Short description of the best practice

Disease resistant, can withstand long dry spells and can also provide high yileds under various soil types. In addition it is  a staple food for most communities in Kenya.|

Location

Rachuonyo

If the location has well defined boundaries, specify its extension in hectares:

945000.0

Estimated population living in the location:

307126.0

Brief description of the natural environment within the specified location.

Savana grasslands
Undulating plateaus with isolated hill patches
Some of the districts have sandy soils while others have  black cotton soils

Prevailing socio-economic conditions of those living in the location and/or nearby

Livestock raising, fishing, sand harvesting, |
Trust land, Freehold, |
Subsistence farming and pastoralism  

On the basis of which criteria and/or indicator(s) (not related to The Strategy) the proposed practice and corresponding technology has been considered as 'best'?

It is one of the orphan crops of great signifinacnce in food security.

Main problems addressed by the best practice

Food security|Secures economic livelihoods of local, sub-national and national|Poverty alleviation

Outline specific land degradation problems addressed by the best practice

Prevents soil erosion,
Improves soil nutrients and enhances the soil biodiversity due to conserved soil temperature and moisture.

Specify the objectives of the best practice

To alleviate poverty,
|To secure livelihoods,|To improve soil biodiversity.

Brief description of main activities, by objective

Increased crop production, storage, marketing and value addition.|
Increased of land cover under crop canopy
No answer
Building capacity in local communities on how to optimise on cassava production.

Short description and technical specifications of the technology

Improved cassava variety that blends with indigenous knowledge. This variety reduces land degration and its resilient properties to adverse climatic conditions, disease/pest resistance and drought resistance |
Uses biotechnology

Name and address of the institution developing the technology

Kenya Agricultural Research Intitute,
|Box P.O.Box 57811, City Square, NAIROBI, 00200, Kenya
Email:  Resource.center@kari.org
Fax:  +254-020-4183344
Tel No(s): +254-020-4183720, 4183301-20
GSM:  +254 733 333223/333224, +254 722 206986/206988

Was the technology developed in partnership?

No

Specify the framework within which the technology was promoted

• National initiative – government-led

Specify:

No answer

Was the participation of local stakeholders, including CSOs, fostered in the development of the technology?

Yes

List local stakeholders involved:

International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology and Ministry of agriculture

For the stakeholders listed above, specify their role in the design, introduction, use and maintenance of the technology, if any.

ICIPE was involved in pest control while Ministry of Agriculture provide policy framework, extension services and seedling.|

Was the population living in the location and/or nearby involved in the development of the technology?

Yes

By means of what?

• Consultation
• Participatory approaches

Describe on-site impacts (the major two impacts by category)

It is resilient to plant diseases
Does not require use of pesticides and hence retain the soil in their natural condition
Enhances food security among the vulnerable local communities
Highly vegetative hence acts as soil cover to reduce land degradation.
Has good potential for value addition
It is a staple food for most communities in  the arid and semi arid lands
It is drought resistant
It a perenial crop

Describe the major two off-site (i.e. not occurring in the location but in the surrounding areas) impacts

Food processing industries have emerged out of it to its various uses to meet the local market demand
Generate income thro selling the products out the location

Impact on biodiversity and climate change

Explain the reasons:

Can mitigate climate change as a land cover, retention and improvement of traditional food crops and mitigate aginst land degradation. The canopy preserves soil temperature and moisture  thereby enhancing soil biota.|
Encourage use of traditional foods as one of the adaptation measures. Hence the need to invest on resilient crop variety to adverse weather conditions for food security and to protect community livelihoods
The crop acts a carbon sinks for carbon

Has a cost-benefit analysis been carried out?

Has a cost-benefit analysis been carried out?

Yes

Specify:

It was carried out and found to be a viable and profitable venture.

Was the technology disseminated/introduced to other locations?

Was the technology disseminated/introduced to other locations?

Yes

Where?

Ndhiwa, |Busia,|Teso, |Siaya|Nyatike|Mbeere|Kwale|Makueni

Were incentives to facilitate the take up of the technology provided?

Were incentives to facilitate the take up of the technology provided?

Yes

Specify which type of incentives:

• Policy or regulatory incentives (for example, related to market requirements and regulations, import/export, foreign investment, research & development support, etc)
• Financial incentives (for example, preferential rates, State aid, subsidies, cash grants, loan guarantees, etc)
• Fiscal incentives (for example, exemption from or reduction of taxes, duties, fees, etc)

Can you identify the three main conditions that led to the success of the presented best practice/technology?

Provision of government agricultural extension services
Readily available market
Availability of free seedling

Replicability

In your opinion, the best practice/technology you have proposed can be replicated, although with some level of adaptation, elsewhere?

Yes

At which level?

• Local
• Sub-national
• National
• Subregional
• Regional

Related to human resources

Capacity building on training communities on modern methods of crop production.
|Training communities on benefits of cooperative market procedures.|Training communities to accept research inputs.

Related to financial aspects

Intergrated crop husbandry improves the economic well being of a community through improved yeilds.|Proper crop production secures livelihoods.

Related to technical aspects

Improved yields through proper crop husbandry|Investment in applied research|Synergies of indigenous knowledge and modern crop production techniques