Social determinants of adoption of on-farm tree planting and its contribution to household income in Shinyalu, Kakamega, Kenya

ABSTRACT Throughout the world, deforestation continues at an alarming rate of about 13 million hectares a year. Human activities are by far the most common and most destructive cause of deforestation in Africa and other tropical regions as most rural people depend on forests for livelihood and income. The Kenyan government has promoted on-farm tree planting as an intervention to ease community dependence on forest resources for livelihood and income. However, this initiative has not been fully embraced by local communities. This study sought to determine the adoption level of on-farm tree planting as a strategy for afforestation and its contribution to household income in Shinyalu Sub-County. The specific objectives of the study were; to assess the extent to which on-farm tree planting has been adopted, to determine social factors influencing adoption of on-farm tree planting, and to assess the contribution of on-farm tree planting to household income vis-à-vis other farming practices. The study was guided by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) by Ajzen (1991). The TPB explains how attitude towards a behavior influences the choice of adoption of a particular on-farm tree planting pattern and configuration. It also explains how perceived behavioral control determines the factors that facilitate or constrain adoption of on-farm tree planting and the contribution of the practice to household income. The study adopted a cross-sectional study design. Mugenda and Mugenda‘s (1999) formula was used to obtain a sample of 384 respondents selected using simple random sampling from a population of 13,411. Purposive sampling was used to identify 10 key informants. Primary data was collected using semi-structured interviews, Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Quantitative data was analyzed descriptively and presented using frequencies and percentages while qualitative data from FGDs and KIIs was organized into emergent themes to establish patterns, trends and relationships. The results of the study showed the extent of adoption of on-farm tree planning was low. Farmers had planted woodlots (24%), trees on boundaries (23%) and scattered trees (21%) as the major patterns and configurations of tree planting. The main social factors that influenced adoption of on-farm tree planting were; distance from the home to the forest (94.0%), gender (72.7), land size (71.4%), education level (68.2%) and family size (63.5%). On-farm tree planting contributed a mean annual income of Kshs 105,616.55 per household and it was the second highest income earner after crop farming in Shinyalu Sub-county. The study recommends that sensitization and training of farmers be done on the importance of on-farm tree planting, propagation of seedlings, and nursery management practices for sustained production. This study provides valuable information on adoption of on-farm tree planting as a conservation and management strategy of forest ecosystems as well as an alternative livelihood source for forest adjacent communities in Kenya.