Agropastoralist Community-led Restoration of Degraded Drylands: Factors Influencing Adoption of Soil Conservation Practices in Semi-arid Regions of Kenya

Background: The conventional approach of soil conservation practices in degraded drylands has shown little success. Lack of knowledge on factors influencing inhabitants of such regions to adopt appropriate conservation practices is the primary cause of low adoption. This is because the disseminators of conservation practices assume a one-fit-all design, resulting in a disconnect between them and farmers. Thus, this study aimed to understand factors influencing soil conservation practices in agropastoral dryland communities of semi-arid lowland West Pokot, with a particular interest in terraces. Methods: A concurrent mixed-method approach embedded in a cross-sectional survey was used and data were collected through semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussions and field measurements of existing terrace attributes. Data were subjected to descriptive analysis, Spearman’s rho correlation, Kruskal Wallis and Chi-Square Test of Independence. Result: The community-driven approaches, gender, size of land and topography are key factors contributing to terrace adoption. Sixty percent of farmers living in degraded high-sloped lands have portions of their farms terraced with average terrace dyke volumes of 103.8±21.45 m³, 105.89±33.13 m³ and 129.6±15.97 m³ for highly sloped, relatively flat and moderately sloppy areas respectively. The study further established terrace dyke sedimentation and limited terrace embarkment reinforcement options as the major challenges facing terracing adoption in the region.