IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/endesu/v24y2022i5d10.1007_s10668-021-01736-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Juliet Wanjiku Kamau

    (University of Bonn)

  • Christian Schader

    (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL))

  • Lisa Biber-Freudenberger

    (University of Bonn)

  • Till Stellmacher

    (University of Bonn)

  • David M. Amudavi

    (Biovision Africa Trust (BvAT))

  • Jan Landert

    (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL))

  • Johan Blockeel

    (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL))

  • Cory Whitney

    (University of Bonn
    University of Bonn)

  • Christian Borgemeister

    (University of Bonn)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Juliet Wanjiku Kamau & Christian Schader & Lisa Biber-Freudenberger & Till Stellmacher & David M. Amudavi & Jan Landert & Johan Blockeel & Cory Whitney & Christian Borgemeister, 2022. "A holistic sustainability assessment of organic (certified and non-certified) and non-organic smallholder farms in Kenya," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 6984-7021, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:24:y:2022:i:5:d:10.1007_s10668-021-01736-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-021-01736-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-021-01736-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10668-021-01736-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. World Bank, 2013. "Kenya National Safety Net Program for Results : Technical Assessment," World Bank Publications - Reports 16800, The World Bank Group.
    2. Nzila, Charles & Dewulf, Jo & Spanjers, Henri & Tuigong, David & Kiriamiti, Henry & van Langenhove, Herman, 2012. "Multi criteria sustainability assessment of biogas production in Kenya," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 496-506.
    3. Ali Asghar Aliloo & Sharhryar Dashti, 2021. "Rural sustainability assessment using a combination of multi-criteria decision making and factor analysis," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 6323-6336, April.
    4. Davis, Benjamin & Di Giuseppe, Stefania & Zezza, Alberto, 2017. "Are African households (not) leaving agriculture? Patterns of households’ income sources in rural Sub-Saharan Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 153-174.
    5. Adeleke Oluwole Salami & Abdul Kamara & Zuzana Brixiova, 2010. "Working Paper 105 - Smallholder Agriculture in East Africa: Trends, Constraints and Opportunities," Working Paper Series 242, African Development Bank.
    6. Salvatore Di Falco & Jean-Paul Chavas, 2006. "Crop genetic diversity, farm productivity and the management of environmental risk in rainfed agriculture," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 33(3), pages 289-314, September.
    7. Gebremedhin, Berhanu & Swinton, Scott M., 2003. "Investment in soil conservation in northern Ethiopia: the role of land tenure security and public programs," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 69-84, July.
    8. De Jager, A. & Onduru, D. & van Wijk, M. S. & Vlaming, J. & Gachini, G. N., 2001. "Assessing sustainability of low-external-input farm management systems with the nutrient monitoring approach: a case study in Kenya," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 69(1-2), pages 99-118.
    9. Barrett, C. B. & Reardon, T. & Webb, P., 2001. "Nonfarm income diversification and household livelihood strategies in rural Africa: concepts, dynamics, and policy implications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 315-331, August.
    10. Christian Schader & Lukas Baumgart & Jan Landert & Adrian Muller & Brian Ssebunya & Johan Blockeel & Rainer Weisshaidinger & Richard Petrasek & Dóra Mészáros & Susanne Padel & Catherine Gerrard & Laur, 2016. "Using the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment Routine (SMART) for the Systematic Analysis of Trade-Offs and Synergies between Sustainability Dimensions and Themes at Farm Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-20, March.
    11. Ngigi, Marther W. & Mueller, Ulrike & Birner, Regina, 2016. "Gender differences in climate change perceptions and adaptation strategies: an intra-household analysis from rural Kenya," Discussion Papers 232900, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    12. Place, Frank, 2009. "Land Tenure and Agricultural Productivity in Africa: A Comparative Analysis of the Economics Literature and Recent Policy Strategies and Reforms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1326-1336, August.
    13. Eva-Marie Meemken & Matin Qaim, 2018. "Organic Agriculture, Food Security, and the Environment," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 10(1), pages 39-63, October.
    14. Nshakira-Rukundo, Emmanuel & Kamau, Juliet Wanjiku & Baumüller, Heike, 2021. "Determinants of uptake and strategies to improve agricultural insurance in Africa: a review," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(5-6), pages 605-631, October.
    15. Laura Raynolds & Douglas Murray & Andrew Heller, 2007. "Regulating sustainability in the coffee sector: A comparative analysis of third-party environmental and social certification initiatives," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 24(2), pages 147-163, June.
    16. Ngigi, Marther W. & Mueller, Ulrike & Birner, Regina, 2017. "Gender Differences in Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Participation in Group-based Approaches: An Intra-household Analysis From Rural Kenya," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 99-108.
    17. Jan Landert & Christian Schader & Heidrun Moschitz & Matthias Stolze, 2017. "A Holistic Sustainability Assessment Method for Urban Food System Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-21, March.
    18. Ayuya, Oscar I. & Gido, Eric O. & Bett, Hillary K. & Lagat, Job K. & Kahi, Alexander K. & Bauer, Siegfried, 2015. "Effect of Certified Organic Production Systems on Poverty among Smallholder Farmers: Empirical Evidence from Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 27-37.
