Kirinyaga District Research Articles

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN AGRIBUSINESS FIRMS

Purpose: Rice farming has immense scope in sustaining the livelihood of millions of farmers. Being a diverse ecological and socially background country, Kenya is lagging behind the developed countries in agriculture sectors. To manage all the knowledge available in public, as well as private domain, it needs to integrate and make it accessible to all the stakeholders of agriculture, especially farmers.
 Methodology: Research carried out in 2011 in Kirinyaga district, Kenya, shows how sense-making theory and methodology can be used to assess the use of local agricultural and external knowledge by small-scale farmers and its effects on small-scale agriculture. Two knowledge systems, the local knowledge system and the external or scientific knowledge system, are considered dominant. The two systems can be synergistic and small-scale farmers have mixed them in their farming activities. Blending systems improve communication, livelihoods, and economies within local communities, and increases their participation in development. Data were collected in focus group discussions with farmers' groups and interviews with individual farmers.
 Results: Results show that most farmers in Kirinyaga use external agricultural information in their farming practices. A significant number use combined external agricultural information and local knowledge, which forms a third knowledge system. This third system requires the validation of the farmers' innovations and documentation of the knowledge for wider dissemination.
 Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Information providers should adopt policies that promote the use of the three knowledge systems by small-scale farmers. The study was conducted in a single agribusiness chain. Future studies may look at another method of knowledge management assessment to see if the results will be similar. The results can contribute to the development of programs and policies, incorporating knowledge management into agribusiness as a competitive strategy.

Three ways of knowing: Agricultural knowledge systems of small-scale farmers in Africa with reference to Kenya

Research carried out in 2011 in Kirinyaga district, Kenya, shows how sense-making theory and methodology can be used to assess the use of local agricultural and external knowledge by small-scale farmers and its effects on small-scale agriculture. Two knowledge systems, the local knowledge system and the external or scientific knowledge system, are considered dominant. The two systems can be synergistic and small-scale farmers have mixed them in their farming activities. Blending systems improve communication, livelihoods, and economies within local communities, and increases their participation in development. Data were collected in focus group discussions with farmers' groups and interviews with individual farmers. Results show that most farmers in Kirinyaga use external agricultural information in their farming practices. A significant number use combined external agricultural information and local knowledge, which forms a third knowledge system. This third system requires the validation of the farmers' innovations and documentation of the knowledge for wider dissemination. Information providers should adopt policies that promote the use of the three knowledge systems by small-scale farmers.

Constraints and determinants of compliance with EurepGap standards: a case of smallholder french bean exporters in Kirinyaga district, Kenya

The authors identify constraints and critical factors that influence compliance with EurepGap standards among French bean smallholder exporters in Kirinyaga District, Kenya. A probit model was used to determine the factors influencing the EurepGap compliance decision while descriptive statistics were used to identify the major constraints to compliance. Results indicate that the high initial cost of compliance is a major constraint on compliance. This arises from the need to purchase recommended agro-chemicals and fertilizers, and the hiring of additional labor. The key factors that are likely to enhance compliance with the standards include socioeconomic and farm characteristics such as area under French beans, household size, total number of farm enterprises and access to extension services. However, compliance is also negatively influenced by access to off-farm income. The authors make several policy recommendations that could be implemented to enhance and upscale compliance with EurepGap standards in the study area. [EconLit citations: D230; Q130; Q180]. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A mixed qualitative‐quantitative‐ participatory methodology

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the agricultural knowledge and information systems (AKIS) of small‐scale farmers in Kirinyaga district, Kenya by identifying the key agricultural actors, establishing the information needs of farmers and how they access, share and exchange agricultural knowledge and information.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a triangulation of qualitative, quantitative and participatory methodologies and methods for sampling, data collection and data analysis. The methods combine Relaxed Appraisal of Agricultural Knowledge Systems (RAAKS) and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), focus group discussions with farmers groups, observation and analysis of secondary data. The sense‐making methodology is used an alternative approach to study information behaviour, while the soft systems methodology is used to link up the different activities by diverse agricultural actors.FindingsRicher and deeper data are collected through mixed methodologies and methods. The study identifies more than 100 active information and knowledge providers in Kirinyaga district, with extension emerging as the most important source of information. However, linkages between the various actors and farmers are weak. In particular, the findings of the study demonstrate that the AKIS of small‐scale farmers is location specific and varies with the enterprise(s) produced.Research limitations/implicationsTriangulation of methods is expensive hence the study is limited to only one district in Kenya. The paper suggests further research into ways of strengthening and formalising linkages between key actors.Practical implicationsThe study points to the need to strengthen and formalise linkages between farmers and extensionists, private sector, media, farmers' groups, civil society organisations, researchers, educators and microfinance institutions.Social implicationsThe study findings could inform policy development and reforms in agriculture, extension services and help to improve linkages and the flow of agricultural information and knowledge. Consequently, this would translate to improved farming methods and increased agricultural productivity.Originality/valueThe study contributes empirical data that builds on to the existing body of knowledge on AKIS among small‐scale farmers. The paper presents a useful mix of methods (RAAKS, PRA, focus group discussions and observation) for studying the management of agricultural knowledge and information.

