Supplementing rain-fed conservation agriculture with rainwater harvesting for sustainable development: a case study for Laikipia, Kenya.

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1 Supplementing rain-fed conservation agriculture with rainwater harvesting for sustainable development: a case study for Laikipia, Kenya. Presented at: Symposium on Rainwater-Smart Management in Sub-Sahara Africa in Nairobi, Kenya 1st- 2nd February 2017 Patricia Wangui

2 Introduction Effects of climate change are being experienced all over the world with increases in temperature expected to continue Common effects in SSA are frequent droughts and flooding In SSA, food production relies heavily on rain-fed agriculture making it vulnerable when rains fail (up to 50% decrease in yields) High population increase in SSA is threatening food security; lower yields and competition for water Efficient water management is a necessity if SSA is to remain food secure Both adaptation and mitigation measures should go hand in hand in addressing climate change

3 Project Objectives: Enabling people and farmland production systems to adapt to climate change through introduction of appropriate technologies Specific Objective: Improve household incomes through increases crop yields supported by supplemental Irrigation (SI) Sequester soil carbon through conservation agriculture (CA) for higher yields Project Target: 4,000 households smallholder farmers in ASAL distributed across 10 sites

4 Methodology Study area: Laikipia County 9,462 km 2 in area Semi-arid with only 20% arable land Average annual rainfall is mm Temperature o C Poverty levels are at 43% 60% of population depend on agriculture. KIPPRA (2013)

5 Methods: Use of demonstration & training sites Conservation agriculture Rainwater harvesting Drip irrigation Extension services - 2 field staff at each site Farmer field days held at each site each season Documentation of uptake of technologies by community and level of uptake Linkage to suppliers and markets Promotion of GAPs e.g. certified seeds, crop rotation, fertilizer use

6 Methods - pictures

7 Results Adoption trends in Laikipia paint a familiar picture with only a handful lead farmers taking up the technologies promoted by the project. Degree of adoption depended on the affordability of the technology and to some extend on education level Different farmers adopted different technologies with CA and RWH being preferred Some farmers adopted some aspects but the whole technology in its entirety There were varying levels of adoption for the different technologies Crop production was the main source of livelihood at 63% Return on investment was lower than the investment; farmer vs sites Out to the 168 households sampled 86.9% reported improved food security compared to 60% at project time zero (Baseline)

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9 Results and Discussions

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15 Discussion Contribution of new technologies e.g. rainwater management and use in agriculture are significant. But, there is need to understand the dynamics that drive their adoption to realize return on investment Adoption trend is familiar with new technology uptake; starts slow before picking due to fear of the unknown Adoption was influenced by socio-economic ability and literacy levels Despite limitations, new technologies are welcome by farmers as a tool to face changing markets and financial constraints For sustainability purposes, introduction of new technologies must go hand in hand with other interventions in agriculture Standardization for key indicators to measure adoption rates for new technologies is needed especially for none research projects.

16 Conclusion Water management and its efficient use need to be streamlined into interventions targeting food security Changing climate and population increase are contributing to water stress and are affecting food security Results of adopting new technologies need to be monitored to understand and leverage synergies with the complex agricultural systems. Integrate introduction of new technologies to existing GAP Involve all stakeholders especially farmers in all stages of the projects to ensure sustainability