Farmer Co-Designed Agroecosystem Initiative Provides Alternative Plant Biomass Resources To Mitigate Crop Residue Removal By Subsistence Farmers In Kenya.

Farmer co-designed agroecosystem initiative provides alternative plant biomass resources to mitigate crop residue removal by subsistence farmers in Kenya

Erin Anders¹ and Urszula Norton²

Department of Plant Sciences, the University of Wyoming

¹Agroecology Undergraduate Student, ² Student Advisor and Assistant Professor of Agroecology

Abstract. Soil resource depletion and land degradation are key contributing factors to food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Conservation agriculture practices (CAP) encourage smallholder farmers to leave post-harvest residue on soil surface to improve soil fertility and overall agroecosystem sustainability. However, pressures associated with post-harvest residue utilization create adoption challenges. Therefore, it is important to identify alternative farmer adoptive resources. It is hypothesized that farmer post-harvest crop residue use is critical to current subsistence strategies and co-designed alternatives will encourage successful adoption, reducing current pressures associated with post-harvest field residue. This study will: (1) quantify the magnitude and sources of plant biomass used by a household, (2) determine the purpose of post-harvest residue, and (3) assess the effectiveness and timing of transition to alternative biomass sources. Five farmers in western Kenya volunteered their land to the project and identified five species of readily available trees, shrubs, and perennial grasses as preferred alternatives for on-farm incorporation. Total plant biomass and utilization data has been collected daily by the farmers since August 2012. Our results suggest that individual household members use, on average, 21 kilograms of fresh plant biomass per month of which 29% comes from field surface. Plant biomass use mitigation, as a result of newly planted alternative sources, occurred as early as February 2013 (six months after planting). Appropriate species incorporation must be identified after on-farm biomass utilization is assessed. Farmer suggested species, which establish quickly and are easily adopted, are necessary to meet everyday pressures and ensure long-term agroecosystem sustainability.