Jean Davison. The Ostrich Wakes: Struggles for Change in Highland Kenya. Austin, Tex.: Kirinyaga Press, 2006. ii + 213 pp. Photographs. Maps. Figures. Notes. Glossary. $14.95. Paper.

Jean Davison. The Ostrich Wakes: Struggles for Change in Highland Austin, Tex.: Kirinyaga Press, 2006. ii + 213 pp. Photographs. Maps. Figures. Notes. Glossary. $14.95. Paper. Jean Davison's experience of Africa goes back more than thirty years and is recorded in several volumes that focus on gender issues, with particular emphasis on the economic forces that underlie and shape women's lives. Her edited volume, Agriculture, Women and Land: the African Experience (Westview Press, 1988) includes her own chapter on land ownership in Mutira and Chwele locations of central and western Kenya, respectively: Who Owns What? Land Registration and Tensions in Gender Relations of Production in Kenya. In it, she explores the imbalance between women's major role in the production of both food and cash crops, and their weak position as holders of title to land. A broader picture of women's lives emerges from Voices from Mutira (Lynn Rienner, 1996), in which Davison presents the personal narratives of seven women born between 1910 and 1950 in Mutira division of Kirinyaga District on the southern slopes of Mount Davison first visited Kenya in 1977, and the bulk of her fieldwork with her seven informants was conducted in the early 1980s; the first edition was published in 1989, but after several subsequent trips an updated edition appeared in 1996. The Ostrich Wakes was written following her return to Kenya and to Mutira at the very end of 2002, after a nearly nine-year absence. Davison's long contact with the people of Mutira allows her to present a detailed longitudinal study, in which events in individual women's lives throw light on the history of this part of Kenya from precolonial times to the present day. The narratives of the oldest women, born between 1910 and the 1930s, are used to present an image of traditional society, highlighting childhood, adolescence, and marriage. Voices from Mutira also provides information about the Emergency, the transition to independence in 1963, and more recent political events. The seven personal narratives are set in context with useful introductory and concluding chapters, adding up to an effective introductory ethnography of the Kikuyu. Apart from the historical and anthropological scholarship which informs Davison's chapters, these books are infused with a sense of friendship and companionship stemming from her respect for her informants and their points of view. Davison is realistic about the problems of transmitting culture from oral narratives to the written, translated text, which, as she says in Voices, never capture the complete texture, nuance of meaning and physical expression that are implicit in the initial telling of the narrative in Kikuyu (53). As a woman of European descent married to a from a district neighboring Kirinyaga, I can testify to the realism and sensitivity with which she has reflects on her own reception in the area and the gradually increasing trust and confidence built up between her and her informants. In undergraduate courses in anthropology and African studies, I have found Voices extremely valuable and accessible. Consequently, I eagerly anticipated Davison's The Ostrich Wakes, and in 2006 I used it as a class text for the first time. The book is a personal, anecdotal narrative of the weeks she spent in Mutira at the end of 2002 and early 2003, revisiting her research area and the families of her seven informants. …

Drug efficacy of praziquantel and albendazole in school children in Mwea Division, Central Province, Kenya

The objective of this research was to assess drug efficacy in school children after mass chemotherapy with praziquantel and albendazole conducted in Mwea Division, Kirinyaga District, Central Kenya in 2004. In total 2300 children aged between 4 and 18 years in five primary schools were selected for the study. Before mass chemotherapy, prevalence of infection was 47.4% for Schistosoma mansoni, 16.7% for Necator americanus, 1.6% for Ascaris lumbricoides, and 0.8% for Trichuris trichiura. Post-treatment stool examination was carried out 8 weeks later, and a total of 1942 stool samples were collected. Prevalence decreased to 8.6% for S. mansoni, 0.2% for N. americunus, 0 for A. lumbricoides, and 0.6% for T. trichiura. Efficacy was good for S. mansoni and N. americanus (92.6% and 95.0%, respectively). Results of the first round of treatment of school-age children in Mwea indicate a good reduction in parasite burden.

