Enhancing sustainable soil fertility management by smallholders: the case of Vihiga, western Kenya
Sub-Saharan Africa faces huge food supply challenges due to increasing human population, limited opportunities to increase arable land, and declining yields associated with continuously declining soil fertility. To cater for their food requirements, smallholders use only modest levels of inorganic fertilizers and rely to a large extent on manure, which is generally of low quality. To explore factors influencing fertilizer and manure use at the farm level, 253 farm households in Vihiga district of western Kenya were sampled. A pair of Tobit models was used to relate amounts of manure and fertilizer used to household variables. The results indicate that the use of both manure and fertilizer reciprocally influence each other and are strongly influenced by household factors, and also imply that manure and fertilizer uses are endogenous. Policy changes are required to (1) reduce the burden on farming alone in rural areas; (2) promote the use of higher-cost, higher-value inputs such as fertilizers; (3) improve access to input and output markets; and (4) encourage farmer education so as to promote sustainable soil fertility management. Improved understanding of the biophysical and socioeconomic environment of smallholder systems can help target sustainable soil fertility interventions more appropriately.
Main Authors: | , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Journal Article biblioteca |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Springer
2007-07
|
Subjects: | food security, farming systems, soil fertility, |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/2530 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-006-9087-x |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
id |
dig-cgspace-10568-2530 |
---|---|
record_format |
koha |
spelling |
dig-cgspace-10568-25302023-12-08T19:36:04Z Enhancing sustainable soil fertility management by smallholders: the case of Vihiga, western Kenya Waithaka, M.M. Thornton, Philip K. Shepherd, Keith D. Ndiwa, Nicholas N. food security farming systems soil fertility Sub-Saharan Africa faces huge food supply challenges due to increasing human population, limited opportunities to increase arable land, and declining yields associated with continuously declining soil fertility. To cater for their food requirements, smallholders use only modest levels of inorganic fertilizers and rely to a large extent on manure, which is generally of low quality. To explore factors influencing fertilizer and manure use at the farm level, 253 farm households in Vihiga district of western Kenya were sampled. A pair of Tobit models was used to relate amounts of manure and fertilizer used to household variables. The results indicate that the use of both manure and fertilizer reciprocally influence each other and are strongly influenced by household factors, and also imply that manure and fertilizer uses are endogenous. Policy changes are required to (1) reduce the burden on farming alone in rural areas; (2) promote the use of higher-cost, higher-value inputs such as fertilizers; (3) improve access to input and output markets; and (4) encourage farmer education so as to promote sustainable soil fertility management. Improved understanding of the biophysical and socioeconomic environment of smallholder systems can help target sustainable soil fertility interventions more appropriately. 2007-07 2010-11-04T09:15:48Z 2010-11-04T09:15:48Z Journal Article Waithaka, M.M.; Thornton, P.K.; Shepherd, K.D.; Ndiwa, N.D. 2007. Enhancing sustainable soil fertility management by smallholders: the case of Vihiga, western Kenya. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. 78(3): 211-224 1385-1314 1573-0867 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/2530 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-006-9087-x en Copyrighted; all rights reserved Limited Access p. 211-224 Springer Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems |
institution |
CGIAR |
collection |
DSpace |
country |
Francia |
countrycode |
FR |
component |
Bibliográfico |
access |
En linea |
databasecode |
dig-cgspace |
tag |
biblioteca |
region |
Europa del Oeste |
libraryname |
Biblioteca del CGIAR |
language |
English |
topic |
food security farming systems soil fertility food security farming systems soil fertility |
spellingShingle |
food security farming systems soil fertility food security farming systems soil fertility Waithaka, M.M. Thornton, Philip K. Shepherd, Keith D. Ndiwa, Nicholas N. Enhancing sustainable soil fertility management by smallholders: the case of Vihiga, western Kenya |
description |
Sub-Saharan Africa faces huge food supply challenges due to increasing human population, limited opportunities to increase arable land, and declining yields associated with continuously declining soil fertility. To cater for their food requirements, smallholders use only modest levels of inorganic fertilizers and rely to a large extent on manure, which is generally of low quality. To explore factors influencing fertilizer and manure use at the farm level, 253 farm households in Vihiga district of western Kenya were sampled. A pair of Tobit models was used to relate amounts of manure and fertilizer used to household variables. The results indicate that the use of both manure and fertilizer reciprocally influence each other and are strongly influenced by household factors, and also imply that manure and fertilizer uses are endogenous. Policy changes are required to (1) reduce the burden on farming alone in rural areas; (2) promote the use of higher-cost, higher-value inputs such as fertilizers; (3) improve access to input and output markets; and (4) encourage farmer education so as to promote sustainable soil fertility management. Improved understanding of the biophysical and socioeconomic environment of smallholder systems can help target sustainable soil fertility interventions more appropriately. |
format |
Journal Article |
topic_facet |
food security farming systems soil fertility |
author |
Waithaka, M.M. Thornton, Philip K. Shepherd, Keith D. Ndiwa, Nicholas N. |
author_facet |
Waithaka, M.M. Thornton, Philip K. Shepherd, Keith D. Ndiwa, Nicholas N. |
author_sort |
Waithaka, M.M. |
title |
Enhancing sustainable soil fertility management by smallholders: the case of Vihiga, western Kenya |
title_short |
Enhancing sustainable soil fertility management by smallholders: the case of Vihiga, western Kenya |
title_full |
Enhancing sustainable soil fertility management by smallholders: the case of Vihiga, western Kenya |
title_fullStr |
Enhancing sustainable soil fertility management by smallholders: the case of Vihiga, western Kenya |
title_full_unstemmed |
Enhancing sustainable soil fertility management by smallholders: the case of Vihiga, western Kenya |
title_sort |
enhancing sustainable soil fertility management by smallholders: the case of vihiga, western kenya |
publisher |
Springer |
publishDate |
2007-07 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/2530 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-006-9087-x |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT waithakamm enhancingsustainablesoilfertilitymanagementbysmallholdersthecaseofvihigawesternkenya AT thorntonphilipk enhancingsustainablesoilfertilitymanagementbysmallholdersthecaseofvihigawesternkenya AT shepherdkeithd enhancingsustainablesoilfertilitymanagementbysmallholdersthecaseofvihigawesternkenya AT ndiwanicholasn enhancingsustainablesoilfertilitymanagementbysmallholdersthecaseofvihigawesternkenya |
_version_ |
1787229158469795840 |