Daniel Kyalo | Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn (original) (raw)

Books by Daniel Kyalo

Livestock production is an important tool for rural development especially in the developing Coun... more Livestock production is an important tool for rural development especially in the developing Countries. Here, the past two decades have witnessed dynamics in demand structure, climate, and demographic characteristics, with fast growth in the demand for livestock products and an increased dependence on livestock for sustainable livelihood systems. In response to these changes, there has been rapid land use and land cover changes, characterized by expansion of agricultural systems and decline in farm sizes, causing environmental degradation in several rural areas. The dilemma remains is to have a trade-off between meeting the expanding demand for livestock products and sustainable utilization of the limited stock of natural resources. This book draws key policy implications for sustainable livestock production, pointing towards incentives for intensification, institutional reforms, improving livestock productivity, and innovations that enhance the synergies between livestock production and the environment. These, can help to enhance livestock production as a key tool towards achievement of sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Papers by Daniel Kyalo

Food insecurity continues to be pervasive in Sub-Saharan Africa. Agricultural productivity is ver... more Food insecurity continues to be pervasive in Sub-Saharan Africa. Agricultural productivity is very wobbly mainly due to soil fertility problems. In the stir of the resource constraints for external farm inputs faced by smallholder farmers in the region, sustainable agriculture that relies on on-farm or local resources presents desirable option for enhancing agricultural productivity. Organic agriculture is frequently promoted as an exit strategy from food insecurity and poverty for small-scale farmers in these regions. Potential benefits include affordable and enhanced soil repletion, environmental health, poverty allevation among others have been widely documented. However, uptake has been slow and promotion and research into sustainable technologies has had little impact on its adoption. This paper investigates the barriers to adoption of non-certified organic agriculture technologies by smallholder farmers in Kenya. Economic, demographic, institutional as well as farm characteris...

In Kenya, just like in other developing countries, the character of the food system and nature of... more In Kenya, just like in other developing countries, the character of the food system and nature of food policy is changing, with the supermarkets and other specialised outlets taking a leading role in marketing of agricultural produce, policy makers have also to focus on emerging issues with regard to food production, processing and marketing. As these changes occur, the gains are more likely to accrue to the more concentrated players who control the major agro-based and food processing systems. The small scale farmers are likely to be the losers due to a number of challenges and poor links of their production to the market. Against the backdrop of the expanding domestic and export markets for organic produce accelerated by changing global food systems, food, health and safety concerns, this study sought to identify the factors that influence the level of local market participation for small scale farmers in East Mau catchment. It was hypothesised that there is a relationship between...

Forests and tree resources are rapidly declining in many tropical regions, yet they play a core r... more Forests and tree resources are rapidly declining in many tropical regions, yet they play a core role in achieving Millennium development goal (MDGs). A collaborative research effort- OAT (Organic Agriculture with Trees) was designed to identify strategies to re-establish trees and sustainable farming systems in smallholder farms in the degraded Mau catchment, chiefly through the integration into organic farming methods. A three phase study was done in the East Mau catchment area with an aim of evaluating the potential of organic Agriculture and Forestry and Agro forestry to provide basic livelihood needs. Organic crop production potential was obtained through experimentation at Egerton University in 2004-2006, while that of farmers’ practice was obtained through field surveys of 292 smallholder farmers within the Mau catchment carried out in early 2007. Results indicate that the agricultural system done in Mau East is producing food at below optimal levels when compared to researche...

Regard Sur La Biochimie, 2000

Ecological Economics, 2013

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the effects of social influence and participation in collective acti... more ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the effects of social influence and participation in collective action initiatives on soil conservation effort among smallholder farmers in Lake Naivasha basin, Kenya. We apply binary and ordered probit models in a two stage regression procedure to cross-sectional data collected through a household survey among randomly selected smallholder farmers. Smallholder farming systems in the research area are associated with practices that render farmlands susceptible to soil erosion causing negative impacts on land and the environment. Therefore, strategies that encourage soil conservation are likely to also offer solutions for dealing with agri-environmental challenges and poverty alleviation. Results indicate that social capital facilitates participation in collective action initiatives which then influence individual soil conservation efforts. Neighborhood social influences, subjective norms, gender, education level, farm size, access to credit and livestock ownership also emerge as key determinants of soil conservation effort. Policy implications drawn by this study encourage strategies to increase participation and effectiveness in collective action initiatives as a boost to soil conservation. Implementation of soil conservation practices could also be encouraged through awareness increasing instruments, facilitating access to agricultural micro-credit and paying attention to gender related challenges on knowledge access and rights over land and other natural resources.

