Smallholder Farming and Rural Livelihoods in Ngaita Village, Kiambaa Division, Kiambu District Kenya: A Baseline Survey Report. Kenya Agricultural Research Institute. KARI-ETC-LEI INMASP Report

Abstract

Farmer's knowledge on soil fertility management exists in a social context and access to such knowledge is subject to differential resource endowments and social determinants. The study investigated salient features of household characteristics that may directly or indirectly influence agricultural practices and choice of livelihood options. The study has shown the sample was a middle aged with persons below 40 years accounting for 38% of the sample size. The potential labour force (age 11-59) represented 31% of the sample size and a greater part of this potential labour force was literate. This indicates that agricultural activities may not be potentially constrained by labour availability. The potential labour a farm level was found to be 2 adult equivalents. The average land size was 0.5 ha with average farm population density off 5 persol11ls per hectare.