Abstract:
Most rural households in the semi-arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa practise mixed crop-livestock
farming. With population growth and the subsequent scarcity of land available for extensive farming,
the only option available for these households is to intensify production. For this to be successful, one
must understand the divergent patterns of intensification and their relation to the economic needs of
households. In a Rift Valley community in Kenya, inter-household heterogeneities in adopting
distinctive combinations of particular crop and livestock productions (they are defined as ‘croplivestock diversification’ or CLD patterns) were observed. Principal component analysis was used to
identify the dominant CLD patterns which reflect complementarities between crop and livestock types.
This was followed by an assessment of the association between the CLD patterns and the economic
returns and manure use of the households. Among the five dominant CLD patterns identified,
households that kept improved cattle and grew fruits were found to earn higher incomes and apply
more organic manure. Conversely, households that grew staple crops with or without indigenous
animals were found to apply less manure. Education, participation in farmers’ groups, access to the
training centre, and family size were key factors affecting the adoption of CLD patterns.
