IS CROP DIVERSIFICATION GENDERED? EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF TWO COUNTIES IN KENYA

Abstract

The question of sustainable income and employment in the rural areas seems to be very much dependent on the degree of diversification of land use towards cultivating various crops. In view of this, crop diversification is an important issue in agricultural development not only in Kenya but also in other parts of the world. Efforts are being made in different parts of Kenya to cultivate crops which are remunerative and environmentally friendly. Using data from Africa Intensification (Afrint) Project, this study examines crop diversification trends in two counties of Kenya (Nyeri and Kakamega). The paper addresses the question whether crop diversification is gendered. The paper intensively looks at the nature and extent of crop diversification disaggregating this by the gender of the farm manager in order to understand which of the farms are more diversified. The Herfindahl and the Simpson indices have been computed to depict the level of crop diversification across the three counties and farm types over the period of study. The study findings show that though farmers in the three counties are diversifying their agricultural practices, female managed farms (FMFs) are more diversified than male managed farms (MMFs). Results for FMFs showed a higher and significant degree of crop diversification. The study recommends that more agricultural support services be directed to FMFs which seem to have embraced crop diversification more than MMFs so that sustainable income and employment can be enhanced. This will indeed help in achieving not only the Sustainable Development Goal on poverty reduction but also one of the Kenya Government big four agenda on food security.