Crop-livestock diversification patterns in relation to income and manure use: a case study from a Rift Valley community, Kenya

Most rural households in the semi-arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa practise mixed crop-livestock farming. With population growth and the subsequent scarcity of land available for extensive farming, the only option available for these households is to intensify production. For this to be successful...

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Autores principales: Iiyama, Miyuki, Kariuki, P., Maitima, J.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2007
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/1855
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author Iiyama, Miyuki
Kariuki, P.
Maitima, J.
author_browse Iiyama, Miyuki
Kariuki, P.
Maitima, J.
author_facet Iiyama, Miyuki
Kariuki, P.
Maitima, J.
author_sort Iiyama, Miyuki
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Most rural households in the semi-arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa practise mixed crop-livestock farming. With population growth and the subsequent scarcity of land available for extensive farming, the only option available for these households is to intensify production. For this to be successful, one must understand the divergent patterns of intensification and their relation to the economic needs of households. In a Rift Valley community in Kenya, inter-household heterogeneities in adopting distinctive combinations of particular crop and livestock productions (they are defined as ‘crop livestock diversification’ or CLD patterns) were observed. Principal component analysis was used to identify the dominant CLD patterns which reflect complementarities between crop and livestock types. This was followed by an assessment of the association between the CLD patterns and the economic returns and manure use of the households. Among the five dominant CLD patterns identified, households that kept improved cattle and grew fruits were found to earn higher incomes and apply more organic manure. Conversely, households that grew staple crops with or without indigenous animals were found to apply less manure. Education, participation in farmers’ groups, access to the training centre, and family size were key factors affecting the adoption of CLD patterns.
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spelling CGSpace18552023-02-15T09:54:19Z Crop-livestock diversification patterns in relation to income and manure use: a case study from a Rift Valley community, Kenya Iiyama, Miyuki Kariuki, P. Maitima, J. crop-livestock Most rural households in the semi-arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa practise mixed crop-livestock farming. With population growth and the subsequent scarcity of land available for extensive farming, the only option available for these households is to intensify production. For this to be successful, one must understand the divergent patterns of intensification and their relation to the economic needs of households. In a Rift Valley community in Kenya, inter-household heterogeneities in adopting distinctive combinations of particular crop and livestock productions (they are defined as ‘crop livestock diversification’ or CLD patterns) were observed. Principal component analysis was used to identify the dominant CLD patterns which reflect complementarities between crop and livestock types. This was followed by an assessment of the association between the CLD patterns and the economic returns and manure use of the households. Among the five dominant CLD patterns identified, households that kept improved cattle and grew fruits were found to earn higher incomes and apply more organic manure. Conversely, households that grew staple crops with or without indigenous animals were found to apply less manure. Education, participation in farmers’ groups, access to the training centre, and family size were key factors affecting the adoption of CLD patterns. 2007-03-15 2010-06-09T11:16:19Z 2010-06-09T11:16:19Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/1855 en Open Access Iiyama, M.; Maitima, J.; Kariuki, P. 2007. Crop-livestock diversification patterns in relation to income and manure use: a case study from a Rift Valley community, Kenya. African Journal of Agricultural Research 2(3):58-66.
spellingShingle crop-livestock
Iiyama, Miyuki
Kariuki, P.
Maitima, J.
Crop-livestock diversification patterns in relation to income and manure use: a case study from a Rift Valley community, Kenya
title Crop-livestock diversification patterns in relation to income and manure use: a case study from a Rift Valley community, Kenya
title_full Crop-livestock diversification patterns in relation to income and manure use: a case study from a Rift Valley community, Kenya
title_fullStr Crop-livestock diversification patterns in relation to income and manure use: a case study from a Rift Valley community, Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Crop-livestock diversification patterns in relation to income and manure use: a case study from a Rift Valley community, Kenya
title_short Crop-livestock diversification patterns in relation to income and manure use: a case study from a Rift Valley community, Kenya
title_sort crop livestock diversification patterns in relation to income and manure use a case study from a rift valley community kenya
topic crop-livestock
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/1855
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