm, and the influence of class size and teachers’ practical experience on students’...
With gradual recognition of diversity among learners by teachers and school administrators‘ world over; diversity in education remains key in managing learners. Although policy guidelines on elimination of discrimination in schools are available, implementation of diversity management in practically oriented subjects across Africa and particularly in Kenya is not well researched and documented. The purpose of this study was to examine how selected demographic characteristics of teachers...
For many of the world’s people, agriculture is both a source of food and a means of livelihood. In Kenya, the agriculture sector has immense contribution to the economy in terms of providing food, employment and foreign exchange among other roles. Women make essential contributions to the country’s agricultural and rural economy. Besides their daily routine consisting of cooking, cleaning, and other domestic chores, women are heavily involved in all aspects of the country’s agricul...
Agriculture is the backbone to Kenya’s economy. This fact justifies the need to integrate agriculture in the school curriculum, in order to equip the learners with problem- solving skills for self-sufficiency. Low performance of students in agriculture subject has become an issue in Rachuonyo North District, and therefore, factors influencing performance of the students needed to be understood, in order to seek practical ways of supporting the students to improve in their performance i...
Introduction and implementation of secondary school agriculture curriculum in Kenya was an endeavor in meeting the developmental needs of the surrounding communities and the country at large. In the case of Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASALs), there is need for human resource that can improve agricultural productivity of the area. Implementation of agriculture curriculum has not sufficiently integrated agricultural activities in the curriculum within the school in preparation of competent h...
ABSTRACT Low price competitiveness of Tanzania produced rice driven by high production costs calls attention to developing ways of improving efficiency in production. This study was conducted to analyse production costs and factors influencing choice of inputs provider in smallholder irrigated rice production. Specifically, it focused on comparing costs of production, determining factors influencing smallholder irrigated rice farmers’ choice of inputs provider and analysing production cos...