Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Examination of the Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Sustainable Food Production in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya

Isaac Kipchirchir Kimitei, Felix Lamech Mogambi Ming’ate

Asian Journal of Geographical Research · pp. 1–9 · Published 5 Jan 2022

10.9734/ajgr/2022/v5i1108

Abstract

Food insecurity has remained a major challenge to many developing countries. The Food and Agricultural Organization, estimates that 842 million people have suffered from lack of food access, resulting in undernourishment. Kenya’s rural and urban areas, have been suffering from food insecurity since independence. Previous case-studies have shown that, although various governments and donor agencies' have attempted to sponsor food-production programs, execution has remained a challenge. Elgeyo Marakwet has previously been experiencing famine intervention projects from World Vision Kenya, Community Agricultural Development for Semi-Arid Lands, National Agriculture and Livestock Extension Program and Njaa Marufuku Kenya.  The aim of this research was to examine the, organizational structure, socio-economic and capacity-building factors that contribute to sustainable food production in semi-arid and arid areas. The study used a descriptive survey research design to guide in the collection of data from a sample of 136 households using structured questionnaire. Data was analysed through cross-tabulation using Chi-square, ANOVA and percentages. In conclusion the research has revealed that organizational, demographic and capacity building factors are important in the improvement of food production. It is recommended that sustainable food security depends on developing sustainable local food production policy.

Arid and semi-arid land climate change food and agricultural organization food security food production population poverty

References (22)

  1. 1 FAO, WFP, and IFAD. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012. Economic Growth is Necessary to accelerate the Reduction of Hunger and Malnutrition; 2012.
  2. 2 FAO. The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2020: Transforming food systems for affordable healthy diets: Food & Agriculture Org. 2020; 2020.
  3. 3 FAO. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The state of food insecurity in the world. 2001 Report; 2001.
  4. 4 Ejide B. Childhood malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa and sustainable development: the role of corruption, the World Bank, and the west. J Sustainable Dev Afr. 2012;14:32-55.
  5. 5 Njoroge K, Ombati J, Oywaya-Nkurumwa A. Implementation of Njaa Marufuku Kenya intervention in Kajiado County and the implications for food security. Academia Journal of Agricultural Research. 2013;1(7):122-130.
  6. 6 Sasson, A. Food security for Africa: an urgent global challenge. Agriculture & Food Security. 2012;1(1):1-16. [DOI]
  7. 7 World Bank, From Agriculture to Nutrition: Pathways, Synergies, and Outcomes xiii; 2003.
  8. 8 International food policy research institute. Women are still the key to food and nutrition security. Sustainable Solutions for Ending Hunger and Poverty Report; 2002.
  9. 9 Giller KE. The food security conundrum of sub-Saharan Africa. Global Food Security. 2020;26:100431. [DOI]
  10. 10 Emongor R. Food price crisis and food insecurity in Kenya. Kenya Agricultural Research Institute; 2014.
  11. 11 Hazel P, Poulton C. All-Africa review of experiences with commercial agriculture. Case study on food staples. World Bank, Washington DC; 2007.
  12. 12 Kipng'eno RB. Influence of national accelerated agricultural inputs access programme on maize production in Nyamarambe Division, Kisii County. University of Nairobi, Kenya; 2012.
  13. 13 Nduta NRN. Socio-economic factors influencing implementation of njaa marufuku kenya programme for sustainable food security in makuyu division, murang’a county. Unpublished project report) Nairobi University; 2012.
  14. 14 Wittich S. Between Policy and Practicea qualitative study on smallholder commercialization in Chepareria and Kongelai, West Pokot (Kenya); 2015.
  15. 15 Kipkorir D, Kareithi J. Indigenous irrigation and food security in Tot division, Kerio Valley, Kenya. Journal of Anthropology and Archaeology. 2013;1(1):12-27.
  16. 16 Elgeyo Marakwet County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) 2018-2022, Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya; 2018.
  17. 17 Thompson CB, Panacek EA. Research study designs: Non-experimental. Air Medical Journal. 2007;26(1):18-22. [DOI]
  18. 18 Von Grebmer K, Ringler C, Rosegrant MW, Badiane O, Torero M, Yohannes Y, Scenery G. Global Hunger Index: The challenge of hunger: taming price spikes and excessive food price volatility. Paper presented at the Deutsche Welthungerhilfe, International Food Policy Research Institute, and Concern Worldwide; 2011.
  19. 19 Gravetter FJ, Forzano LAB. Research methods for the behavioral sciences: Cengage Learning; 2018.
  20. 20 Krejcie RV, Morgan DW. Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 1970;30(3):607-610. [DOI]
  21. 21 GoK. Elgeyo Marakwet County Prioritized Value Chains Suitability Atlas. Asdsp.kilimo.go.ke; 2020.
  22. 22 Retrieved 25 Januray 2021. Available:https://asdsp.kilimo.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ELGEYO-MARAKWET-SUITABILITY-ATLAS-2-converted-1-converted.pdf.

Cited by 0

No indexed citations yet.

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

0

Page views

0

PDF downloads

0

Outbound clicks

0

Citations

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

No views recorded yet.

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

No traffic recorded yet.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.