Publication: Application of GIS on the Identification of Suitable Areas for Water Conservation Technologies in the Upper Tana Watershed of the Central Highlands of Kenya
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2019
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Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) in the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development (r4d programme) and Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Switzerland, Organic Resource Management for Soil Fertility project
Publisher
IJPSS
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Abstract
Low adoption of soil water conservation technologies has been one of the main causes for
decreased agricultural productivity in the Upper Tana Catchment of Kenya. Proper identification of
locations to scale-out the individual technologies necessary to improve water conservation is a key
determinant for the rate of adoption. Our main aim was to identify the suitable sites for water
conservation technologies using the suitability model created by the model builder function in
ArcGIS 10.5®
. The model combined the thematic layers of soil texture, slope, rainfall, and stream
order, which were acquired from assorted online sources. The factors were converted to raster
format and reclassified based on their suitability and were assigned fixed scores and weights byuse of multi influencing factor (MIF) method. The suitability evaluation was carried out by use of
weighted overlay to produce suitability classes for each of the water conservation technique. The
delineated suitability maps indicated that check dams are highly suitable in 50% of the study area.
Mulching, on the other hand, is highly suitable for 49% of the study area. Zai pits are highly suitable
in 43% of the study area. Majority of the study area is moderately suitable for the use of terraces,
covering 41% of the study area. The highly suitable areas for the Checkdams are Machakos, Kitui,
Tharaka-Nithi and lower parts of Embu. The highly suitable areas for mulching are Kirinyaga,
Murang’a, Nyandarua and Nyeri. The highly suitable areas for the Zai pits are Kitui, lower parts of
Tharaka-Nithi and the highly suitable areas for the terraces are Murang’a, Nyeri and Kirinyaga.
Furthermore, the results demonstrated the effectiveness of GIS in delineating the suitable areas for
the use of water conservation technologies.
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Article
Keywords
Agriculture zai pits, mulching, terraces, check dams, Geographical Information System (GIS), weighted overlay, suitability map., University of Embu