Browsing by Author "Nkurumwa, Agnes Oywaya"

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Challenges in the Implementation of Secondary School Agriculture Curriculum in Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Counties: The Student’s Perspective
(Innovative Space of Scientific Research Journals, 2016) Kyule, Miriam Nthenya; Konyango, Jacob J. Ochieng'; Nkurumwa, Agnes Oywaya
ABSTRACT: Agriculture being the backbone of the country’s economy, preparation of human resource to take the sector to a higher height is inevitable. For this to be achieved, agriculture curriculum implementation in secondary schools is paramount. Agriculture curriculum implementation is expected to equip learners with scientific knowledge and vocational skills they can use in their ecological environments. Despite the teaching of agriculture in ASAL secondary schools, ASALs have remained agriculturally under-exploited experiencing persistent food shortages. This could be partly attributed to challenges in implementation of the curriculum. Most studies have been done on challenges facing teachers in implementing agriculture curriculum in secondary schools. However, very few have focused on challenges facing the learner yet learners are the consumers of the curriculum. This study thus documents the learners’ perspective of the learning resource availability, adequacy and frequency of use in their schools. The study was carried out in ASAL counties of Baringo, Makueni and Narok. The study found out that agriculture textbooks were available, adequate and frequently used. The school farm was also rated as available, adequate but rarely used. The agriculture work shop, laboratory and models were unavailable in schools while all the other resources were inadequately available. Unavailability, inadequacy and non-use of all the learning resources except the agriculture text books compromise on the quality of agricultural skills and knowledge that these learners acquire at secondary school level. This study recommends that teachers of agriculture need to be innovative and practical oriented in implementing the agriculture curriculum.
Communicating climate change adaptation strategies: climate-smart agriculture information dissemination pathways among smallholder potato farmers in Gilgil Sub-County, Kenya
(Elsevier Ltd, 2021-08-23) Waaswa, Andrew; Nkurumwa, Agnes Oywaya; Kibe, Anthony Mwangi; Kipkemoi, Ng'eno Joel
Proven and sustainable practices like climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAPs) need to be prioritized and promoted for uptake especially by the farmers to achieve sustainable development. These are capable of contributing to the realization of sustainable development goals through averting food and nutritional insecurity, increasing and sustaining yields that translate into increased incomes and later reduced poverty. This is because CSAPs enable farmers to adapt and mitigate climate change effects. However, due to inappropriate communication of CSAPs to the farmers, to date, some farmers still see no escape route from the frightening effects of climate change and they are currently adopting a rather fatalistic attitude. This study investigated the information dissemination pathways used by different categories of smallholder potato farmers for and practice of CSAPs. It found a difference between information sources and practice of CSAPs at a 5% level of significance (χ2 ¼ 100.12139, df ¼ 2, p < 0.05, Cramer's V ¼ 1.0), and a difference in the use of the three information dissemination pathways between men and women at a 5% level of significance (χ2 ¼ 6.05949, df ¼ 2, p < 0.05, Cramer's V ¼ 0.17406). The three information dissemination pathways included media, neighbors and friends, and extension officers. Generally, farmers were aware and practiced the CSAPs investigated in this study except for irrigation with high awareness yet with low uptake percentage and potato seedlings and minitubers both with low awareness and practice respectively. This study recommended mainstreaming of CSAPs information.
Communicating climate change adaptation strategies: climate-smart agriculture information dissemination pathways among smallholder potato farmers in Gilgil Sub-County, Kenya
(Elsevier, 2021-08) Waaswa, Andrew; Nkurumwa, Agnes Oywaya; Kibe, Anthony Mwangi; Kipkemoi, Ng'eno Joel
Proven and sustainable practices like climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAPs) need to be prioritized and promoted for uptake especially by the farmers to achieve sustainable development. These are capable of contributing to the realization of sustainable development goals through averting food and nutritional insecurity, increasing and sustaining yields that translate into increased incomes and later reduced poverty. This is because CSAPs enable farmers to adapt and mitigate climate change effects. However, due to inappropriate communication of CSAPs to the farmers, to date, some farmers still see no escape route from the frightening effects of climate change and they are currently adopting a rather fatalistic attitude. This study investigated the information dissemination pathways used by different categories of smallholder potato farmers for and practice of CSAPs. It found a difference between information sources and practice of CSAPs at a 5% level of significance (χ2 ¼ 100.12139, df ¼ 2, p < 0.05, Cramer's V ¼ 1.0), and a difference in the use of the three information dissemination pathways between men and women at a 5% level of significance (χ2 ¼ 6.05949, df ¼ 2, p < 0.05, Cramer's V ¼ 0.17406). The three information dissemination pathways included media, neighbors and friends, and extension officers. Generally, farmers were aware and practiced the CSAPs investigated in this study except for irrigation with high awareness yet with low uptake percentage and potato seedlings and minitubers both with low awareness and practice respectively. This study recommended mainstreaming of CSAPs information
Understanding the socioeconomic determinants of adoption of climate‑smart agricultural practices among smallholder potato farmers in Gilgil Sub‑County, Kenya
(Discover Sustainability, 2021-09-21) Waaswa, Andrew; Nkurumwa, Agnes Oywaya; Kibe, Anthony Mwangi; Ng’eno, Joel Kipkemoi
Besides climate-smart agriculture’s (CSA) potential to meet the world’s increasing food demands in the face of climate variability through sustainably increasing food production, its acceptance among farmers is still low. This could be partly because of limited insight into the contextual underpinnings of its uptake. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between selected socioeconomic factors and the adoption of CSA in Gilgil Sub-County. This study’s results were attained from a binary logistic regression model, using a sample of 120 smallholder potato farmers in two wards of Gilgil Sub-County of Nakuru County, Kenya. An analysis of the five hypothesized explanatory socioeconomic variables contained in the model disclosed that a relationship between socioeconomic factors and adoption of CSAPs was statistically significant at a 5% level of significance (χ2 = 17.966, df = 5, p < 0.05). It further revealed that only two variables had a significant relationship with the adoption of CSAPs. Among these, included gender which was negative and statistically significant at a 5% level of significance (Wald χ2 = 6.701, df = 1, p < 0.05) and annual farm income, which was positive and statistically significant at a 5% level of significance (Wald χ2 = 8.402, df = 1, p < 0.05). Therefore, securing access to vital resources for women farmers is indispensable to enhance their capacity and compliance to adjust production methods in response to climate change. Facilitating increased farm output and income among the farmers is greatly recommended