Home Search Success Stories Volume 4 Home Agenda21 CSD Small Islands Forests National Info Major Groups Technical Coop Issues Attaining Productive and Sustainable Land Use Location Kalama Division, Machakos District, and Eastern Province of Kenya, East of Nairobi. The area is Low Agricultural Potential Area. Altitude ranges between 1800-2100 metres. The majorities of the farmers in the location live below poverty line and have limited capability to purchase external inputs. Declining soil fertility, low soil organic matter, decreasing per capita arable land, poor socio-economic status and unpredictable and unreliable rainfall characterize the site.
Crop yields are low and there are periodic crop failures.
The project was initiated in 1997 with the focus of improving soil fertility and farm productivity by studying potentials of organic farming techniques and stimulating adoption of the same. The European Union funded the project. Parameters under study were soil nutrient balances and farm economic performance. A community meeting was held in 1997 to discuss constraints to soil fertility management and possible solutions. Fifty percent of participating farmers were those who had earlier been exposed to organic farming and the rest were those practicing conventional farming.