Take It to the Farmer: Lessons from Western Kenya.

Many good agronomic practices that contribute to increased productivity, household income, and food security have been generated in Kenya but farmer adoption has been slow and low. The following lessons are from work with farmers in western Kenya. 1) Technology delivery can be enabling to farmers: adoption of one agronomic practice that increases farm productivity and profit can improve the farmer’s ability to obtain information and share with other farmers. 2) Team effort: adoption is often minimal when only the agronomic practice is considered, but partnering with other institutions such as for finance, input supply and marketing enhances adoption. E.g. effectiveness of Minjingu rock phosphate was demonstrated for acidic soils but was unavailable to farmers. 3) Reconcile conflicting messages: some promote the use of more costly, less acidifying fertilizer rather than the more profitable option of using relatively more acidifying fertilizer complemented with lime use; promotion of more costly fertilizer blends conflicts with the greater farmer profit opportunity of using single and compound nutrient fertilizers. 4) Allow for adaption and learn from the farmer: farmers may adapt a practice or find a better way to fit it into their farming system; this creates a learning opportunity. 5) Farmer to farmer extension: farmers are likely to accept a practice when another farmer has successfully adopted it. Working with lead farmers, opinion leaders, and early adopters speeds up adoption. Farmer involvement in technology development and making them part of the solution will both enable farmers and increase the productivity with little resources.