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Supporting the capacities and knowledge of small-holder farmers in Kenya for sustainable agricultural futures: A Citizen Science pilot project

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dc.contributor.authorDavies, Matthew
dc.contributor.authorHaklay, Muki
dc.contributor.authorKiprutto, Timothy
dc.contributor.authorLaws, Megan
dc.contributor.authorLewis, Jerome
dc.contributor.authorLunn-Rockliffe, Samuel
dc.contributor.authorMcGlade, Jaqueline
dc.contributor.authorMoreu, Marcos
dc.contributor.authorYano, Andrew
dc.contributor.authorKipkorir, Wilson
dc.date.accessioned2024-06-28T06:08:26Z
dc.date.issued2023-12-01
dc.description.abstractSub-Saharan Africa is often presented as the continent most vulnerable to climatic change with major repercussions for food systems. Coupled with high rates of population growth and existing nutritional deficiencies, the need to enhance food production across the continent is thus seen as a major global imperative. We argue here, however, that current models of agricultural development in Eastern Africa often marginalise critical small-holder knowledge from the process of future agricultural design due to a lack of a methodological tools for engagement. This paper addresses this by outlining a potential means to capture and share locally produced agronomic information on a large scale. We report on a ‘Citizen Science’ pilot study that worked with smallholder farmers in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, western Kenya, to co-design a mobile application using the well-developed Sapelli platform that easily allows farmers to identify, record and geolocate cropping patterns and challenges at multiple stages in the agricultural calendar using their own understandings. The pilot project demonstrated the technical and epistemological benefits of co-design, the abilities of smallholder farmers to co-design and use smartphone applications, and the potential for such technology to produce and share valuable agricultural and ecological knowledge in real time. Proof-of-concept data illustrates opportunities to spatially and temporally track and respond to challenges related to climate, crop disease and pests. Such work expounds how smallholder farmers are a source of largely untapped ecological and agronomic expert knowledge that can, and should, be harnessed to address issues of future agricultural resilience and food system sustainability.
dc.description.sponsorshipGlobal Challenges Research Fund (UCL); Arts and Humanities Research Council; European Research Council
dc.identifier.citationDavies, M., Haklay, M., Kiprutto, T., Laws, M., Lewis, J., Lunn-Rockliffe, S., McGlade, J., Moreu, M., Yano, A. & Kipkorir, W., (2023) “Supporting the capacities and knowledge of small-holder farmers in Kenya for sustainable agricultural futures: A Citizen Science pilot project”, UCL Open Environment 5(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444/ucloe.000065
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.14324/111.444/ucloe.000065
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.nrf.go.ke/handle/123456789/996
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUCL express
dc.subjectCitizen Science
dc.subjectSapelli
dc.subjectsmartphone
dc.subjectco-design
dc.subjecttrans-disciplinary
dc.subjectfarmer
dc.subjectagriculture
dc.subjectsustainability
dc.subjectKenya
dc.subjectAfrica
dc.titleSupporting the capacities and knowledge of small-holder farmers in Kenya for sustainable agricultural futures: A Citizen Science pilot project
dc.typeArticle
dspace.entity.typePublication

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