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A holistic sustainability assessment of organic (certified and non-certified) and non-organic smallholder farms in Kenya

Kamau, Juliet Wanjiku; Schader, Christian; Biber-Freudenberger, Lisa; Stellmacher, Till; Amudavi, David M.; Landert, Jan; Blockeel, Johan; Whitney, Cory and Borgemeister, Christian (2022) A holistic sustainability assessment of organic (certified and non-certified) and non-organic smallholder farms in Kenya. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 24, pp. 6984-7021.

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Document available online at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10668-021-01736-y


Summary

The introduction of organic farm management practices in sub-Saharan Africa could act as a lever for supporting regional sustainable development. In this study, we sought to assess the sustainability performance of organic (certified and non-certified) and non-organic farms in the dry Kajiado County and the wet Murang’a County in Kenya, based on four sustainability dimensions: Good Governance, Environmental Integrity, Economic Resilience and Social Well-Being. We collected household survey data from 400 smallholder farms, which were formally characterized into five types (mixed organic and conventional, certified organic, organic, conventional, and subsistence farms). We used multivariate analysis of variance, linear fixed-effects and general linear models to examine differences in sustainability performance. Model results indicate that all farms lack reliable farm management information and that only limited knowledge, skills and social security exist for farmers and farm workers. Comparison of the five farm types indicates no significant differences in their sustainability performance. Nonetheless, certified organic farms had better sustainability performance than non-certified farms due to higher economic resilience, environmental integrity, better support and training for workers. However, except for avoiding the use of agrochemicals in certified farms, there is relatively little difference in the farm management practices across farm types. Our results also indicate that farms in Murang’a were more sustainable than those in Kajiado due to better regional land-tenure security and conflict resolution mechanisms, soil and water conservation measures, and farm commercial viability. Nonetheless, unlike Kajiado, farms in Murang’a showed a tendency toward poor animal husbandry practices which affects overall animal welfare, limited credit uptake and market involvement. The results of this study can support decision making to identify appropriate interventions for improving sustainability in smallholder farms.


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:sustainability, farm management, organic farming, SAFA guidelines, Organic agriculture, Sub-Saharan Africa, Certification, Indicators, sustainability assessment, Abacus, FiBL35126
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
sustainability
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_33560
English
farm management
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2799
English
certification
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_35702
Subjects: Food systems > Recycling, balancing and resource management
Values, standards and certification
"Organics" in general > Countries and regions > Africa
Research affiliation: Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > International > Regions > Africa
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Sustainability
DOI:10.1007/s10668-021-01736-y
Deposited By: Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau, FiBL
ID Code:44662
Deposited On:23 Nov 2022 09:39
Last Modified:23 Nov 2022 09:39
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

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