ABSTRACTAnnually Kenya produces about 20 million tons of poultry meat worth KES 3.5 billionand 1.3 billion eggs worth KES 9.7 billion. However Indigenous chicken productivity hasstagnated due to limited transfer and adoption of improved technologies such asbiosecurity practices by rural households. The productivity of Indigenous chicken hasbeen decreasing in Makueni County despite development agencies, both national andinternational and county government investing heavily in chicken enterpris...
ABSTRACTThe main aim of this study was to assess the suitability of the Athi River water for irrigation in Athi River area and its environs. The study area was within Athi River and Muthwani ward within Mavoko Constituency and in Machakos County, Kenya. Seven sampling points were selected along the study transect (about 8 km) and sampling was done once every week from 21st January to 6th March 2015 (dry season). The water samples collected were analyzed for selected physico-chemical and bacte...
AbstractFood security is a global problem despite the many efforts put to produce enough food to feed the ever rising global population. Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L) is an important crop for food security and provision of proteins for poor households in sub Saharan Africa. In arid and semi-arid lands, beans are very important for they play a major role in food security and nutrition. However, its production in ASALs is constrained by erratic rainfall, moisture deficit, low nutrients upt...
ABSTRACTMass tourism as the dominant form of tourism practice has for decades caused environmental, socio-economic and cultural impacts to tourist destinations. Responsible tourism which is underpinned by sound environmental, social and economic principles, offers a way to mitigate the impacts of conventional tourism. Certification as a toolhelps set standards, put benchmarks to be met by tourism actors and has been one of the strategies used to reduce these impacts. Certification is believed...
ABSTRACTLight pollution is a key biodiversity threat and is defined as one of the global environmental problems threatening key species to extinction and posing a major challenge to biodiversity conservation. The absence of stringent law, good practice and nonexistent environmental standards on light pollution has been a major drawback to management of its effects on biodiversity. This study sought to establish the influence of light pollution and biodiversity awareness on hawkmoth diversity ...
ABSTRACTPeople residing in informal settlements face challenges of service delivery. This is mainly due to the fact that land was occupied illegally, thus impacting negatively on the environment. It was in the background of the above problem, that this study sought to establish the influence of informal settlement on the surrounding environment. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: To establish the extent of informal settlement in Majengo Slums, Narok County, to find out...
ABSTRACTThe surface of the earth is undergoing rapid land use and land cover changes (LULCC) due to various socio-economic activities and natural phenomena. The main aim of this study was to gain a quantitative understanding of LULCC in Makueni County between 2000 and 2016, and analyze the relationship between these changes and their possible underlying drivers in the County. ArcGIS 10.3.1 and ERDAS IMAGINE 2014 were used for the digital image processing and GIS analyses. Image pre-processing...
ABSTRACTThe study was carried out to determine the effectiveness of using a land user based land degradation and livelihood assessment approach, with the overall aim of improving the sustainable management of Lake Naivasha. The study focused on two sub-catchments of Wanjohi and Turasha within the Lake Basin. A cross-sectional survey was selected for this study to allow for triangulation on information collected and to be able to infer the results from the sample to the larger population. The ...
xivABSTRACTCordia sinensis Lam. in the family Boraginaceae is a popular indigenous multipurpose tree speciesvalued for fodder, fruit, structural timber and fuel wood. It is widely distributed in the arid and semiaridlands (ASALs) of Kenya. Production of seedlings is through seeds. There are challengesacquiring viable and vigorous Cordia sinensis seeds for raising planting materials due to difficultiesin post-harvest storage. In spite of the tree‟s exceptional multipurpose qualities and abil...
ABSTRACTRangeland vegetation are important resources for livestock, wildlife and humanbeings and are largely influenced by climatic conditions. The effects of climatechange are varied and among them is uncertainty in dynamics of rangelandsvegetation. The rangeland vegetation in Kenya supports the key economic activitiesof livestock and tourism. This significant contribution to GDP underscores the needto model the impacts of climate change on the rangeland vegetation for the countryto promote ...
ABSTRACTThe aim of this study was to investigate the effects of land degradation on agricultural land use, planning and management in Kalama Division, Machakos County; and specifically determined farmers’ considerations of land suitability for selected types of agricultural land uses in varying cropping zones, investigated farmers’ local environmental knowledge of land degradation indicators and finally documented farmers’ land management strategies and practices for soil and water cons...
ABSTRACTMore than three decades after the introduction of prosopis species in the drylands ofKenya there is now increasing concern about the negative impacts of the plant on thelivelihoods of dryland communities and on the ecological integrity of the fragile aridand semiarid lands. The extent of the species coverage in the arid and semiarid landshas, however, not been fully mapped owing in part to the recent nature of theproblem. As such the aim of this study was to map out the extent of the ...
xviABSTRACTWorldwide, crops that require wild pollinators are showing a deficiency of pollinationand genetic variation. In the recent past, studies show that there has been a steadydecline in production of passion fruits in Kenya. In this study, the major objective wasto investigate factors causing the decline of passion fruit production using ecosystemconcepts, agricultural practices and social-ecological factors using the case scenarioof Mua hills in Machakos County.The study was carried ou...
AbstractClimate variability and extreme events are some of the most pressing environmental challenges occurring in the contemporary world. Farming communities in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Kenya are more vulnerable to climate variability and extreme events due to high dependence on weather patterns in their farming activities. There is little understanding of the vulnerability to climate variability and extreme events among farmers in Kitui County based on the agro-ecological zones. ...
ABSTRACTAs a result of poor performance in statistics introductory course among the students in the universities; the study wanted to find out the factors that influence the performance of students.The purpose of the study was to conceptualize and empirically test ordinal logistic model on the factors affecting students’ statistics performance in public universities. Students’ performance was indicated by the grades they scored in the past statistical courses they undertook. The predictor...