Assessment of agroforestry in the semi-arid lands of Kenya

Abstract

A survey targeting smallholder households was carried out in Mumbuni and Ndovoini sub-locations in the
semi arid Makueni County, Kenya, to identify agroforestry types and practices and their level of adoption and
socio-economic factors influencing adoption of agroforestry. The study involved a survey of 234 households
using a structured questionnaire. The collected data was subjected to descriptive statistical analysis and
binary logistic regression model. Results obtained revealed that more than 90% of the households practised
agroforestry. It was also observed that significantly (P<0.01) more agroforestry trees in overall were planted at
Mumbuni (40 trees/acre) than at Ndovoini (9 trees/acre). Agroforestry annually contributed 41 and 17% of farmbased income in Mumbuni and Ndovoini, respectively. Adoption of agroforestry was significantly influenced
by the size of the household, mode of acquisition of land, security of land tenure, size of landholding, gender
and the level of education of the head household. Adoption of sustainable agroforestry practices was low in
both sites. There were 50 to 58% of households with fruit trees dispersed on crop land; the other practices on
fruits were poorly being carried out (<20%). The highest practices on forest wood trees were homestead
planting (Mumbuni 40.2% and Ndovoini 70.1%); the rest were poorly adopted (<25%). Agroforestry practices
on fodder were least adopted (<16%).