Determinants of Soil Fertility Information Needs and Access Among Smallholder Farmers in the Central Highlands of Kenya

ABSTRACT

Soil fertility decline is a significant challenge to the agroecosystems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Accurate and demand-driven soil fertility information is vital for improving agricultural production. We achieved two objectives, i) identifying soil fertility information needs and access and ii) assessing socioeconomic determinants of soil fertility information needs and access among smallholder farmers in the central highlands of Kenya. We sampled 397 smallholder farming households in Murang’a and Tharaka-Nithi counties. We found high soil fertility information need indices among farmers in the two regions. The main soil fertility information needs for farmers in Murang’a County were knowing the correct method of manure application, knowing sources of information, and how to determine soil fertility levels. In Tharaka-Nithi County, farmers’ information priorities were how to apply conservation agriculture, knowing soil erosion control methods, and how to apply animal manure. We found mixed results on soil fertility information access ranging from low to high across different information items and study sites. The binary logistic regression results highlight the influence of farmer perceptions and other factors on soil fertility information need and access. To promote soil fertility information access, agricultural policies should consider site-specific information priorities and socioeconomic contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• Information seeking behavior
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• soil degradation
• agricultural communication
• soil testing

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) in the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development (r4d programme), for funding this study (Grant No. 400540-15222) through the Organic Resource Management for Soil Fertility (ORM4Soil) project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung [Grant No. 400540-15222].