Abstract This paper is based on the results of a study that was carried out to determine the impact of agro-ecological zones (AEZs) on the influence of the key factors that affect household food security through a case study in the Embu County of Kenya. The Embu County was chosen for a case study because it is endowed with most of the various types of AEZs found in Kenya. The three agro-ecological zones covered in the case study were the Sunflower-Zone (UM 4 and LM 3), the Coffee Zone (UM 1-...
Abstract Land fragmentation is a common agricultural phenomenon in many countries where a single large farm is subdivided into a large number of separate small land plots. This paper is based on a study that was carried out to evaluate the impact of land fragmentation on food security in three agroecological zones (AEZs) of Embu County in Kenya from January to November 2016. The study used data collected from 384 farm-households that were randomly selected from three AEZs in the Embu County,...
Abstract/Overview Globally, land tenure comes in different methods such as inheritance, renting, purchasing and land being offered as gift. Such practices have so far encouraged land fragmentation leading to small holdings which are uneconomical in terms of land use practices resulting into low yields. Such low food productions from small holdings in Ugunja coupled with poor food access from other sub-counties cannot sustain households up to the next harvest hence the problem of severe pe...
Abstract Illicit brew accounts for 60% of alcohol drunk in Kenya, with detrimental effects on health and food security. This study aimed to determine health consequences of illicit local brews on household food security was conducted in Bumula and Kanduyi Sub-Counties, Kenya. Correlational survey research design was used. The 726 respondents were sampled by stratified random sampling where household heads and key informants were purposefully sampled. Interviews, structured questionnaires, an...
Abstract Kenya is rapidly urbanizing at an annual rate of about 4.3%. One of the consequences of urbanization has been the problem of food insecurity in peri-urban areas. Increased migration to urban from rural areas has enhanced food insecurity in these areas. The peri-urban area of Kangundo-Tala in Machakos County is one of the fastest-growing peri-urban areas due to its proximity to the capital city of Nairobi. This study investigated the impact of home gardening in enhancing food securit...
Abstract Kenya’s Vision 2030 identifies agriculture as one of the key sectors to deliver sustainable economic growth and improved livelihoods for the poor in the rural areas. However, the sector continues to face several endemic and emerging constraints that require special attention. During the first two decades after independence, Kenya’s economy grew at an average rate of 6 percent per year and this was substantially driven by a robust agriculture sector. However, until about five yea...
Abstract: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a region beset with challenges, not least its ability to feed itself. Low agricultural productivity, exploding populations, and escalating urbanization have led to declining per capita food availability. In order to reverse this trend, crop production systems must intensify, which brings with it an elevated threat from pests and diseases, including plant-parasitic nematodes. A holistic systems approach to pest management recognizes disciplinary integrati...
Abstract: Adoption of agricultural innovations is perceived as a key avenue for poverty reduction and improved food and nutritional security in developing countries. The International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) has developed and implemented a set of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategiesin several sub-Saharan African countries aimed at controlling mango infesting fruit flies (Bactrocera dorsalis). Although positive returns from the use of fruit fly IPM have already...
Abstract: Enset (Ensete ventricosum), is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the family Musaceae, along with banana and plantain. Despite wild populations occurring in eastern, central and southern Africa, it is only in Ethiopia that the crop has been domesticated, where it is culturally and agriculturally symbolic as a food security crop. Although an under-researched orphan crop, enset serves as a staple food for about 20% of the Ethiopian population, comprising more than 20 million p...
Abstract: Livestock rearing link to food security and nutrition is an important aspect to farmers and research institutions. Push-pull technology,an innovation at nternational Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), has been distinguished as an advocate to livestock growth and production. This Push-pull novelty follows a chain to income boost and household food purchase power. This study sought to establish the perfect link of Push-pull livestock production to an enhanced household...
The right to adequate food is a universal human right that is realized when all people have physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or the means for its procurement, without discrimination of any kind (FAO, United Nations). However, in a rapidly growing population, finite resources, environmental damage, climate change, and global inequality makes this an incredibly complex issue.
ABSTRACT Background: The objective of this paper was to evaluate how smallholder farmers’ adoption decision-making regarding the control of soil erosion influence food security in South Africa, using the case of farming at Upper and Lower Areas of Didimana, South Africa. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 60 randomly selected farmers. Farmers’ total income was used as a proxy for food security. Data were analysed using the multiple linear regression analysis, because the...
Abstract Food security is indispensable prerequisite for the survival of mankind and his economic activities including food production. Food is different from other commodities because of its inevitability for survival and existence. Food is different from other commodities because everybody needs it for survival, and it is an indispensable factor in nation’s quest for economic growth and development. Unfortunately, most of the food need in Nigeria is produced b...
Squealing to the discovery of petroleum, Nigeria has rapidly grown into a major food importing nation as the government has become neglectful of the agricultural sector since petroleum is considered a more viable resource for economic development. This situation quickly polarized the nation into high and low income groups. Unfortunately, while only small fraction of the population benefited from the oil wealth, the population suffered the misfortune of food insecurity as they can hardly affor...
Best for students of agriculture · Food security in a broader sense has to do with having at all times and adequate level of food products to meet increasing consumption demand to migrate fluctuation in output and price (indria, Gwary and Shehu 2008) United Nation (2009) defined food security as “all people at all times having both physical and economic access to the basic food they need”. The world food summit of 1996 defined food security as existing “when all people at...