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

Show simple item record

dc.contributor.author Kariuki, Patrick C.
dc.contributor.author Iiyama, M.
dc.contributor.author Maitima, J.
dc.date.accessioned 2015-02-24T06:24:03Z
dc.date.available 2015-02-24T06:24:03Z
dc.date.issued 2007-03
dc.identifier.citation African Journal of Agricultural Research, vol. 2(3) pp58–66. en_US
dc.identifier.issn 1991-637X
dc.identifier.uri http://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1381230553_Iiyama%20et%20al.pdf
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/985
dc.description.abstract 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. en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher Academic Journals en_US
dc.subject Crop - livestock integration en_US
dc.subject sustainable intensification en_US
dc.subject income en_US
dc.subject manure application en_US
dc.subject rural Kenya en_US
dc.title Crop-livestock diversification patterns in relation to income and manure use: a case study from a Rift Valley community, Kenya en_US
dc.type Article en_US


Files in this item

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record

Search Dspace


Browse

My Account