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The
impact of root rot resistant bush and climbing bean varieties on
household livelihoods in western Kenya
S.
David, M. Odendo & R. Otysula
In
the late 1980s and early 1990s, parts of western Kenya experienced a
food security crisis caused by bean root rots, a disease that devastated
this important food crop. Researchers from Kenyan Agricultural Research
Institute (KARI) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
responded to the crisis by experimenting with integrated crop management
strategies and disseminating and promoting five resistant bush bean
varieties. Climbing beans, a technology new to the area, were also
promoted as they are more tolerant to the disease. This paper assesses
the impact of the new bean varieties on food security, income, labour
use, fuelwood consumption and varietal loss using results from a 2001
survey of 233 randomly selected households in Kakamega and Vihiga
Districts. The paper draws on qualitative methods to further
substantiate formal survey results and trace the complex interactions of
impact results. For 91% of
households growing at least one of the five bush and six climbing bean
varieties, the most important benefit was improved food security. The
significantly higher yields of the new varieties increased bean
consumption and allowed farmers to save money that would have been used
to purchase beans. Early maturing varieties were highly appreciated
during the hungry season, particularly by women who previously resorted
to begging for food from better off neighbors.
Reflecting the larger quantities of new varieties sold, adopters
reported higher mean earnings compared to income from the sale of local
bean varieties. Farmers used income gains from the new bean varieties
for both short-term consumption and longer-term investments. Some of the
new bush varieties increased labour requirements for planting, drying
and harvesting (all traditionally female tasks), while climbing beans in
general were found to be labour intensive during staking and harvesting.
The introduction of the new varieties appears to have increased,
rather than reduced, bean varietal diversity, as the majority of
adopters continued to also grow local varieties.
The paper also discusses the adoption of climbing beans. Limited
adoption (8% of households in Kakamega and 18% in Vihiga) was attributed
to shortage of staking materials and insufficient promotion. While the
discussion does not provide conclusive evidence regarding the potential
of high yielding climbing beans for motivating farmers to invest in soil
fertility, it suggests an opportunity for promoting this technology for
specific niches by targetting women farmers.
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