Smallholders in rural Kenya, like their counterparts in tropical Africa currently face acute shor... more Smallholders in rural Kenya, like their counterparts in tropical Africa currently face acute shortage of fuel wood for domestic use. There has been rapid population increase in the last few decades resulting in increased demand for food crops. This has led to the expansion of area under subsistence agriculture eating into indigenous forests, the traditional source of wood fuel. This situation has been compounded by the limited access to alternative sources of domestic energy in rural parts of Kenya. The recent upsurge in the cost of fossil-derived fuels as well as in hydro-generated electricity has left the smallholder farmer with wood as the sole source of fuel. This paper therefore examines the conflicting demands of domestic fuel needs and foods. Key research questions were: What are the household domestic energy demand and constraints? What is the household food demand and constraint among smallholders? How do the smallholders reconcile these competing basic needs? The paper ref...

Environmental Modelling and Software, 2015

ABSTRACT Abstract This study views the Lake Naivasha Basin in Kenya's Rift Valley as a hy... more ABSTRACT Abstract This study views the Lake Naivasha Basin in Kenya's Rift Valley as a hydro-economic system with slowly emerging basin-wide water management institutions. Possible institutions face two interlinked challenges. Firstly, large scale horticultural activities as a core economic activity in the basin require substantial and regular amounts of irrigation water, abstracted from the lake and its aquifer. The lake level and thus irrigation water availability reveal a falling trend over the last two decades, which calls for institutions aimed at restricting further expansion in water use. Secondly, the region is characterized by volatile weather conditions where periods of average and above average rainfall have alternated with prolonged droughts for centuries. That leads to highly volatile water inflows into the lake. The two challenges combined thus call for water management institutions that support sustainable water use in both the short and the long run. This study therefore investigates the effect of water institutions already existing or proposed by local stakeholder organizations on preserving target lake levels against a background of highly volatile water availability which negatively affects the economic viability of institutions. To take the absence of functioning basin-wide coordination mechanisms for water allocation into account, we employ the solution format of Multiple Optimization Problems with Equilibrium Constraints (MOPEC) in our integrated hydro-economic model. Stochastic scenario simulations with the model reveal that compliance to water regulations and thus the viability of water institutions in the Naivasha Basin would require very high penalties which are not likely to be accepted by users.

Poverty in Kenya and most developing countries has been mainly rural based, where over 70 % of th... more Poverty in Kenya and most developing countries has been mainly rural based, where over 70 % of the population live and actively engage in agricultural activities. This has called for intensified efforts within governmental and Non- governmental Organizations (NGOs) circles to design and implement strategies for rural poverty eradication and wealth creation. Sustainable agricultural production technologies such as organic farming

Land Use Policy

ABSTRACT The current study seeks to assess the private benefits associated with multiple soil con... more ABSTRACT The current study seeks to assess the private benefits associated with multiple soil conservation practices (MSCPs) by estimating the marginal value of crop production that can be attributed to such practices. In areas where land degradation associated with soil erosion causes serious agri-environmental challenges such as loss of soil fertility, siltation and eutrophication, a multiple approach to soil conservation is neccessary. However, notwithstanding efforts to encourage adoption of such practices, their uptake remains generally low. Analysing the effect of MSCPs on crop productivity is one of the ways through which the incentives for soil conservation can be explored. To achieve the stated objective, the current study applied propensity score matching and exogenous switching regression techniques to cross-sectional data collected from a random sample of farm households located in Lake Naivasha basin, Kenya. Results indicate that there is a significant positive effect of implementing multiple soil conservation practices on crop productivity. However, we note that whether the additional benefits will cover the opportunity costs associated with the implementation of these practices will depend on farm specific attributes such as slope and the soil conservation effort. In cases where marginal benefits are not substantial to cover opportunity costs for implementation of soil conservation practices, intrinsic or external incentives could be necessary. Policy interventions could focus on offering technical assistance to farmers in selecting soil conservation practices that are best suited to their local condition.

tropentag.de

Kibet Ngetich 1 , Hadija Murenga 1 , Bernhard Freyer 2 , Daniel Kyalo 3 , Rhoda Birech 4 ... 1Ege... more Kibet Ngetich 1 , Hadija Murenga 1 , Bernhard Freyer 2 , Daniel Kyalo 3 , Rhoda Birech 4 ... 1Egerton University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Kenya 2University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU), Inst. of Organic Farming, Austria 3Egerton ...

Regard Sur La Biochimie, 2000

Ecological Economics, 2013

Environmental Modelling and Software, 2015

Land Use Policy

tropentag.de

Food insecurity, poverty, lack of water (quantity and quality) and diseases continues to be perve... more Food insecurity, poverty, lack of water (quantity and quality) and diseases continues to be perverse in many sub-Saharan countries. Destabilisation of the natural resources especially forests and soil is the main culprit. Worst affected are smallholders who rely entirely on ...