Prevalence and intensity of <I>Schistosomiasis mansoni</I> in irrigation and non-irrigation areas of central Kenya

To compare the extent of intestinal schistosomiasis among school children attending school in an irrigation and non-irrigation area of Central Kenya. A cross sectional study. Three separate parasitological surveys involving four primary schools in Mwea irrigation scheme, Kirinyaga District and two from a non-irrigation area in Machakos District. One thousand two hundred and twenty two children aged between five and nineteen years were examined for Schistostoma mansoni infection by Kato thick smear technique. High prevelances ranging from 73% to 94% were noted among children in all the participating schools. Overall 41% of the infected children had heavy infection (>400 eggs per gram), 27% had moderate infection (101-400 epg) and 32% had light infection (10-100epg). When data from the two areas were analysed seperately, peak eggs output were found in 5-9 year olds among children in Kirinyaga while this situation shifted to the 10-14 year olds in Machakos children. In Kirinyaga District, boys in the 10-14 years age group had a significantly higher output than girls (P<0.01), but this situation was reversed in the older children (P<0.05). Girls in Machakos District had consistently but non-significantly higher output than boys. Intestinal schistomiasis is more prevalent and with a higher intensity in the irrigated than in non-irrigated areas. There were also pronounced age and gender related differences in the pattern of infection between the two study areas.

A Measure of Economic Rationality in the Smallholder Tea Sub-Sector in Kenya

The smallholder tea sub-sector in Kenya is considered the largest and one of the most successful smallholder schemes in the world. However, tea productivity in this sub-sector has been persistently low when compared with the estate sub-sector. Despite the smallholders planting high yielding clonal teas, the national average yield in the sub-sector was only 2,075 kg made tea/hectare (mt/ha) compared to 3,954 kg mt/ha in the estate sub-sector in 1998. This study investigated some of the factors contributing to low tea productivity in the sub-sector. Cross sectional data gathered in Kirinyaga, Nyambene, Nandi and Nyamira Districts in 1999 were used. It was hypothesized that the extend of rationality in allocation of resources in the smallholder tea enterprise is relatively low. Hence, smallholder tea productivity has remained relatively lower than in the estate sub-sector, high yielding clones and useful agronomic recommendations extended in the smallholder sub-sector notwithstanding. To determine \the extend of economic rationality\, \A Test of Economic Rationality Model was used whereby, the index of economic rationality, ρ is the product moment coefficient of correlation between log (total variable costs-excluding labour costs) and log (labour-in mandays) for each tea district and region. The results showed that the product moment coefficient of correlation, ρ was:- 0.647 in Kirinyaga District, 0.651 in Nyambene District, 0.793 in Nandi District, 0.743 in Nyamira District, 0.595 in East Rift Valley Region, 0.752 in West Rift Valley Region and 0.674 for all farms surveyed. It was noted that the lowest value of ρ was 0.595 in East Rift Valley Region. It means that at least 59 percent of the variance in the logs of both inputs is due to the variation in the systematic profit-maximizing component of these inputs. The balance of 41 percent is the maximum that could be occasioned not only by poor technology and/or knowledge gaps but also by errors in the model and noise in the universe. The null hypothesis was rejected in favour of the alternative hypothesis. The conclusion is that smallholder tea farmers in Kenya seem to be quite price efficient in tea production. Journal of Agriculture, Science and Technology Vol.3(1) 2001: 10-21

Production and Productivity Effects of Informal Contract Farming in Kenya's Smallholder Horticultural Sub-sector

