Farmers’ Perception of Soil Fertility Depletion and Its Influence on Uptake of Integrated Soil Nutrient Management Techniques: Evidence from Western Kenya

Abstract

Soil fertility depletion and the attendant declining agricultural productivity in western Kenya have led to many attempts to develop and popularize integrated nutrient management (INM) technologies that could restore soil fertility and improve productivity. INM bridges the gap between high external input agriculture and extreme forms of traditional low external input agriculture. The main components of INM are chemical fertilizers, animal manure, improved fallows and green manures. It is, however, not well understood why farmers who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods either do not adopt or adopt these technologies slowly. However, it is acknowledged that soil fertility depletion is an insidious and slow process, hence farmers’ perception of severity of the problem and associated yield losses are critical in deciding adoption of soil fertility-enhancing technologies. The objective of this study was to evaluate farmers’ perceptions of soil fertility depletion and assess its contribution to adoption of INM practices. Data were collected from a random sample of 331 households in Vihiga and Siaya districts and analysed by descriptive statistics and logit model. Results showed that most households (92.4%) perceived declining soil fertility to be responsible for the low crop yields and difference in perception between the two districts was insignificant (P = 0.141). From logistic analysis, farmers’ perception of extent of depletion had significant effect on the adoption of animal manure and inorganic fertilizers. Other socio-economic factors militated against adoption of INM components.