Land and Water Management Research and Development in Arid and Semi-arid Lands of Kenya

Adapting African Agriculture to Climate Change

“…Fanya juu terraces are constructed on land with slope ranging from 2-22 % (Itabari et al 2011). These structures form a runoff barrier which collects runoff rainwater and eroded soil.…”

“…The effects of fanya juu terrace (Plate 11.1) indicates that, the trapped rain water would have been lost in the absence of these structures thus limiting crop productivity. The in situ conserved rain water will increase crop and fodder productivity in ASALs where water is the most limiting crop and fodder production constraint (Itabari et al 2011). However, these structure require periodic maintenance to increase the embankment height as more soil is removed from upper side of the terrace and deposited in the lower side to form a bench terrace.…”

“…However, these structure require periodic maintenance to increase the embankment height as more soil is removed from upper side of the terrace and deposited in the lower side to form a bench terrace. There are reports of increased crop productivity in those farms where terraces are periodically maintained (Itabari et al 2011).…”

“…Arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) constitute 83 % of Kenya's land mass and support over 25 % of the human population. The problem of food insecurity in this region is mostly due to declining land productivity (Itabari et al 2011), which is mainly attributed to inadequate soil moisture to support crop and fodder production. The rain water balance in the ASALs of eastern Kenya shows that 60-70 % of the rainwater is lost as runoff, leaving only 25-30 % for crop and fodder production (Kilewe 1987).…”

Shoot water content and reference evapotranspiration for determination of crop evapotranspiration

“…This is due to the continuous erratic rainfall distribution and amount which mostly occur at the important stages of soybean growth; flowering, pod filling and seed filling stages (Mahasi et al, 2011;Daryanto et al, 2015;Omondi et al, 2015). Cover cropping, conservation tillage and mulching are some soil water management techniques (Wakindiki et al, 2007;Itabari et al, 2011) practised during mid-season drought. Moreover, the major strategy is sowing of drought tolerant and early maturing varieties of soybean (Mahasi et al, 2011).…”