Effects of defoliation on vegetation growth in a semi-arid area of Kenya I.—Annual dry Matter production

Abstract

Only 15 percent of the land area of Kenya receives more than 750 mm of rainfall in at least four years out of five (Griffiths, 1962). In the rest of the country, a system of nomadic pastoralism has developed as a strategy to provide for security of food supply (FAO, 1960, Henning, 1960 and Allan, 1965). Settled crop production is largely precluded in the semi-arid and arid areas due to the high risk of crop failure associated with the low annual rainfall total and a highly variable distribution pattern.