An evaluation of the impact of soil carbon enhancing practices on farm output in Western Kenya

Sustainable agricultural practices that enhance soil carbon simultaneously improve farm yields and income. Despite the expansive literature on adoption of soil carbon practices in Kenya, there is limited information on the impact of the elemental practices on farm output. This study attempts to fill this literature gap by evaluating the impact of soil carbon practices on farm output in Western Kenya. Results show that agroforestry, maize-legume intercropping, terracing and use of inorganic fertilizer are dominant soil carbon practices. Howbeit, the propensity score matching results reveal that maize-legume intercropping solely has observable impact on farm output. On average, farmers involved in the practice have an increase of 27% on maize output as opposed to those who don’t, and as such adoption could improve their welfare. The findings suggests that interventions targeted on facilitating the uptake of maize-legume intercropping among resource-poor rural smallholder farmers should be pursued

Adoption of soil carbon enhancing practices and their impact on farm output in Western Kenya

Adoption of soil carbon practices has the capability of increasing yield, thus improving income and food availability. This paper assessed the adoption of agricultural practices that enhance soil carbon. Data from 334 households were collected in the rural areas of Western Kenya using a multistage sampling technique. The multivariate probit model and propensity score matching method were used to analyze the determinants of adoption of soil carbon practices and the impact on output, respectively. Results show that agroforestry, intercropping, terracing, and the use of inorganic fertilizer are the dominant soil carbon practices, which are discretely and diversely affected by socioeconomic, farm-level, institutional, and biophysical characteristics. However, the adoption of maize-bean intercropping alone has a great impact on maize production and increases output by approximately 240 kilograms. The findings from this study suggest that the adoption capacity of farming households can be accelerated by independently making interventions targeting individual practices rather than compounding the practices. Consequently, emphasis should target interventions that encourage the adoption of intercropping since its economic impact has been evidently underlined

Soil carbon enhancing practices: a systematic review of barriers and enablers of adoption

Sustained adoption of soil carbon enhancing practices (SCEPs) at scale remains an aspiration goal to maintain sufficient amount of soil carbon in household farms in order to impact on the sustained farm productivity caused by sustained soil fertility. The objective of this study is to systematically evaluate the current evidence base to identify: (a) which factors enable or constrain adoption of SCEPs and hence maintain soil carbon in Kenya and Ethiopia; (b) to be able to lessons learnt concerning what influences the adoption of the SCEPs for the purpose of maintaining soil fertility among smallholder farms; and (c) how this can be improved going into the future for the purpose of formulating appropriate policies in Kenya and Ethiopia in both the short and long run. A systematic review was conducted using established review methodology and extensive searches of published and unpublished literature sources. Data extraction and quality appraisal of quantitative, qualitative and case studies that met the inclusion criteria were conducted while checking for reliability. A broad range of interrelated enabling and constraining factors was identified for the SCEPs. All the factors matter, and some of most of these factors are important to be considered during planning and implementation of SCEPs aiming at promoting soil carbon sequestration. Despite the limitation in the quantity of evidence, this systematic review provides a useful starting point for the scaling up programmes to ensure more effective adoption of SCEPs. This review also underscores the need for a multidisciplinary approach in understanding what determines the adoption of SCEPs to capture a holistic view

Adoption of technologies that enhance soil carbon sequestration in East Africa: What influence farmers’ decision?

"The last two decades have seen a rise of interest in the adoption and diffusion of agricultural technologies aimed at improving the sustainability of agricultural lands among smallholder farmers in developing countries. This papers set out to understand factors that influence the adoption of technologies that enhance soil carbon sequestration among smallholder farmers, using secondary data recorded in the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) database from 45 to 50 smallholders’ farmers in selected places in Kenya and Ethiopia respectively. A Probit model was used to analyse whether socio-economic, institutional, off-farm income, technical know-how, farmers’ perceptions, and land use characteristics influences the adoption of technologies that enhance soil carbon sequestration. The results show that smallholder farmers that positively perceived net benefits of the soil carbon enhancing technologies were more likely to adopt such technologies that enhance soil carbon sequestration in both countries. Access to off-farm income and land ownership with title deeds were also found to be positively associated with adoption. Off-farm income positively influences adoption among farmer with a moderate income (100-500US$per year) but not the rich (>500US$) farmers. Moderate to high level of skills and technical know-how required for implementing and maintaining a technology on the farm had a negative influence on adoption. This shows that interventions, aimed at addressing specific factors such as inadequate skills and knowledge, change in perception among farmers, and off-farm income are likely to have the greatest impact in decisions relating to the adoption of the soil carbon enhancing practices among farmers in East Africa

Factors influencing smallholder farmers’ participation in domestic high value markets for African Indigenous Vegetables in rural Kenya

Participation in high value markets holds potential for raising smallholder farmers’ income and reducing poverty in the rural areas. Despite a growing literature on farmers’ participation in supermarkets, there is no documented analysis of smallholder African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs) farmers’ involvement in other emerging high value domestic markets such as hospitals, schools and hotels. In order to address this critical knowledge gap, this study examined the factors that influence smallholder AIV farmers’ participation in such markets in rural Kenya. Results showed that the traditional marketing system is still dominated by less than 13% of farmers selling their vegetables in high value markets. The results of the logit model show that the years of formal education, household income, price, quantity of output and access to credit had significant positive influence on smallholder farmers’ participation in high value markets particularly hotels, hospitals and schools. These findings necessitate urgent policy interventions targeting investments on; access to quality farm information and skills, non-restricted credit especially from group-based informal member schemes, production methods and inputs and timely price information

An integrated approach for understanding the factors that facilitate or constrain the adoption of soil carbon enhancing practices in East Africa, specifically Western Kenya

The survey data on soil carbon enhancing practices in western Kenya is systematically organized in Microsoft Excel tables. The data entails general household characteristics, plot characteristics, practices implemented, yield, inputs, livestock ownership, social capital, access to credit, access to extension services and sources of income