Conservation Agricultural Practices and their Effects on Livelihood Outcomes in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas in Kenya

Abstract

There is a need to facilitate the growth and productivity of agriculture to reduce poverty and since most poor people are concentrated in rural areas especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Most economies in sub-Saharan Africa and Kenya are agriculturally based, hence the importance to boost agricultural development for poverty reduction. This can be achieved by promoting conservation agriculture which has been proven to increase productivity while conserving the environment at the same time in other parts of the world. With limited evidence on the effect of conservation agriculture on livelihood outcomes in Kenya, the current study sought to assess the participation in conservation agriculture practices and their effect on livelihood outcomes focusing on Arid and Semi-Arid areas in Kenya. Most studies have mainly focused on economic and environmental aspects to show a change in livelihoods of CA farmers and paid little attention on human development dimensions notably health and education. Specifically, the study investigated the effect of input costs, land productivity, socio-economic characteristics, and marketing institutional arrangements of conservation agriculture on livelihood outcomes of smallholder farmers in ASAL areas. In addition, the moderating effect of participation of conservation agriculture farmer organizations on livelihood outcomes was examined. The study adopted sustainable livelihoods approach, diffusion of innovation theory and the capability approach. The study employed a cross-sectional survey as a research design. The qualitative data was guided by a phenomenology approach. The Cochran formula was used with a 5% level of significance to obtain a sample size of 384 respondents. The study relied on stratified random sampling to achieve a high degree of representation from groups with the desired characteristics. Sample size for each stratum was determined proportionately by dividing the population in each stratum by the sample size. Qualitative data was analyzed with the use of content analysis while quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study concluded that Conservation Agriculture reduces input costs, enhances land productivity and marketing of farmers which ultimately increases crop yield and hence, better livelihood outcomes. In addition, Conservation Agriculture increases farmer skills and access to income and thus improving production and livelihood outcomes. Furthermore, the study has concluded that although all CA farmers who were interviewed belonged to farmer groups, the role of these groups on the link between CA farming and livelihood outcomes is not significant. The study recommends that the government at national and county levels should take responsibility in creating awareness on CA practices across the country and provide any necessary support for the farmers to embrace this noble practice. Furthermore, there is a need to relook into the role of CA farmer groups in ASAL areas to make sure that their role is much more pronounced and reflected in production. Key Words: Livelihood outcomes, Conservation agriculture, Input costs, Land productivity, marketing institutional arrangement, Farmer groups