This paper uses data from a 2001 household survey of small-scale farming households in Kirinyaga District, Kenya to explore production effects of informal credit contracts in French bean farming where formal markets for surplus production are seemingly shallow and imperfect. Specifically, it examines whether informal arrangements spur productivity and intensity of inputs use. A three stage least square (3SLS) modelling strategy is used to quantify the direct and indirect effects of contracts on French bean output conditional upon infrastructure, institutional and farmer-specific socio-economic factors. The results show that fertilizer, pesticides and High Yielding Variety seeds use, and French bean output price have direct positive and significant effects on productivity. On the other hand, the period under contract negatively and significantly affect productivity. Indirectly, however, informal contract - proxied by credit value - and farm size positively influence productivity through significant variable input use intensity whereas the input market prices negatively and significantly influence variable input demand. Policy implications are drawn. Keywords: Contract farming; smallholders; horticulture; productivity; Kenya Eastern African Journal of Rural Development Vol.19(1) 2003: 13-24

Theory and Practice in African Orature

Micere Mugo's two most recent books bring together the diverse and criticism of African orature?the creative and imagi? native art of composition that relies on verbal art for communica? tion and that culminates in performance. Her theory book, African Orature and Human Rights, uses an aesthetic analysis of the narrative arts of the Ndia people of Kirinyaga District of Kenya to describe the relationship of arts and rights in an orate society. In the practice book, My Mother's Poem, Mugo adapts, in English (a literate and national lan? guage), the righting spirit of orature for her own poetry. In the theory book, Mugo argues that orature partakes fully in the social and reproduction processes of precolonial African com? munities. The dynamics of composition, subject matter, and performance (or distribution) show that orature contributes to the society's perpetuation of itself. The verbal arts express both the society's negative and positive qualities, its strengths and challenges, its justice and injustices, its realities and ideals. The productions and performances advocate in various ways both the people's basic rights (of the rule of law, fair play, justice, etc.) and those that pertain to subsistence and material survival (work, fair compensation, freedom from want, healthy living, etc). Nonetheless, orature, Mugo says, does not serve the different social strata equally: each unit composes and circulates texts in ways that will ensure that its yearnings, aspirations, and dissatisfaction are well transmitted. In Ndia society, partisan advocacy in the arts is fully respected because the community believes that doing so serves its cosmic health. Mugo embeds her production overview of orature in what she calls an structure theory. She proposes that Ndia life thrives around a set of core values around which constitutive layers form and fall off, and says, All the layers of 'human onion structure' must harmonize or the world will step out of measured rhythm and cause chaos. An individual can fully beif he or she is a part ofthe collective group (13). This underlying belief is reflected in orature directly. For example, among the Agikuyu, the greetings are not casual, automatic exchanges between people, assuming

Agricultural Intensification, Diversification, and Commercial Production among Smallholder Coffee Growers in Central Kenya

The research summarized in this article establishes direct links between the scale, process, and output of agricultural production by examining the dynamics of intensification, crop diversification, and commercialization. Small farm survey results from Kirinyaga District, Kenya, show that diversified production provides smallholders with the opportunity to select a particular crop or crops for commercial production (such as coffee, French beans, or tomatoes) in order to increase farm-generated income while meeting increasing demands for local farm produce and export crops. The study shows that income per hectare (acre) does not consistently increase with increasing farm size, regardless of the level of commercialization. Smallholders operating at the 1.2 to 1.6 hectare (3–4 acre) scale appear to engage in higher-risk, more diversified, commercial production strategies than those with less area under production. These findings expand upon induced intensification theory and support the thesis that increased agricultural productivity results from both subsistence- and commodity-based production, though the research focuses on the latter.

Sustainable agriculture or sustained error? The case of cotton in Kirinyaga, Kenya

Ignoring historical information is one of the major sources of error in development planning. Much can be learned about what works and what does not by examining unsuccessful interventions. This paper uses archival and ethnographic data to examine the very troubled history of cotton in Kirinyaga District, Kenya. It compares the crop's introduction and failure during the 1930s under British colonial rule with its later disappointing promotion by the independent Kenyan government in the 1960s and 1970s. The paper seeks to analyze how and why errors can arise, become embedded, and proliferate in agricultural development efforts. The paper also explores why planners sometimes have difficulties appreciating lessons from the past, especially those from colonial times. The paper calls for planners to redouble their efforts to learn from historical information.

