Crop diversification strategies are one way for Kenyan households to improve their food security. In Kirinyaga Central and East Sub-Counties, the agricultural sector is dominated by smallholder coffee farmers who suffer seasonal hunger due to low food crop productivity. This has led to what has been labeled as ‘lean months’ by scientists. Several studies have shown that crop diversification provides smallholder farmers with food and nutrition security. However, smallholder coffee farmers in the study area have minimal information concerning potential and contribution of crop diversification to food security. The study aimed to establish the effects of crop diversification on food security in Kirinyaga Central and East Sub-Counties, Kirinyaga County, Kenya. The study was guided by modern portfolio theory. The study was carried out in three agro-ecological zones (UM1, UM2 and UM3) using descriptive research design to collect household data with structured questionnaires. A target population of 18420 smallholder coffee farmers was used, from which using multistage sampling techniques, a sample of 408 was selected. Descriptive statistics and econometric models were relied on for data analysis. The mean Crop Diversification Index (CDI) was 0.39. Cereals were the most consumed food crop with mean Food Consumption Score (FCS) of 7.50. The total mean FCS of households was 27.46, which may have implied that majority of them fall into borderline food consumption category (52.87%). Further, the findings show that farmers faced seasonal food insecurity with 54.36% of them reporting at least one month of food scarcity. Findings of multinomial logistic model revealed that the expected change in probability for a farmer to fall into borderline FCS level at p<0.05, was effected by landscape heterogeneity (33.2%), crop varietal diversity (8.8%), intercropping (13.6%) and crop species diversity (15.2%). For a farmer to fall in acceptable FCS level at p<0.05, it was contributed by 0.5% of landscape heterogeneity, crop rotation (0.4%), crop varietal diversity (0.4%), intercropping (2%) and crop species diversity (1.8%). Based on this study findings, we can conclude that crop diversification is one viable option in smallholder farming that can ensure establishment of resilient agricultural systems that can contribute significantly to household food security. There is need for government to support policies and programs that promote adoption of crop diversification strategies for realization of enhanced food and nutrition security.
| Published in | International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences (Volume 9, Issue 4) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijaas.20230904.13 |
| Page(s) | 106-119 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Smallholder Coffee Farmers, Crop Diversification Strategies, Food Security, Food Consumption Score
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APA Style
Micheni Pauline Kananu, Gathungu Geofrey Kingori, Dennis Kariuki Muriithi. (2023). Effects of Crop Diversification on Households’ Food Security Among Smallholder Coffee Farmers in Kirinyaga Central and East Sub-Counties, Kirinyaga County, Kenya. International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences, 9(4), 106-119. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20230904.13
ACS Style
Micheni Pauline Kananu; Gathungu Geofrey Kingori; Dennis Kariuki Muriithi. Effects of Crop Diversification on Households’ Food Security Among Smallholder Coffee Farmers in Kirinyaga Central and East Sub-Counties, Kirinyaga County, Kenya. Int. J. Appl. Agric. Sci. 2023, 9(4), 106-119. doi: 10.11648/j.ijaas.20230904.13
AMA Style
Micheni Pauline Kananu, Gathungu Geofrey Kingori, Dennis Kariuki Muriithi. Effects of Crop Diversification on Households’ Food Security Among Smallholder Coffee Farmers in Kirinyaga Central and East Sub-Counties, Kirinyaga County, Kenya. Int J Appl Agric Sci. 2023;9(4):106-119. doi: 10.11648/j.ijaas.20230904.13
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijaas.20230904.13,
author = {Micheni Pauline Kananu and Gathungu Geofrey Kingori and Dennis Kariuki Muriithi},
title = {Effects of Crop Diversification on Households’ Food Security Among Smallholder Coffee Farmers in Kirinyaga Central and East Sub-Counties, Kirinyaga County, Kenya},
journal = {International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences},
volume = {9},
number = {4},
pages = {106-119},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijaas.20230904.13},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20230904.13},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijaas.20230904.13},
