Small Scale Farmers’ Perception of Soil and Water Conservation Practices -The Case of Budalangi Area, Kenya

• ODHIAMBO BENARD ONYANGO

  Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture

• MIHARA MACHITO

  Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture

Abstract

Soil and water conservation; a process of minimizing the effects of land degradation, is necessary for sustainability of food production aimed at feeding the rapidly increasing global population. Soil erosion and subsequent transfer of the eroded particles have been seen as a major cause of land degradation. Budalangi area in Kenya is mainly flat with poor drainage and alluvial or black cotton soil with minimal tree cover. Flooding in the study area is believed to be as a result of sediments accumulating in the bed of River Nzoia over the years, making the river course channel to be above the general level of flood plain, resulting to overbank flow across the dykes. The study is to discuss the understanding of small scale farmers and their motivation on soil and water conservation practices. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Data collection was mainly through questionnaire survey, both formal and informal interviews together with field visits. The sample was selected by simple random sampling technique from the entire study area. From the general outcome, majority of farmers could attribute the condition of their farm fertility to deposition of top soil from upstream. Respondents also related low productivity to floods and unreliable rainfall pattern in the area. The results showed that about 74.3% of the farmers in the study area are familiar with soil and water conservation with 42.6% of them putting to practice at least one measure to conserve soil and water. About 68.5% of the farmers are not practicing any soil and water conservation measures. Hence, there is need to strengthen small scale farmers’ knowledge and adoption of soil and water conservation such as rainwater harvesting to augment overreliance on direct rain for production and sustainable agriculture.

Journal

• International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development

  International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development 8 (2), 19-24, 2017

  Institute of Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation, Research Center

Keywords

• soil erosion
• deposition
• soil fertility
• farmer perception
• and soil and water conservation

Details

• CRID: 1390001277393762688
• NII Article ID: 130007747698
• DOI: 10.32115/ijerd.8.2_19
• ISSN: 24333700
• ISSN: 2185159X
• Text Lang: ja
• Data Source:
  • JaLC
  • CiNii Articles
• Abstract License Flag: Disallowed