Habitat use by the globally endangered Hinde's Babbler Turdoides hindei and its sympatric relative, the Northern Pied Babbler T. hypoleucus

SummaryWe examined and compared territoriality and habitat use of two congeneric babbler species in Kirinyaga district, central Kenya, with the aim of explaining their differences in global conservation status. Hinde's Babbler Turdoides hindei is a scarce, globally Endangered species whereas Northern Pied Babbler T. hypoleucus is much more abundant and widespread, and occurs throughout the range of Hinde's Babbler. Our findings suggested a lack of flexibility in the choice of habitat by Hinde's Babbler, whose territories were centred on a scarce habitat type: Lantana thickets in river valleys or near swamps. The two species showed similar daily foraging ranges but Hinde's Babbler occupied smaller group territories, whose size was not related to group size. Aggressive encounters between the two species occurred over shared feeding grounds, all of which were initiated and won by Hinde's Babbler. Its dependence on Lantana thickets makes Hinde's Babbler highly susceptible to further habitat loss within its range.

Kikuyu agroforestry: an historical analysis

This paper provides a historical analysis of indigenous agroforestry practices among Ndia and Gichugu Kikuyu cultivators in Kirinyaga District, Kenya. The Kikuyu have long-devised agroforestry practices such as selective cutting, protection of woodland, and intercropping, in response to competing pressures for retaining and removing tree cover. Traditional religious beliefs, common property resource tenure, and farm forestry practices contributed to the conservation of trees. It is argued that indigenous agroforestry techniques and strategies mitigated the impact of deforestation by incorporating valued multipurpose trees in local production systems. The paper briefly examines how indigenous agroforestry was modified by state forestry, agricultural, and land use policies and programs. Although communal tree management strategies have collapsed, indigenous farm forestry practices remain a resilient and viable part of contemporary land use strategies.

The Southern Mount Kenya forest since independence: A social analysis of resource competition

Large forest reserves represent a long-standing state response to tropical forest destruction. There are, however, growing doubts about their effectiveness as sustainable resource management regimes. This case study uses a social and historical perspective to examine conflicts about the use and management of the Mount Kenya Reserve in Kirinyaga District, Kenya since independence in 1963. Official policies and practices have treated local households and small-scale forest enterprises as the most serious threat to the reserve. In contrast, the paper argues that forest degradation has long been associated with official mismanagement and government-sanctioned development activities. In addition, it suggests that planned and spontaneous conversion of woodlands accelerated in the mid-1980s largely because of the implementation of government plans to establish extensive forest plantations. The paper also discusses proposals by the local and national government to convert forest reserves into tea revenue farms.

Rural‐Urban Relations, Household Income Diversification and Agricultural Productivity

ABSTRACTDoes rising income from agriculture drive the growth of nonfarm activities, or does increased income from nonfarm activities spur the growth of agriculture? This paper looks at the role of nonfarm income in enabling smallholders to raise agricultural output and productivity. Based on data from a sample of farm households near Kutus town in the Kirinyaga district of Kenya, it examines these issues by looking at the use of resources for farm production, the risks attached to alternative ways of raising output and productivity, and the household's propensity to accept risk as a function of the extent to which it is able to draw on liquid assets or diversified sources of income. The authors argue that nonfarm income provides households with a form of insurance against the risks of farming, and thus enables them to adopt new production methods and raise output. They argue further that a key factor in creating opportunities for rural households to earn nonfarm income is the presence of vibrant small towns nearby.

Tolerance of Kenyan Schistosoma mansoni to oxamniquine

Although 30 mg/kg oxamniquine produced high levels (85·5 to 99·5%) of egg reduction in Kenyan children infected with Schistosoma mansoni after a single oral treatment, cure rates from children at Mwea in Kirinyaga district were lower than those from Machakos (58% v. 74%). Redosing uncured children confirmed this lower cure rate (36% v. 83%). Isolates from infected children were passaged into mice and dosed with oxamniquine. Lower than expected reductions in worm numbers were obtained, suggesting that oxamniquine tolerant S. mansoni are present in the normal worm population in Kenya. It is concluded that mass use of oxamniquine at 30 mg/kg may produce problems of drug resistance.

Modeling Farmers' Decisions in a Farming Systems Research Exercise: The Adoption of an Improved Maize Variety in Kirinyaga District, Kenya

Hierarchical decision tree modeling is used to analyze selected farmer adoption decisions as part of a farming systems research exercise to plan a production research program for farmers. The technique was used to help explain why farmers in Kirinyaga, Kenya, reject Katumani, the recommended maize variety, for the purpose for which it was introduced, yet grow the variety for entirely different purposes. Hierarchical decision tree modeling is found to be useful for assembling information about farmers' opinions, attitudes, and actions in a meaningful manner. It is also important for guiding the information-gathering process so that an an adequate and accurate data set can be assembled concerning a particular decision.