PARENT SESSION
Symposium 18: Linking local, regional and global ecological changes across densely populated landscapes
Organized by: EC Ellis, PH Verburg, and RA Houghton
Thursday, August 11, 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Meeting Room 517 C, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Farming system dynamics as result of demographic change in the densely populated highlands of Kenya.
van de Steeg, Jeannette*,1, Verburg, Peter2, Baltenweck, Isabelle1, Makokha, Stella1, Staal, Steve1, 1 International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya2 Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
ABSTRACT- As a result of demographic change in the densely populated highlands of Kenya, farming systems are changing. In this area a large majority of smallholders integrate crops (for food and cash) and dairy production to diversify risks from dependency on a single crop or livestock enterprise. Mixed farming yields complementarities in resource use: crop residues and by-products from crop production constitute feeds for cattle, which return manure to maintain soil fertility and crop production. Land use and/or farming systems are mostly studied at the household level, the unit of production. Due to its weak connection with spatial cover and limited coverage it is difficult to explain the impact of land use change. Linking spatial patterns to farming systems characteristics can be used in order to identify the spatial distribution of farming systems. The resulting spatial distribution of farming systems can be used for land use research. Logit regression function analysis is used to reveal and quantify the relations between the locations of the production systems and a set of explanatory factors. Based on the biophysical (like climate and soil properties) and socio-economic conditions (like market access and population density) of a location the relative probability of finding the different production systems at that location is defined. Changes in population density and related factors like infrastructure and market accessibility are found to be important factors explaining the spatial of farming systems. Projected changes in these farming systems are expected to have large impact on vegetation cover, nutrient cycling and landscape characteristics.
Key words: Farming system dynamics, Kenya