Abstract:
Smallholder farmers, especially those in agriculturally marginal areas such as Bondo district where some high-yielding crop varieties and livestock breeds do not prosper, have relied on a wide range of crop and livestock types. This coping strategy has helped them to maintain their livelihoods in the face of unfavorable circumstances such as disease attack, uncertain rainfall, and fluctuation in the price of farm inputs and outputs. However, intensification and commercialization of agriculture over the years has led to a continual decline in crop and livestock diversity, increasing vulnerability of smallholder farmers to food insecurity. FAO- Netherlands Partnership Programme promoted interventions in Bondo district aimed at enhancing agrobiodiversity through diversification of crop and livestock enterprises. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of agrobiodiversity interventions on crop and livestock diversity, smallholder farmers’ food security and income using comparison groups composed of project participants and non-participants. Data for the study was obtained from a random sample of l50 households using a Single Household Survey (SHS). Shannon’s index was used to determine crop and livestock diversity in the comparison groups. Multinomial Logit (MNL) and Ordinary Least Square(OLS) regression models were used to determine the impact of crop and livestock diversity on food security and income, respectively, while optimal level of farm enterprise diversification was determined using a linear programming model. The analysis showed that crop diversity was significantly higher for ABD — FFS farmers compared to NABD-FPS farmers. Further the study showed that Crop diversity significantly increased farm income as well as the probability for the smallholder farmers to be food secure. The study also showed that to achieve an optimal enterprise combination that would be able to meet household food security requirements and income, farmers need to reduce on enterprises with negative gross margins in their farm plans either by bringing in new enterprises or by improving on the productivity of the existing enterprises. Agrohiodiversity therefore is an important strategy in improving smallholder farmers’ food security and income. The knowledge generated through this study especially on assessment of the economic impact of agrobiodiversity on smallholder farmers will be useful to policy makers in the development of appropriate food security and income strategies for smallholder farmers.
