Determinants of conservation agriculture adoption among small-holder farmers in Gilgil sub-county, Kenya

Conservation Agriculture is a practice that enhances sustainable and intensified agricultural production. Conservation Agriculture involves; crop rotation, minimum tillage, mulching, zero tillage, maize-legume intercrop, and residue retention. Conservation Agriculture practices are crucial in providing solutions to food and nutrition insecurity, loss of biodiversity and declining soil quality in Kenya. This study documented the current status of Conservation Agriculture use in Gilgil Sub-County of Nakuru County, Kenya, reasons for adoption, and influence of socio-economic, institutional, and agro-ecological factors on adoption of Conservation Agriculture and patterns of use. The study was conducted in July 2020 in Gilgil Sub- County of Nakuru County, Kenya. The study targeted 71,268 farmers and an accessible population of 10,914 farm families respectively. Purposive and systematic sampling techniques were used to select 150 small-holder farmers based on Nassiuma formulae. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Both descriptive (mean, frequencies, and percentages) and inferential (Multivariate probit and Tobit models and Factorial Analysis of Variance) statistics were used to analyse the data. The results revealed incomplete use of Conservation Agriculture practices: about 87% used less than five of the six recommended Conservation Agriculture practices while only 13% used five to six practices promoted in the area. This result indicates that farm-level benefits of using all Conservation Agriculture practices simultaneously were not fully realized. Second, the study established that farmers used Conservation Agriculture practices for agronomic, environmental conservation, and economic reasons. Furthermore, the differences in patterns of use of Conservation Agriculture practices were significantly determined by extension contacts, main occupation, education, access to credit, external institutional support, group membership, and land size.