What Informs the Choice of Free Seeds and Seedlings taken by Farmers while Adopting Agroforestry in Makueni County?
Keywords:
Agroforestry, farmers, seed distribution.Abstract
Purpose: The main objective of this study was to evaluate what informs the choice of free seeds and seedlings taken by farmers while adopting agroforestry in Makueni County.
Methodology: This study adopted a descriptive survey design. The study randomly selected 150 beneficiaries appearing in the list of 30,643 beneficiaries provided by Makueni County Long Rains Food Security Assessment Report (2013). This study used primary data which was collected through use of a questionnaire. After data had been collected through questionnaires, it was prepared in readiness for analysis by editing, handling blank responses, coding, categorizing and keying into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software for analysis.
Findings: The study findings indicated that agroforestry is beneficial to farmers in several ways. They can access tree products such as fuel wood, herbs, fodder and vegetables among others within their farms rather than traveling to forests, making it cheaper and less time consuming. The time saved can be invested in productive activities and subsequently improve incomes and livelihoods. It is therefore important to underscore that agroforestry practices and scaling
Conclusion: It can be concluded that the farmers were happy about the government initiative of distributing seeds. Free seed encourages planting of trees and woodlots by individual land users, institutions and community groups. Agroforestry can help in maintaining a viable system of green and open spaces for a functioning eco-system and work towards the achievement and maintenance of a tree cover of at least 10% of the land area of Kenya
Recommendations: The study recommends for rigorous mobilization and sensitization of the community on need for active involvement in agroforestry. Agroforestry scaling can take advantage of the landscape restoration programs in Makueni County.
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