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Costs and Benefits of Soil and Water Conservation in farmland Davies Onduru Fredrick Muchena Esther Njuguna Content • Introduction and objectives • Methodology • Results • Conclusions Introduction and objectives •What are the costs and the benefits of Soil and Water Conservation practices of smallholders in the Upper Tana Catchment? Approach and Methodology •Three sub-catchments covered Map of the three sub-catchments.docx •433 smallholders interviewed Tea-Dairy Zone (LH1) Tea-Coffee (UM1) Main Coffee (UM2) Marginal Coffee (UM3) Cotton-tobacco (LM3/LM4-cotton) Total Lower Chania 30 41 66 11 0 148 Sub-catchment Tungu Kayahwe 10 32 27 55 29 37 30 28 37 133 Range lands: • Two Focus group discussions-Lower reaches of Mutonga catchment 0 152 Total 72 123 132 69 37 433 • 13 Soil and Water Conservation Practices Bench terrace • Contour tillage+ planting • Cut off drain • Fanya juu • Grass strips • Micro catchment for fruit trees (bananas) • Mulching • Retention/Infiltration ditch • Ridging • Riverine protection • Stone lines • Trash lines • Zero tillage Quantifying Costs of SWC Practices-1 Type of investment and maintenance collected costs: •Lay-out •Tools and equipment •Labour •Seeds/planting materials for stabilisers •Fertilisers/manures •Pesticides •Other input costs (mulches, stones etc.) etc. Investments Costs: Costs of laying out the SWC practices along the contours Costs of construction and or establishment of the practices and Costs of establishing stabilizer materials (e.g. grasses). Quantifying Costs of SWC Practices-2 Maintenance/annual costs: Repairs/cleaning trenches (where relevant) Gapping, Fertilization, weeding; Pruning (where relevant) Application of trash and mulch. Data on benefits: • Fodder and trees on SWC structure embankments/risers • Grasses/fuel wood/poles etc. from Riverine areas • Yields of crops grown on terraces/in conserved land (grains + stovers) etc. Results 1. Profitability in the year of study Gross Margins Benefit/cost ratio (Ksh/ha) “With” perennial crops Banana micro-catchment Mulching in tea Zero tillage in coffee Riverine protection (Grasses + trees) Structural measures Bench terraces + Maize + beans Fanya juu + Maize + beans Cut off drains + Maize + beans Infiltration ditch + Maize + beans Stone lines + Maize + beans Non Structural measures Trash-lines + maize + beans Grass strips + maize + beans Contour planting + tillage + maize + beans Contour ridging + maize + beans GM/Labour day (Ksh/day) 124,932 293 100 110,208 318,548 2.8 5.3 2.1 22.2 331 423 312 1379 196, 412 174,890 175,350 172,244 126,525 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.7 2.4 261 322 335 225 502 62,950 439,285 28,517 1.8 4.0 1.5 241 1743 131 33,158 2.2 288 BCR: Benefit Cost ration; GM = Gross margins Results 2. Financial efficiency of conservation measures with perennial crops MicroDiscount catchment Mulching + Zero tillage + rate + Bananas tea coffee Time after base year 2 Internal Rate of Return Incremental Net Benefits > > Current Current interest interest Rate Rate 10% 429.8 12% 369.8 14% 319.6 INB: Incremental Net Benefits Benefit of SWC practices calculated as the difference between plots with SWC practice and those without (the difference in benefits) 5 3-6 > Current > interest Current interest Rate Rate 316.5 574.2 263.2 500.3 220.1 438.9 Results 3. Financial efficiency of structural measures (15 year time horizon) Structures + Maize + Beans; Values for INB x 1000 Discou Bench nt rate terrace Time elapse after base year Cut-off drain Infiltration ditch Stone lines 1 1 1 1 <1 > Current > Current > Current > Current > Current interest Rate interest interest Rate interest interest Rate Rate Rate Internal rate of Return (%) Incremental Net Benefit Fanya juu 10% 3556.9 2802.3 2521.3 2624.8 643.5 12% 3168.0 2494.3 2242.1 2335.2 566.2 14% 2841.0 2235.5 2007.5 2091.7 501.5 Results 4. Financial efficiency of non-structural measures (15 year time horizon) Structures + Maize + Beans; Values for INB x 1000 Discount rate Time elapse after base year Internal Rate of Return (%) Incremental Net Benefits Trashlines Contour tillage + Grass strips Planting Contour ridging <1 <1 <1 <1 > Current > Current > Current > Current interest interest Rate interest Rate interest Rate Rate 10% 589.5 3980.8 356.1 252.1 12% 523.5 3553.7 317.3 224.7 14% 468.2 3194.7 284.9 201.7 Results 6. Focus Group Discussions in the rangelands Rangelands: Land predominantly used for livestock and covers parts of semi-arid and arid areas Farmers perceptions on causes of deterioration Overgrazing; no mechanism for enforcing herd sizes Cutting down of trees Charcoal burning Uncontrolled burning of vegetation prior to cultivation Suggested measures of control Soil and water conservation practices; tree planting Fenced grazing; about 3 acres of enclosed grazing area is charged Ksh 3000-5000 during dry period. Controlled grazing in hilly areas Community action and sensitization (building structures for enforcement) Conclusions The 13 practices were profitable in the agro-ecological zones covered The initial high cost of conservation is mainly in the form of labour and materials. This study has shown that when high value fodder crops (Napier grass) are used in stabilising SWC structures and when high value crops are planted in the conserved land, then the structures pay-off within a short period of time (one-two years). Combine structural measures whose benefits are realised in the long-term with measures that are profitable in the short term to address farmers needs in a holistic way Despite the positive indicators of Costs and Benefits, the implementation of SWC practices is not automatically done by farmers: This is caused by the time lag between investments/costs and the returns/benefits. Conclusions Main observations for the Commercial Sustainable Investment Package (CSIP) are: Because of the time lag between investments and returns, soft loans or grants are needed to make farmers interested to invest inSoil and Water Conservation works; Farmers need support to develop an ‘entrepreneurial’ farm plan, e.g. introduce high value crops or livestock in the farm plan, in order to make the SWC practices attractive for the farmer; >this means a high Cost Benefit Ratio and net returns. Farmers need technical advice and support tailored to their farm and natural resources conditions; and To make the investments operational and effective, the farmers will require adequate institutional support, e.g. on how to apply for loans, technical assistance, cooperation between the several institutions etc. Thank you for your attention