Soils of the Highland and Mountainous Areas of Kenya with Special Emphasis on Agricultural Soils

Abstract

Kenya's landscape is of great topographic diversity, rising from sea level to 5,199 m a.s.l. at the summit of Mount Kenya. Climate, geology, and relief have created different agro-climatic zones with highly variable soil developments. These are discussed with reference to the highland areas above 1,500 m. Of the fourteen major soil types, the dominant ones are Ferralsols, Acrisols, Phaeozems, and Nitosols. Deforestation, agricultural use of slopes, and overgrazing have significantly degraded most soils in the highlands, although they have good structure and relative resistance to soil erosion. A number of conservation measures were introduced in the late 1920s and again after 1972. Since 1980, the government has also heavily encouraged afforestation to control erosion.