Fodder production has been regarded as one of the suitable strategies for increasing feed availability for enhanced livestock production among pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the drylands of Kenya. Previous studies indicate that factors determining participation in these practices vary from time to time and from one location to another. This study was conducted to assess the socioeconomic and demographic factors influencing households' participation in fodder production in Makueni and Kajiado Counties. Data was collected from 216 households through interviews using semi-structured questionnaire. Results indicate that gender of household head, education, social/development group membership and access to extension services were the most important factors influencing households' participation in fodder production. There is need for technical support to the pastoral and agro-pastoral households towards starting and/or joining existing social groups, through which extension and training services can be offered. This would go a long way in enhancing fodder production in the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya.

Background: Land degradation is a major challenge facing the world today, with devastating effects particularly among communities inhabiting semi-arid rangelands who are more directly dependent on natural resources. Over the years, indigenous grasses have provided multiple economic, ecosystem and cultural benefits for many communities in Kenya. However, they have increasingly experienced declining abundance, diversity and productivity over the years, compromising their benefits. This study was conducted to assess use value and local knowledge of indigenous grasses among pastoral communities in Isiolo and Samburu Counties in northern Kenya.Methods: Ethnobotanical data were computed and ranked based on four use indices: relative frequency of citation, relative importance index, cultural value index and cultural importance index. Four key use-categories of the grasses were identified including livestock forage, erosion control, thatching and making hay for sale.Results: Top ranked grasses across these use-categories included Pennisetum mezianum, Chrysopogon plumulosus, Heteropogon contortus and Sporobolus helvolus. These are perennial grasses with multiple uses and are available in wet and dry sessions and in drought periods. While trend analysis revealed overall declining availability of indigenous grasses over recent decades, it strongly came out that the four above-mentioned most preferred species had highest declining availability as perceived by local communities.Conclusions: These findings indicate need for enhanced actions for conserving indigenous grasses considering their multiple benefits and declining availability. Practical local knowledge, traditional structures and their pasture management models are great opportunities for creating responsive actions for rehabilitating degraded critical grazing areas while conserving key indigenous grasses.

Water governance regimes have a profound effect on vegetation and soil attributes. This is because they directly impact on grazing patterns. Kenyan peri-urban drylands are grappling with climate change and variability, population spillover from neighboring towns and cities and land degradation that put strain on water resources. Water demand therefore outstrips supply. Sustainable water governance regimes are therefore a prerequisite for climate change resilience, building of adaptive capacities and reduction of climate induced vulnerabilities. This study sought to evaluate the impact of various water regimes on vegetation and soil attributes. Organizational and operational characteristics of diverse water governance regimes were studied and measured against respective vegetation and soil physio-chemical attributes. Soil and vegetation data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA on GenStat 15 th edition. The study revealed a shifting trend from traditional water resource management institutions to more formalized regimes. Both public and private water governance regimes and systems existed though most of these lacked proper documentation and clearly defined terms of engagement among relevant actors. These systems applied diverse water management approaches creating significance differences in plant species diversity (p<0.05, F=0.565), richness (p<0.05, F=14.717), soil organic carbon (p<0.001, F=10.67), pH (p<0.05, F=4.84) and particle size distribution (p<0.05, F=5.72) because of varying extents of range access and use. This study concluded that there is need for integrating indigenous knowledge into modern water governance approaches for sustainable crop and livestock production systems. Both national and devolved governance structures should therefore invest in awareness and capacity building to enhance knowledge and skill transfer that would spur development of ecologically, socially and economically responsive systems aimed at augmenting climate resilience of current and emerging production systems and livelihoods.