Conservation Agriculture Input Costs on Livelihood Outcomes of Farmers in Makueni and Machakos Counties

There is need to facilitate the growth and productivity of agriculture to reduce poverty and since most poor people are concentrated in rural areas especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This can be achieved by promoting conservation agriculture which has been proven to increase productivity while conserving the environment at the same time in other parts of the world. With limited evidence on the impact of conservation agriculture on livelihood outcomes in Kenya, the current study sought to investigate the effect of input costs of conservation agriculture on livelihood outcomes of smallholder farmers in Makueni and Machakos Counties. The study employed cross-sectional survey as a research design. The Cochran formula was used with a 5% level of significance to obtain sample size of 384 respondents. The study relied on stratified random sampling to achieve a high degree of representation from groups with the desired characteristics. Qualitative data was be subjected to content analysis while quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings show that the cost of inputs attributable to conservation agriculture has a positive influence on livelihood outcomes of smallholder farmers in Makueni and Machakos counties. The costs studied included labour requirements, farm equipment and mulching. It was concluded that conservation agriculture reduces input costs which ultimately increases crop yield and hence, better livelihood outcomes. The study recommended that the government at national and county levels should take responsibly in creating awareness on CA practices across the country and provide any necessary support for the farmers to embrace this noble practice.