Assessment of the Impact of Adoption of Soil and Water Conservation Practices on Maize Yield in Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays) is one of the most significant crops for the Kenyan population. Adoption of soil and water conservation practices on maize offers a solution to curb climate change dangers by enhancing increased crop production and improving soil quality. Despite various interventions to practice improved soil and water conservation technologies (SWCs) in maize production, adoption of these technologies is low resulting to poor output due factors like poor agronomic practices, drought, low soil fertility and low use of soil technology practices. This study therefore aimed at determining how the adoption of soil and water conservation practices as technologies affected the maize yield in Tharaka Nithi County. Cross-sectional research design was used where multistage sampling procedure was applied to select 318 smallholder maize farmers. Data analysis was done using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) which applied logistic regression model for the estimated propensity scores for adopters and non-adopters. The PSM used three matching algorithms (Nearest Neighbor, Radius and Stratification) to match the adopters and non-adopters. The logistic regression model estimates on socio-economic and institutional factors showed significance on age at 5% on mulching, household size at 5% on intercropping, land size at 5% on irrigation, extension services at 1% on crop rotation and group membership at 10% on irrigation that influenced adoption of SWCs. The positive coefficients indicated that an increase in either of the factors increased the adoption of SWCs, land size P-value = 0.002<0.01, P-value = 0.021<0.05 on intercropping and irrigation, respectively and household size P-value = 0.015<0.05 on intercropping. The positive ATT indicated an average increase in maize yield from intercropping and irrigation as soil and water conservation practices (SWCs) at a range between 290 kgs to 375 kgs and 270 kgs to 725 kgs per hectare, respectively. Results showed that intercropping and irrigation led to notable maize gain in yield as key SWCs. There is therefore the need to practice more intercropping and irrigation for increased productivity and food security. Policy makers and extension agents are to encourage campaigns and increase awareness that outline the economic benefits of SWCs adoption and thereafter positively impact crop yield.