The Ecosystem service partnership conference is organized with the main theme of :’Ecosystem services for the future: Delivering value for Nature, Livelihoods and Economic Investment’. The activity targets various stakeholders within the African region to facilitate discussion and cooperation amongst those working in the field of ecosystem services, and its members and non members.

UPSCALE partner, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), will be presenting a paper at the Ecosystem service partnership conference: Further intensification of push-pull for better livelihoods of smallholder farmers by the team Sylvia Buleti and Shem Kuyah.

Hybrid event

This conference will be held in a hybrid format – allowing for both in-person and digital participation. It will be held in-person at the Classic resort lodge in Musanze, Rwanda as well as online everywhere from 8-10 June 2022.

Abstract:

Push-pull technology is one of the intensification practices that has been used to
increase yield and income in smallholder cereal-based production systems by controlling
insect pests (fall armyworm and stemborer) and the parasitic striga weed, while
improving soil health and providing fodder for crop-livestock integration. The technology
is however restricted to maize and traditional cereals, and application is limited to the
scale of fields. Harnessing the full potential of push-pull requires further intensification of
the technology. An on-going research in Western Kenya seeks to expand the scope and
applicability of push-pull in smallholder farming systems. Ten focus group discussions
with 91 participants drawn from 10 villages in three counties (Kisumu, Siaya and Vihiga),
and key informant interviews with 25 participants from the same region were used to
identify sustainable intensification practices that farmers want integrated in push-pull
systems. Respondents were aware of, and mentioned mixed farming, intercropping, crop
rotation, push-pull system, use of fertilizers and organic manure, good agronomic
practices, agroforestry and conservation agriculture as the practices they adopt to
increase crop yields without expanding the area under cultivation. Similar sustainable
intensification practices were mentioned across counties, implying that environmental
context played minimal or no influence on these practices. Respondents rated mixed
farming, intercropping and crop rotation as the most widely practiced in the region. They
prefer to intensify push-pull with options that would increase productivity, boost income
and provide firewood and fodder. However, broader challenges to uptake of technologies
in the region (e.g. shortage of land due to high population, dearth of information on
some of the approaches, aggravated by lack of skills and shortage of extension agents,
broader cultural issues of land ownership and land use that prejudice against women and
youth, high costs of inputs, and limited access to market) affect adoption of push-pull.