This is one of 280 summaries describing key outputs from the projects run by DFID’s 10-year Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) programmes.
Summary for Project title: R7962: Linking soil fertility and improved cropping strategies to development interventions.
Farm households in the highlands of western Kenya are improving their livelihoods using a
community credit scheme and a set of decision-support tools. Depleted soils, due to continuous
maize cropping, together with Striga infestation, have trapped farmers in a cycle of low yields and
poor soil fertility. To diversify into higher value crops on their limited land, households must
intensify maize production. The credit scheme lets farmers invest in fertilisers, while the decision support
tools help borrowers with land management questions. Although developed in Kenya, these
tools are applicable to many areas of Africa dominated by poor, food-deficient, semi-subsistence
farm households. In Kenya, the tools are promoted by a World Bank-funded project, and they have
also been introduced in Uganda.
The CD has the following information for this output: Description, Validation, Current Situation, Current Promotion, Impacts On Poverty, Environmental
Impact. Attached PDF (12 pp.) taken from the CD.