ABSTRACT Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) play an important economic role among the youth in Kenya. However, MSEs face a mixture of success and failure with past statistics indicating that three out five fail within the first few months of operation. This study sought to explore the factors influencing performance of Youth Group (YG) MSEs in Kisumu West district. The objectives of the study were: to assess the performance of MSEs undertaken by youth groups in Kisumu West district; to determ...
ABSTRACT Sweetpotato is a major food security crop grown in Kenya. Its production is however limited due to high prevalence of pests and diseases among other factors. Cultural control appears to be the most promising strategy in curbing this problem. However, the recommended cultural control practices are based on farming practices in Asia and United States of America that may not be appropriate for subsistence farmers found in Kenya. This study sought to establish farmers’ knowledge on swe...
ABSTRACT The expected global temperature increase, more intense rainfall and more frequent droughts will have devastating effects on pastoral livelihoods. The economy of the affected areas also dwindle in the event of these calamities considering that droughts and diseases resulting from floods affect the health of livestock which is the major source of livelihood for the pastoralists. The aim of this study was to investigate the impacts of climate variability and the resulting vector-borne d...
ABSTRACT Soil nutrient depletion has been recognized as one of the major biophysical constraints affecting agricultural production in Sub Saharan Africa. Despite many researches that have developed various soil fertility management options, few of the recommendations from these researches have been put into use by the targeted end users. This has been associated with low levels of knowledge and understanding about these technologies among the stakeholders. The objective of the study was there...
ABSTRACT Environmental degradation poses a major threat to the existence of humanity today both in rural and urban settlements. In such a scenario, the importance and need for environmental education as a tool for environmental management and conservation cannot be overemphasized. To raise environmental literacy level among Kenyans, Environmental Education is taught using both interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches. Research has shown that students in urban centers are more envir...
ABSTRACT In Kenya, the forest ecosystem has undergone such considerable degradation that the country’s forest cover is only 3% of the total land area, way below the internationally recommended level of 10% cover. From independence, only the government was involved in forest management. Despite this, the country’s forest cover continued to deteriorate. To stem this decline, the Kenyan Government enacted the Forests Act, 2005, which allows for the participation of both government and commun...
ABSTRACT The study was on woodcarving and basket weaving handicrafts among the Kamba community in Wamunyu and Katangi locations of Mwala District of former Machakos District in Kenya. It examined the extent to which the two practices have impacted on the raw materials used in the production of the respective crafts. A total of 200 craftspeople (100 woodcarvers and 100 basket weavers) participated in the survey. These were purposively sampled for the reason that in each location, the target re...
ABSTRACT Iron industry in Kenya is dependent on imported raw materials. Local deposits of iron ore have been identified at various places in the country but not much has been done to determine whether the deposits are viable in quantity and quality for commercial exploitation. The location and delineation of the iron deposits and formation in the Mbeu area appraises the potential of such mineralization. Ground magnetic survey of Mbeu area was conducted to investigate subsurface geology on the...
ABSTRACT Urban agriculture plays a significant role in national development by contributing towards food security, employment creation, poverty alleviation, and ecologising the “artificial” urban systems. However, it is associated with diverse negative impacts to people and the biophysical environment. Further, though generally illegal in Kenya, the practice continues unabated, being a survival strategy for the low income bracket. This study aimed at assessing its status with view of enco...
ABSTRACT Food insecurity is a major development problem that is caused by myriad of factors in the global, regional, national and local spheres of human life. Several efforts have been put in place to alleviate food insecurity globally, nationally and even locally. Despite these efforts, the situation continues to prevail and sometimes even increase in the contemporary human society. It is therefore imperative that food insecurity gets addressed appropriately. Small scale farmers play a vital...
ABSTRACT Malaria in sub-Saharan Africa is transmitted mainly by Anopheles gambiae Complex mosquitoes. One way of controlling these vectors is by targeting their aquatic stages, which is anticipated to cause significant reduction in adult vectors, hence in malaria transmission. Use of insect growth regulator, Pyriproxyfen, is one potential way of controlling malaria vectors. This study set out to determine the nymphocidal activity of Pyriproxyfen on non-target aquatic dragonfly nymphs during i...
xiii ABSTRACT Climate variability is an emerging phenomenon that is threatening dairy farming globally. The dairy-climate change dilemma in Kenya cannot be mistaken. However, extensive research into dairy farming and an understanding of the dynamics of climate variability effects is greatly lacking.The study investigated the effects of climate variability on dairy farming in Masaba North Sub-county of Nyamira County, Kenya. The main objective was to determine the effects of climate variabilit...
ABSTRACT Low crop yields due to low erratic rainfall, high evapotranspiration, and deteriorating soil fertility in smallholder farmers‘ fields of sub-Saharan Africa have led to a quest for sustainable production practices with greater resource use efficiency. To alleviate water stress, soil fertility decline and reduce runoff, water harvesting technologies and integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) are alternative promising options whose impact on agricultural productivity are not yet ...
ABSTRACT The evaluation of sandstone properties in parts of the Anambra Basin was undertaken to identify the spatial distribution of textural, petrophysical and mineralogical properties of sandstone bodies in the area in order to assess their potentials to host hydrocarbons. Sandstone units from Nkporo Formation, Mamu Formation, Ajali Sandstone and Umuna Sandstone were subjected to textural analysis using sediment granulometry, thin-section petrography and geochemical analysis. Following the...
ABSTRACT The study was carried out between October – November 2008 and aimed at applying Geographical Information System (GIS) approach in characterizing, classifying and making suitability recommendations of soils in Ohia Nekechi within Amasiri area, Afikpo north, Ebonyi State. This study site was identified in a farmland consisting of a toposequence some meters away from Okposi road, Amasiri. A transect was cut across the toposequence revealing its North facing and the South facing slope...