Journal of Agricultural Science and Food Research
Open Access

Abstract

Evidence on Smallholder Dry Land Farming Systems and Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Change: A Case of Sustainable Land Use Management in Kenya

Simon Gicheha

Feeding the ever-increasing world population in the face of changing climate may require significant transformation of the existing agricultural production systems. Such transformations have a high potential in terms of delivery of co-benefits in form of increased carbon sequestration and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. It has the potential to generate public goods in terms of climate change mitigation, improved watershed functioning and biodiversity conservation. However, efforts by the farmers to achieve sustainability, ideally demands diversity in technical, socio-economic and natural resource endowment to enable them to efficiently spread risks. It also demands ability and flexibility in management of these resources to enhance adaptation to short term variability. Agricultural farming systems in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALS) have been observed to follow non-equilibrium dynamic change rather than predictable linear change. Planning in terms of standardized and simplified approaches is therefore not very practical and farmers in most cases remain vulnerable even in presence of an ideal policy and institutional framework. A wide range of management and technological options at local level are therefore required to assist the farmers to improve their adaptive capacity. Evidence showed that majority of SLM practice results in yield increase except for soil and water conservation in some cases due to slope and soil depth characteristics. Adoption of individual technologies did not necessarily result in increased productivity. Adoption of multiple technologies however requires an understanding of nutrient demand for different soils. Adoption of these practices was observed to be influenced by age of the household head, household size, shocks, off farm income and gender. Institutional frameworks both public and private must adequately address these issues within the technology transfer systems to assure success.

Published Date: 2018-12-10; Received Date: 2018-10-29