    19. Bolwig, Simon & Gibbon, Peter & Jones, Sam, 2009. "The Economics of Smallholder Organic Contract Farming in Tropical Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 1094-1104, June.
    20. Adrian Muller & Christian Schader & Nadia El-Hage Scialabba & Judith Brüggemann & Anne Isensee & Karl-Heinz Erb & Pete Smith & Peter Klocke & Florian Leiber & Matthias Stolze & Urs Niggli, 2017. "Strategies for feeding the world more sustainably with organic agriculture," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-13, December.
    21. Ssebunya, Brian Robert & Schader, Christian & Baumgart, Lukas & Landert, Jan & Altenbuchner, Christine & Schmid, Erwin & Stolze, Matthias, 2019. "Sustainability Performance of Certified and Non-certified Smallholder Coffee Farms in Uganda," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 35-47.
    22. Harry Spaling & Jesse Montes & John Sinclair, 2011. "Best Practices For Promoting Participation And Learning For Sustainability: Lessons From Community-Based Environmental Assessment In Kenya And Tanzania," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 13(03), pages 343-366.
    23. Daniel El Chami & André Daccache & Maroun El Moujabber, 2020. "How Can Sustainable Agriculture Increase Climate Resilience? A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-23, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ghislain B. D. Aihounton & Arne Henningsen, 2023. "Does Organic Farming Jeopardize Food and Nutrition Security?," IFRO Working Paper 2023/02, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    2. Niraj Prakash Joshi & Luni Piya, 2021. "Food and Nutrient Supply from Organic Agriculture in the Least Developed Countries and North America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-17, April.
    3. Malek, Žiga & Tieskens, Koen F. & Verburg, Peter H., 2019. "Explaining the global spatial distribution of organic crop producers," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    4. Ifeoma Q. Anugwa & Agwu E. Agwu & Murari Suvedi & Suresh Babu, 2020. "Gender-Specific Livelihood Strategies for Coping with Climate Change-Induced Food Insecurity in Southeast Nigeria," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(5), pages 1065-1084, October.
    5. Tennhardt, Lina & Lazzarini, Gianna & Weisshaidinger, Rainer & Schader, Christian, 2022. "Do environmentally-friendly cocoa farms yield social and economic co-benefits?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    6. Poignant, Adrian, 2023. "Small-scale mining and agriculture: Evidence from northwestern Tanzania," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    7. Anna Lungarska & Thierry Brunelle & Raja Chakir & Pierre‐Alain Jayet & Rémi Prudhomme & Stéphane De Cara & Jean‐Christophe Bureau, 2023. "Halving mineral nitrogen use in European agriculture: Insights from multi‐scale land‐use models," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(3), pages 1529-1550, September.
    8. Mohan, Sarah, 2020. "Risk aversion and certification: Evidence from the Nepali tea fields," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    9. Fabry, Anna & Van den Broeck, Goedele & Maertens, Miet, 2022. "Decent work in global food value chains: Evidence from Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    10. Marwan Benali & Bernhard Brümmer & Victor Afari‐Sefa, 2018. "Smallholder participation in vegetable exports and age‐disaggregated labor allocation in Northern Tanzania," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(5), pages 549-562, September.
    11. Debuschewitz, Emil & Sanders, Jürn, 2021. "Bewertung der Umweltwirkungen des ökologischen Landbaus im Kontext der kontroversen wissenschaftlichen Diskurse," 61st Annual Conference, Berlin, Germany, September 22-24, 2021 317076, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    12. Mark Musumba & Cheryl A. Palm & Adam M. Komarek & Patrick K. Mutuo & Bocary Kaya, 2022. "Household livelihood diversification in rural Africa," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(2), pages 246-256, March.
    13. Ayalew, Hailemariam & Admasu, Yeshwas & Chamberlin, Jordan, 2021. "Is land certification pro-poor? Evidence from Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    14. Vellema, W. & Buritica Casanova, A. & Gonzalez, C. & D’Haese, M., 2015. "The effect of specialty coffee certification on household livelihood strategies and specialisation," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 13-25.
    15. Kristin Jürkenbeck & Achim Spiller, 2020. "Consumers’ Evaluation of Stockfree-Organic Agriculture—A Segmentation Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-19, May.
    16. Peter Brummund & Joshua D. Merfeld, 2022. "Should farmers farm more? Comparing marginal products within Malawian households," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(2), pages 289-306, March.
    17. Mager, Gregor & Faße, Anja, 2021. "The Contribution of Smallholders´ Livelihood Activities on Income Inequality and Poverty: Case Study from Rural Tanzania," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315405, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. repec:fpr:export:1340 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. repec:ags:ijaeri:334605 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Alemu Mekonnen & Hosaena Ghebru & Stein T. Holden & Menale Kassie, 2013. "The Impact of Land Certification on Tree Growing on Private Plots of Rural Households: Evidence from Ethiopia," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Stein T. Holden & Keijiro Otsuka & Klaus Deininger (ed.), Land Tenure Reform in Asia and Africa, chapter 13, pages 308-330, Palgrave Macmillan.
    21. Lovo, Stefania, 2016. "Tenure Insecurity and Investment in Soil Conservation. Evidence from Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 219-229.
    22. Mack, G. & Finger, R. & Ammann, J. & El Benni, N., 2023. "Modelling policies towards pesticide-free agricultural production systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:24:y:2022:i:5:d:10.1007_s10668-021-01736-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.