Conservation Agriculture (C.A): Areas of Improvement in the Adoption of C.A Practices in Eastern Kenya

Abstract

Conservation agriculture (CA) is defined as a practice that aims to conserve, improve and make more efficient use of natural resources through integrated management of available soil, water and biological resources combined with external inputs. It contributes to environmental conservation as well as to enhanced and sustained agricultural production. It can also be referred to as resource efficient or resource effective agriculture. Majority of Kenyan farmers lack awareness of the benefits of CA thus influencing their commitment to this relatively new practice. Of particular concern is the fact that CA has been marketed in Kenya for over a decade and ground tilling methods in most parts of the country have not yet evolved to CA standards. Uptake of CA technologies is highest amongst wealthier farmers and commercially oriented producers. This is because of stronger risk aversion on the part of the small holder farmer. The number of crops at a given time on a farm was between 4-6 percent for 47% of respondents and 7-10 for 33% of respondents. Only 12.1% of respondents recorded crop diversification of 1-3 comprising planned biodiversity on farm. The role of Conservation agriculture in promoting soil health is tested. 82.3% of respondents credited the reduced erosion on their farms to conservation agriculture. This combined with other benefits of Conservation Agriculture has motivated farmers to integrate conservation agriculture to the management of their farms. Out of the 24 indicators selected for this study, 10 indicators scored best performances. The study was done in Eastern Part of Kenya that fall between 50 to 100% arid and semi-arid areas (ASAL) categories. The counties in the study included Kitui, Machakos, Tharaka Nithi and Makueni counties which are home to 14 million residents [1]. The objective of this research was to assess Conservation Agriculture (C.A): areas of improvement in the adoption of C.A practices in eastern Kenya. In conclusion, 14 out of 24 indicators show good to best performance while six indicators show moderate performance. There are areas that need urgent attention to improve the sustainability of CA agro-ecosystems. An overall score of 3 (indicating moderate performance) was awarded to the agro-ecosystems under CA. The Social dimension and the diversity property of the ecosystem scored the highest performance. The least performance was recorded in the Environmental dimension and the functional properties of the agro-ecosystem. It was therefore recommended that the government through the ministry of agriculture should investing in promoting improvement in the adoption of Conservation Agriculture practices especially in arid areas such as that of eastern Kenya.