Abstract: Though climate change is a global phenomenon, it highly impacts smallholder farmers whose livelihood depends on rain-fed agriculture. As a result, the study was conducted with the objective of examining the perception level, the types of climate change adaptation strategies pursued, and factors influencing the adaptation strategies focusing on randomly selected 175 smallholder farmers from three kebeles in Chiro woreda of West Hararghe zone. Household survey, focus group discussion...
Abstract: Understanding the impact of climate variability (CV) on milk yield and composition is essential to appreciate the need for adoption climate smart dairy adaptation practices. A study was conducted in Mbarara district, Uganda to generate information about climate variability and livestock management adaptation options employed by smallholder dairy farmers using a survey, monitoring and laboratory analysis. Monitoring was used to quantify effects of wet and dry season on cow milk yiel...
Abstract The productivity of sorghum in Kenya is on decline despite sorghum being one of the suitable crops for the arid and semi-arid areas commonly found in Kenya. The study therefore aimed at establishing the effect of the selected socio-economic factors on sorghum productivity using a case of small-scale farmers in Siaya County. The four sub-counties considered for this study were selected on the basis of sorghum production. Stratified and random sampling techniques were applied to ident...
Abstract/Overview Agricultural production all over the world has been affected by continuous climatic changes. Although most developed nations constantly update their farmers with current climate change information that enables them to device appropriate adaptive strategies, farmers in developing countries only learn about the same after its effects have been noticed. Most households in rural areas of Kenya still face food insecurity. However, there is no evidence on whether Kenyan farmers h...
Abstract/Overview Recognition that many agriculture-based economies have few other livelihood strategies has generated the desire to build resilience among smallholder farmers. Globally, due to rapid population growth and continual urban sprawl, average arable land per household is shrinking and hence crop diversification is gaining increased importance in the quest for solutions to the perennial food security problems in most of Sub-Saharan countries. Crop diversification is seen as the mos...
Abstract/Overview Agricultural production all over the world has been affected by continuous climatic changes. Although most developed nations constantly update their farmers with current climate change information that enables them to device appropriate adaptive strategies, farmers in developing countries only learn about the same after its effects have been noticed. Most households in rural areas of Kenya still face food insecurity. However, there is no evidence on whether Kenyan farmers h...
ABSTRACT The study was conducted at Deder District, in East Hararghe Zone, Eastern Ethiopia. The aim of the study was to investigate farmers’ shade tree species preference and evaluate selected soil physicochemical properties under and out-side shade tree canopy. To address the objectives of this study, all necessary data were collected through key informant interview, questionnaire survey and soil sampling. A total of 15 key informants and 60 households were participated for preference ran...
The participation of large-scale agricultural investors in African land transactions raises concerns about the impacts on a rather hitherto local and smallholder dominated land market. However, there is still limited empirical study on how large-scale agro-investments have influenced changes in land markets and smallholder participation in agricultural land markets in West Africa. Hence, this study examined how large-scale land acquisitions in Ghana have influenced land market changes and imp...
The study explored women farmers’ access to agricultural lands and soil fertility management practices in a mixed patrilineal and matrilineal society in the Wa West District of the Upper West Region of Ghana. Women in Ghana including those in the Wa West District living in either separate or mixed patrilineal and matrilineal societies are faced with male domination with regards to decision making and hence women insecurity of tenure to farm land. So, the study used the Theory of Patriarchy,...
The need for practising modern techniques in rice production has become increasingly important in Ghana as the per capita cultivable land continues to shrink. This study employed a multivariate probit model to estimate the determinants of adoption of improved agricultural technologies using household data collected from 543 rice farmers in the Upper East and Northern region of Ghana. There was complementarity among all the improved rice production technologies (i.e. nursery establishment, har...
The government of Ghana and Non-governmental Organizations have constructed a number of small scale irrigation dams and dug-outs in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region. The purpose of the small scale irrigation dams is to give irrigation farmers access to enough water during the dry season. The variation of rainfall and high temperatures poses serious threat to dams, hence making it difficult for the reservoirs to have enough water for irrigation activities. The study investiga...
This study investigated farmers willingness to pay (WTP) for private irrigation in Nandom district, Ghana. The study randomly sampled 236 farmers and analyzed data using descriptive statistics and ordered logit regression model. Results revealed that 94.5 percent of the farmers were WTP for private irrigation services with a mean of 35.83 cedis. Farmers’ WTP is determined by income, age, farm size, engagement in an off-farm occupation, labour hours invested in farm operation, yield losses e...
Abstract Rainwater harvesting has been practiced among smallholder farmers for centuries in many parts of the world. Recently, it has gained more attention due to the reported increasing water demand and the need for sustainable water management. Drawing on data from a cross sectional survey of 384 household heads (HH), the research study explored the determinants for rainwater harvesting among smallholder farmers in Murang’a County, Kenya. Multistage random sampling technique was employed...
Abstract The study investigated the socioeconomic and institutional factors influencing uptake of multiple climate change adaptation practices among smallholder farmers in lower Eastern Kenya. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 384 small-scale farmers. Percentage and regression were used in the analysis. Among the socio-economic factors, gender positively and significantly influenced adoption of conservation agriculture and water harvesting at 5%, respectively. Among the instit...
Abstract Climate change has greatly affected food production and food security. Erratic temperature rises and inconsistent precipitation have greatly influenced productivity of crops and livestock. The impacts have gotten much more pronounced among small scale farmers in Kenya whose farming activities are climate reliant. As a component of climate change adaptation, selecting suitable climate smart agriculture (CSA) technologies that can alleviate these adverse consequences is critical. The ...