Determination of factors influencing adoption and control of prosopis juliflora in Marigat, Baringo County, Kenya

Abstract

Prosopis juliflora was introduced in Kenya to address the increasing demands of forest resources and to improve the vegetation cover. The extent and spread of Prosopis juliflora is a threat to ecosystem (erosion of biodiversity, allopathic interactions and negative health on both animals and human) that supports livelihoods in Marigat Sub-county. To control its spread, several management and control technologies were promoted in the area in early 2004. They include clearing and planting pasture, charcoal production and killing of stumps with chemicals, among others. These interventions have not yielded the desired results. The aim of this research was to determine factors that influence people‟s adoption and utilisation of Prosopis juliflora for its management and control within the Arid and semi-Arid Lands. A socio-ecological survey was carried out using Semi-structured questionnaires with both closed and open-ended questions. A sample size of 337 households was randomly selected for the study in Marigat Sub-county. Socio-economic and demographic factors were considered. Chi-square was used to determine the differences between the mean variables. A regression model was used to identify determinants of Prosopis juliflora management technique with income and socio-economic characteristics as dependent and independent variables, respectively. Results showed land size, incomes from Prosopis products; age and household size significantly influenced the adoption of management and control technologies. Majority of the respondents (36.7%) were low adopters and utilizers of control techniques. Charcoal burning as a management and control measure was found to be the most utilised technique (24.8%) , fencing (12.6%)fuelwood(10.4%). The results also show that Socioeconomic and demographic factors influence adoption and control of Prosopis julifora Age (p=0.04), Household size (p=0.016) income (p=0.006). Thus, the government should adopt new strategies for sensitising the communities and entrepreneurs on the management of Prosopis invasion to enable its utilisation and other control measures.