ABSTRACT Eastern and Southern African countries’ authorities managing protected areas have made an effort to establish wildlife corridors as a respond towards ecological and socioeconomic benefits of connected ecosystems. However these corridors face with various socio-economic activities which degrade and fragment their habitats resulting to malfunction of corridors’ management. The study aimed at examining socio-economic activities impacting management of Selous-Niassa wildlife corridor...
ABSTRACT Covered kernel smut of sorghum caused by Sporisoriumsorghi is a major threat to sorghum production globally. This pathogen has been reported to attack sorghum resulting in yield losses as high as 75% on susceptible sorghum genotypes in Zimbabwe. Twelve sorghum genotypes were screened to determine the incidence and severity of covered kernel smut during the 2014/15 growing season. The trial was done under field conditions, where two artificial inoculation techniques namely seed dressi...
ABSTRACT ARKFor was among nine piloted REDD+ Project aimed at addressing the challenges of climate change and poverty reduction. The initiative intended to reduce significantly deforestation and forests degradation by enhancing alternative livelihood activities. The activities aimed at contributing livelihoods improvement to rural forest dependent communities. However, if the initiative is not well implemented would affect rural livelihood. This study was carried out to assess the socio econo...
ABSTRACT Agroforestry presents a promising option to sustainable agricultural productivity by providing a buffer to climate variability through permanent tree cover and varied ecological niches. Thus, agroforestry can be used as a strategy to adapt to climate change and variability challenges for smallholder farmers. Success of this strategy in adapting to climate change calls for active participation of men and women in agroforestry technologies. This study aimed to establish roles women pla...
ABSTRACT The study was conducted to assess the performance indices of frame hive beekeeping technology. The objectives were to establish the factors influencing the adoption of frame hives within selected beekeeping groups in Kitui County and compare honey production and household incomes among beekeepers using frame and traditional hives. Data were collected through formal interviews by way of a structured questionnaire, in four locations of Kitui County. Systematic random sampling was appli...
ABSTRACT One of the main pillars of Kenya’s vision 2030 is anchored on infrastructure development and economic development .For this reason investment in the nation’s infrastructure has been given a high priority to ensure the economy of the country grows. Over the years, transport infrastructure has been a key player in determining the growth rate of urban towns in Kenya . However, the recent past has seen Narok town starting to face the problem of traffic congestion. The study area bord...
ABSTRACT Makueni County is extremely vulnerable to climate change because its production systems are climate sensitive, and many people are unable to cope up with climatic stress. The aim of this study was to establish water scarcity coping strategies used by rural communities in Kilili sub-location in Makueni sub-county and Kyanguli sub-location in Kibwezi East sub-county, all located Makueni County. The broad objective of the study was to identify water sources, access challenges and coping...
ABSTRACT The main objective of the study was to determine how river discharge and sediment yield in the basin is influenced by variations in rainfall and land use land cover change. The study was based on the analysis of hydrological and meteorological data archived by the Water Resources Authority (WRA) and the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD), respectively. The river discharge, Total Suspended Sediment Concentration (TSSC) and sediment yield data was collected from established river ga...
ABSTRACT Energy affects all aspects of development: social, economic and environmental, including livelihoods, access to water, agricultural productivity, health, population levels and education. Public schools spend a lot of money every year on energy bills. Currently, they are experiencing an exponential increase in student enrolment which puts more pressure on energy needs. This study focuses on cost benefit analysis of different energy sources used in public secondary schools in Mtito And...
ABSTRACT A study was undertaken at Kibwezi division of Kibwezi district to investigate and evaluate the practice and success factors responsible for the range rehabilitation work undertaken by the Dryland Husbandry Project (DHP) in conjunction with local communities. The work involved the identification of most frequently used grasses, through visits and discussions with community groups and key informants. The general objective of this study was to contribute to greater understanding of the ...
ABSTRACT Assessment of human exposure to the naturally occurring fluoride in groundwater in Kenya has not being exhaustive in terms of geographical coverage and the media. There is need to have representative data and information on the extent of human exposure to fluoride and its impact on human health. This study investigated the extent of human exposure to fluoride and its impact on human health in Makindu District, and evaluated the potential risk of using ground water contaminated by flu...
ABSTRACT Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important source of protein, minerals and food for the majority of the poor population in sub-Saharan Africa. However, its contribution to grain yield and micronutrient level is constrained by moisture stress and low available soil phosphorus. A study was carried out to determine the effects of bean genotypes, P fertilizer and moisture regimes on bean (P. vulgaris L.) grain yield and tissue concentration of Zn and Fe in three bean genotypes a...
Abstract Cowpea (Vigna Unguiculata L ) has a variety of uses in Zimbabwe. The crop can be used as food, leaves as vegetable for human and stems as fodder for livestock. Maximising both leaf, grain and the above ground biomass yield of the dual purpose cowpea is one of the ways to improve food security in the country as well as nutritious hay in winter for livestock thus ensuring sustainability in agriculture which is being threatened by climate change. A research was carried out to find out...
Abstract Pine bark is locally available in Zimbabwe and is widely in vegetable seedling production. However, it lacks essential nutrients for seedling growth. Goat manure was used to supplement nutrients when pine bark is used as growing media. The main object of the study was to determine the effect of pine bark amended with goat manure on tomato seedling emergence and seedling quality parameter which were stem diameter and stem length. The study was carried out at the Tobacco Research Boar...
ABSTRACT An experiment on the effect of different storage techniques on taro and tannia corms was carried out in a 2x5 factorial in a complete block design(CBD) replicated three times. Taro and tannia crops and the factors are different storage techniques. The techniques include refrigeration, heap covered with maize stalks, ash smeared corms, pit storage and corms stored under room temperature conditions. Taro and tannia corms were stored for 18 weeks after being cured using the same techniq...