Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
farming families are under increasing pressure, due to low and declining incomes from
agricultural activities, requiring income supplementation from off-farm activities,
which leads to labour scarcity on the farm. Introduction of more sustainable production
technologies, including soil and water conservation practices and more efficient crop
residue and manure management practices, is labour-demanding and conflicts therefore
with income-generation.
The experimental results show that in the common rainfed farming systems the
problems of low yields and negative nutrient balances could be addressed by
application of higher doses of FYM and/or fertilizers. However, the financial returns
to fertilizer and manure application are low, which makes application of these higher
doses unattractive and risky under these conditions, despite the positive impact on
yields and nutrient balances.
Combinations of FYM and chemical fertilizers appear to give better financial
returns than either component alone. Where conditions are better, as in the case of
irrigated vegetable production, where water and marketing constraints are alleviated,
farmers immediately respond by changing farm management practices, including
higher doses of mineral and organic fertilizers, resulting in higher and more stable
yields and higher financial returns. It is, therefore, obvious that water harvesting
techniques and increase in and improvement of simple small-scale irrigation systems
are key issues in effectively addressing soil fertility management in the semi-arid
areas.
The farming community in this area is at a high risk to become trapped in a
downward poverty cycle that may force them eventually to out-migrate from these
marginal rural areas, leaving a degraded and without interventions, further deteriorating
landscape and increasing pressure on other already densely populated rural and urban
areas. To break this negative spiral a number of specific policy measures are sugges-
ted to be put in place:
•
an active and coherent national agricultural policy is required, aiming at protection
of the weak agricultural sector in the semi-arid areas of Kenya from the world
market (price policies, import tariffs, export subsidies, etc.);
•
local and national policymakers should initiate and support development of
production chains for a number of potentially commercially attractive products
(horticultural products, beef, milk, legume grains);
•
private sector investment should be stimulated through premiums and tax incentives;
•
targeted research, development and extension activities should be supported;
•
micro-financing institutions should be established, preferably linked to chain-
and community-based organizations and initiatives.
Such measures will lead to a much wider range of financially attractive technology
options for implementation by smallholders. This is expected to result in more sus-
tainable natural resource management practices and improved livelihoods in the
semi-arid areas.
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