Gender-specific determinants of Zai technology use intensity for improved soil water management in the drylands of Upper Eastern Kenya

Abstract

Degraded landscapes and soil water stress are long-standing problems to smallholder agriculture in the drylands. Despite the important roles of zai technology in restoring degraded landscapes and improving agricultural productivity, the technology is yet to be adopted to its fullest extent. This can be attributed to gender-linked disparities in agricultural technology utilization. The study, therefore, sought to determine gender-specific determinants of zai technology choice and use-intensity. A multistage sampling technique was employed in randomly selecting 133 female-headed households and 267 male-headed households in Tharaka South sub-county. Quantitative data were collected in a cross-sectional survey using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Using sex-disaggregated data, Chi-square and t-test statistic were employed to test the statistical significance of dummy and mean value of continuous variables, respectively. Gender specific determinants of zai technology choice and use-intensity were determined using the Heckman-two-step econometric model. The results revealed that, more women farmers (44%) were using zai technology as compared to men (38%). Among women farmers, total cultivated land, access to animal-drawn farm implements, and group membership had an influence on zai technology choice. For men, total cultivated land, group membership and access to extension services positively influenced choice of zai technology. With regard to zai technology use-intensity, total land cultivated, livestock densities, group membership and frequency of trainings on soil and water management were important determinants among women farmers. For men, zai technology use-intensity was determined by total cultivated land and farmers’ perceptions on soil erosion. We recommend that, gender-sensitive farm-level policies oriented towards farmer socioeconomic profiles are important deliberations towards choice and intense application of soil and water conservation strategies such as the zai technology.

Determinants of adoption and adoption intensity of integrated soil fertility management technologies among sorghum farmers in Upper Eastern Kenya

“…Similarly, adoption of FISP and ISFM technologies were positively promoted by the size of land (Adolwa et al, 2019; Khonje et al, 2022; Manda et al, 2016; Tesfaye et al, 2020). For adoption intensity, the study is consistent with the conclusion that total land size affected the choice and use intensity of Zai pits (Ndeke et al, 2021). However, the results contradicts the findings of Awuni et al (2018) and Zakaria et al (2020) who reported that farm size negatively influenced adoption of improved agricultural technologies.…”

“…On the other hand, climate change impacts on the sustainability of food systems threatens the state of food and nutrition security across the globe (Yazar & Ali, 2017). The stress of growing population which is largely disenfranchised and climate variation is more pronounced in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) and especially in the dry areas (Mugwe & Otieno, 2021; Ndeke et al, 2021). Vulnerability to climate change variation in SSA has worsened because of high dependence on agriculture, high‐poverty levels, inadequate and poor infrastructure, poor implementation of existing policies and limited access to improved agricultural inputs (Phiiri et al, 2016).…”

Socioeconomic Factors Influencing Uptake of Regenerative Agriculture Technologies in the Dry-lands of Embu County, Kenya

“…The majority of households were male-headed implying that men stood a higher chance to make decisions on which Regenerative Agriculture technologies should be used on their farms. The findings resonate with those of Mwaura et al (2021).This indicates that men were responsible for making major farm/household decisions (Ndeke et al, 2021).Thus households headed by male had higher chances of using compost manure as compared to female-headed households (Usman et al, 2019).This finding is comparable to those of (Ndeke et al, 2021;Sanou et al, 2019;Wekesa et al, 2018) who noted that gender positively affected adoption of new agricultural innovations. In a contrary opinion by (Bessah et al, 2021) , women are most likely to take up new innovations when compared to men to avoid the overarching constraints resulting from extreme weather events that directly affect them than men Marital status negatively and significantly influenced uptake of cover cropping implying that married farmers had lower chances of practicing cover cropping as compared to single farmers.…”

“…Farming experience negatively as well as positively influence the likelihood of taking up agricultural innovations (Zakaria et al, 2020).This could be related with trade-offs that come with technological innovations. As farmers gain more experience in farming, they tend to shift from technologies that yield lower returns to those that are likely to give higher returns (Ndeke et al, 2021).…”

“…However, the new lands are still prone to soil degradation resulting from poor farming methods. The dry-lands of Embu County face challenges of land deterioration, declining soil fertility, declining productivity, as well as extreme climatic weather stress (Kiboi et al, 2019;Ndeke et al, 2021).These challenges necessitate the transformation of agricultural production systems through adoption of new technologies including regenerative agriculture approaches (Gosnell et al, 2019).…”