abstract = {Crop diversification strategies are one way for Kenyan households to improve their food security. In Kirinyaga Central and East Sub-Counties, the agricultural sector is dominated by smallholder coffee farmers who suffer seasonal hunger due to low food crop productivity. This has led to what has been labeled as ‘lean months’ by scientists. Several studies have shown that crop diversification provides smallholder farmers with food and nutrition security. However, smallholder coffee farmers in the study area have minimal information concerning potential and contribution of crop diversification to food security. The study aimed to establish the effects of crop diversification on food security in Kirinyaga Central and East Sub-Counties, Kirinyaga County, Kenya. The study was guided by modern portfolio theory. The study was carried out in three agro-ecological zones (UM1, UM2 and UM3) using descriptive research design to collect household data with structured questionnaires. A target population of 18420 smallholder coffee farmers was used, from which using multistage sampling techniques, a sample of 408 was selected. Descriptive statistics and econometric models were relied on for data analysis. The mean Crop Diversification Index (CDI) was 0.39. Cereals were the most consumed food crop with mean Food Consumption Score (FCS) of 7.50. The total mean FCS of households was 27.46, which may have implied that majority of them fall into borderline food consumption category (52.87%). Further, the findings show that farmers faced seasonal food insecurity with 54.36% of them reporting at least one month of food scarcity. Findings of multinomial logistic model revealed that the expected change in probability for a farmer to fall into borderline FCS level at p<0.05, was effected by landscape heterogeneity (33.2%), crop varietal diversity (8.8%), intercropping (13.6%) and crop species diversity (15.2%). For a farmer to fall in acceptable FCS level at p<0.05, it was contributed by 0.5% of landscape heterogeneity, crop rotation (0.4%), crop varietal diversity (0.4%), intercropping (2%) and crop species diversity (1.8%). Based on this study findings, we can conclude that crop diversification is one viable option in smallholder farming that can ensure establishment of resilient agricultural systems that can contribute significantly to household food security. There is need for government to support policies and programs that promote adoption of crop diversification strategies for realization of enhanced food and nutrition security.},
year = {2023}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Effects of Crop Diversification on Households’ Food Security Among Smallholder Coffee Farmers in Kirinyaga Central and East Sub-Counties, Kirinyaga County, Kenya AU - Micheni Pauline Kananu AU - Gathungu Geofrey Kingori AU - Dennis Kariuki Muriithi Y1 - 2023/07/24 PY - 2023 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20230904.13 DO - 10.11648/j.ijaas.20230904.13 T2 - International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences JF - International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences JO - International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences SP - 106 EP - 119 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2469-7885 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20230904.13 AB - Crop diversification strategies are one way for Kenyan households to improve their food security. In Kirinyaga Central and East Sub-Counties, the agricultural sector is dominated by smallholder coffee farmers who suffer seasonal hunger due to low food crop productivity. This has led to what has been labeled as ‘lean months’ by scientists. Several studies have shown that crop diversification provides smallholder farmers with food and nutrition security. However, smallholder coffee farmers in the study area have minimal information concerning potential and contribution of crop diversification to food security. The study aimed to establish the effects of crop diversification on food security in Kirinyaga Central and East Sub-Counties, Kirinyaga County, Kenya. The study was guided by modern portfolio theory. The study was carried out in three agro-ecological zones (UM1, UM2 and UM3) using descriptive research design to collect household data with structured questionnaires. A target population of 18420 smallholder coffee farmers was used, from which using multistage sampling techniques, a sample of 408 was selected. Descriptive statistics and econometric models were relied on for data analysis. The mean Crop Diversification Index (CDI) was 0.39. Cereals were the most consumed food crop with mean Food Consumption Score (FCS) of 7.50. The total mean FCS of households was 27.46, which may have implied that majority of them fall into borderline food consumption category (52.87%). Further, the findings show that farmers faced seasonal food insecurity with 54.36% of them reporting at least one month of food scarcity. Findings of multinomial logistic model revealed that the expected change in probability for a farmer to fall into borderline FCS level at p<0.05, was effected by landscape heterogeneity (33.2%), crop varietal diversity (8.8%), intercropping (13.6%) and crop species diversity (15.2%). For a farmer to fall in acceptable FCS level at p<0.05, it was contributed by 0.5% of landscape heterogeneity, crop rotation (0.4%), crop varietal diversity (0.4%), intercropping (2%) and crop species diversity (1.8%). Based on this study findings, we can conclude that crop diversification is one viable option in smallholder farming that can ensure establishment of resilient agricultural systems that can contribute significantly to household food security. There is need for government to support policies and programs that promote adoption of crop diversification strategies for realization of enhanced food and nutrition security. VL - 9 IS - 4 ER -
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