An article in Think Africa Press looks at how technologies promoted by the World Agroforestry Centre, such as the growing of fodder shrubs, conservation agriculture and other agroforestry practices are helping improve the livelihoods of Kenyan farmers.

Journalist, Geoffrey Kamadi, outlines the urgency in Africa for simple, inexpensive and effective agricultural techniques which can boost productivity on smallholder farms.

Leguminous fodder trees, he writes, have been proven to increase milk production. Work by the World Agroforestry Centre and partners in East Africa over the past 15 years has seen incomes rise by almost US $10 million

Kenyan farmer, Mary Gichuki, says that “by mixing napier grass with fodder shrubs in the ratio of 1:3, I have seen a steady increase in milk production by my dairy cows from 5kg to 50kg per day per cow”.

Another practice seeing promising returns is conservation agriculture. This generally involves ensuring minimum soil disturbance, rotating crops and retaining soil cover (usually crop residue) in order to increase soil fertility.

Combining agroforestry with conservation agriculture promises to improve productivity even more as well as helping farmers to deal with climate variability and possible future shortages of phosphate-based fertilizers.

But according to Saidi Mukomwa, Chief Executive of the Africa Conservation tillage Network, “a very small number of farmers practice conservation agriculture using the three principles”.

The article explains that the major challenge in relation to conservation agriculture with agroforestry in Kenya has been the lack of comparative data to demonstrate the benefits to farmers in both the short and long term.

Read the full story: Kenya: Resource-saving Agriculture