| dc.description.abstract | Degraded landscapes and soil water stress are long-standing problems to smallholder
agriculture in the drylands. Despite the important roles of soil and water conservation in
restoring degraded landscapes and improving agricultural productivity, the technologies
are yet to be adopted to their fullest extent. This can be attributed to gender-linked
disparities in agricultural technology utilization. This study, therefore, sought to evaluate
gender-specific choice and use-intensity determinants of soil and water management
technologies and preference for technology attributes by women and men farmers. Mixedmethods
approach
was
employed
to
collect
two
sets
of
data;
quantitative
and
qualitative
data.
Quantitative data were collected in a cross-sectional survey using an intervieweradministered
questionnaire
in
Tharaka
South
sub-county.
A
multistage
sampling
technique
was
employed
in
randomly
selecting
133
female-headed
households
and
267
male-headed
households.
Purposively, across the study sites, three Focus Group Discussions were
engaged to gather qualitative data on most preferred technology attributes. Using sexdisaggregated
data, Chi-square and t-test statistic were employed to test the statistical
significance of dummy and mean value of continuous variables, respectively. Gender
influence in preference for soil and water conservation technologies specific-attributes was
measured in a ten-point scoring scale. T-test was used to determine if there were significant
differences between the average scores of each attribute among male-headed households
and female-headed households. One-way analysis of variance was run to determine
presence of statistical evidence that associated attributes average scores were significantly
different with respect to household headship. Tukey’s Honestly Significant Difference test
was used to compare all possible pairs of means. Gender specific determinants of zai
technology choice and use-intensity were determined using the Heckman-two-step
econometric model. The results revealed that, significant gender differences existed in
preference, choice and use-intensity of zai technology and mineral fertiliser. In regard to
preference, women farmers are more sensitive to soil fertility and information availability
characteristics when considering soil and water conservation measures whereas male
farmers are more inclined towards technologies that increase yields and improve soil
fertility. Among women farmers, total cultivated land, access to animal-drawn farm
implements, and group membership had an influence on zai technology and mineral
fertiliser choice. For men, total cultivated land, group membership and access to extension
services positively influenced choice of zai technology and mineral fertiliser. With regard
to zai technology and mineral fertiliser use-intensity, total land cultivated, livestock
densities, group membership and frequency of trainings on soil and water management
were important determinants among women farmers. For men, total cultivated land and
farmers’ perceptions on soil erosion were significant drivers for zai and mineral fertiliser
use intensity. The study recommends that, gender-sensitive farm-level policies oriented
towards farmer socioeconomic profiles are important deliberations towards choice and
intense application of preferred soil and water conservation strategies such as the zai
technology and mineral fertiliser. | en_US |
