RP-Department of Geography

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Browsing RP-Department of Geography by Subject "Adoption"

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    Analysis of Factors Influencing Adoption of Soil and Water Conservation Technologies in Ngaciuma Sub-Catchment, Kenya
    (African Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences, 2012) Obando, Joy Apiyo; Alufah, S.; Shisanya, C.A.
    The main study objective was to determine and examine factors influencing the adoption of soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies for sustainable watershed management and planning in the Ngaciuma sub-catchment. To achieve the goal of the study, pre-tested questionnaires were administered to 120 household farmers. Numerical tools for data analysis comprised of descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations), non-parametric test (chi-square) and logistic economic model. It was found that terracing, tree planting, agroforestry, cover cropping, mixed cropping and contour vegetation strip were major SWC technologies in the area. It also came to light that household size, perception of soil erosion problem, training in soil erosion control, land ownership and access to institutional credit had significant effects on adoption of SWC technologies. The study further revealed that age, distance of farm from the Ngaciuma River, slope of cultivated land (significant at P< 0.01) and membership of an organization or group have positive influence on adoption while education, distance of farm from homestead and number of farm parcels have negative effect on adoption of SWC technologies in the catchment. It was obvious from the study findings that farmers consider personal characteristics, socio-economic, institutional, technology attributes and other exogenous factors before adopting SWC technologies in the catchment. The findings reinforce the fact that in order to achieve sustainable watershed management, institutional and economic factors should be given special attention. Based on the study findings, the following implications were drawn. There is need for sensitization of farmers to form groups to benefit from institutional credit facilities to enhance adoption of SWC technologies, formal training of all stakeholders in SWC technologies and capacity building of farmers in other livelihood areas to reduce pressure on watershed natural resources. Key words: Adoption, Soil and water conservation technologies, Logit model, Ngaciuma sub-catchment, Kenya
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    An evaluation of grid-based rural electrification adoption dynamics in Meru-South sub-county
    (World Scientific Publishing, 2016) Mbaka, C.K.; Muiruri, P.; Obiero, K.; Kisaka, M.O.
    Electricity services are crucial for human well-being and to a country’s socio-economic development. Despite its importance, low levels of electricity adoption continue to prevail in most rural areas in SSA. Low socio-economic development has been attributed among others factors to lack of modern energy sources especially electricity among rural households, which has been identified as a major setback in propelling empowerment and development at household and community level. There is minimal or no research conducted to understand the socio-economic dynamics of electricity adoption among households in Meru-South Sub-County. Household interviews were conducted from 150 randomly selected households using closed and opened ended questionnaires. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression. Result revealed that the largest proportion of the respondents were non-adopters. Possible predictor factors that significantly influenced adoption were distance from the transformer, education level, gender, household size, and income. Results further indicated that accessibility (proximity of the transformer) and cost of connection were perceived as the utmost prior challenges to electricity adoption by households. It was recommended that rural electrification project should be in considerate of household level characteristics in process of planning for electricity dissemination in rural areas to ensure heterogeneity in electricity adoption
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    An Investigation of Coping Strategies Adopted by Small-Scale Sugarcane Growers in Bungoma County, Kenya.
    (East Arican Nature & Science Organization, 2021) Khaemba, Protas Fwamba; Muiruri, Philomena; Kibutu, Thomas
    This paper reports on one of the findings of a study undertaken to investigate the coping strategies used by small-scale sugarcane growers in Bungoma County, Kenya. A descriptive survey design was used. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed in the selection of the divisions, villages, key respondents, and sugarcane farmers to be interviewed. Primary data were collected using questionnaires from 100 small-scale sugarcane growers’ household heads from Bumula Sub-County. Data were collected during the month of December 2016. Qualitative data collected were analysed thematically. Quantitative data was analysed using regression in SPSS version 23 and Microsoft Excel. Results from small-scale sugarcane farmers in Bumula Sub-County revealed a declining farmers’ participation in sugarcane farming activities in the area. Coping strategies identified included off-farm income-generating activities, sale of sugarcane by-products and non-contracted cane farming. Significance test qualification was based on a percentage of adjusted R2 and within 0.3 to 0.7 ranges for Beta weight value. The correlation coefficient (R-value) for the model was 0.362, indicating a moderately positive relationship between variables. The coefficient of determination (R2) was found to be0.284 (28.4%). Adopted coping strategies accounted for 28.4% variability in the declining farmers’ participation in sugarcane farming. This result suggests the existence of other factorsthat explain the remaining 71.6% of the variation in the declining farmers’ participation. Farmers should enhance both on-farm and off-farm income-generating activities, sugarcane by-products value addition, and non-contracted cane farming in order to reverse the outcome and result in an enhanced farmers’ participation in sugarcane farming activities by 36.2%