Determinants of performance of agroforestry projects in Mbooni division, Makueni county, Kenya

Abstract

This study investigated the determinants of performance of agroforestry projects in Mbooni division in Mbooni West Sub-County in Makueni County with a view to generating information which may be used by policy makers at the county and national government level as well as other stakeholders who are keen on either building on the research findings or improving the performance of agroforestry projects in other parts of the country or the world in order to realize and even exceed the ten percent tree cover recommended by the UN in the best interest of the global environmental conservation endeavour. The objectives of the study were to establish the extent to which land tenure determines performance of agroforestry projects in Mbooni division, to assess the extent to which size of the land determines performance of agroforestry projects in Mbooni division, to determine the extent to which nature of land determines performance of Agroforestry projects in Mbooni division and to examine the degree to which extension services determine performance of agroforestry projects in Mbooni division. The study used descriptive survey design to conduct research. Multistage cluster sampling method was used .The data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires which were administered to 177 respondents and the data analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings presented in percentages, frequencies and tables. Multiple regression analysis was done to establish the relationship between the independent variables of the study and the dependent variable. The study findings were that agroforestry is widely practiced by farmers in the study area. Majority of the farmers practiced agroforestry on their own land with no pending ownership dispute, topography of the land in Mbooni varies between gentle and steep slope and majority of the farmers were not provided with extension services. The study concluded that land tenure, size of land, nature of land and extension services determine performance to a large extent. It recommended that, farmers be encouraged to plant trees which take 3-5 years to reach maturity and stagger the tree planting time to maintain and even exceed the tree cover of 10% as recommended by UN, farmers who own land on a gentle slope should be sensitized on the need to plant trees among crops and use the steep part for tree planting in an effort to increase the tree cover, KEFRI should develop tree species which reach maturity within 3- 5 years and partner with CBOs to make the species available to farmers at affordable prices KFS partners with county government of Makueni, NGOs and any other stakeholders to build its human and material resource capacity to mount a robust extension service regime, , KFS to target farmers in the 20-29 age bracket for sensitization to increase their uptake of the practice , findings of the study be used to increase the national tree cover from 6.99 to 10 % and beyond and that KFS recruits female forestry officers to encourage and extend special support to women in an effort to achieve gender parity in the uptake of agroforestry. The study suggested that further research be done on the relationship between pure agriculture and performance of agroforestry projects especially on land with a hilly topography, the relationship between education and performance of agroforestry projects and a comparative study be done in other parts of the country between areas where establishment of existing private land rights has been done and those areas where it has not been done in order for a regional and national perspective on the determinants of performance of agroforestry projects be determined.