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Key Informant Perceptions on the Invasive Ipomoea Plant Species in Kajiado County, South Eastern Kenya

Received: 27 July 2015     Accepted: 5 August 2015     Published: 19 August 2015
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Abstract

Invasion of rangelands by undesirable plant species is one of the challenges facing rangeland productivity and to an extension livestock production in East Africa. They have affected communities in different ways in areas where they grow. Focus group discussions and interviews were held in two sites in pastoral and agro-pastoral regions of Kajiado County to get perceptions of farmers, livestock keepers and other stakeholders concerning the invasive plant species Ipomoea. This was accompanied by visits and field excursions to areas heavily infested by the invader species. The interviewed key informants agreed that the plant has more detrimental effects to the environment, ecologically and to the economy of the region. There is need for urgent interventions involving all stakeholders to curb the spread of the species, which is currently at an unprecedented rate. These include efforts by relevant institutions such as Government, Non-Governmental institutions through mobilization, training and capacity building and demonstrations in order to reverse the trend. Any trainings should however include aspects of recovery of invaded and degraded land primarily through pasture improvement and other interventions as this will enhance the utilization of these areas for increased livestock productivity and reverse degradation

Published in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Volume 4, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.aff.20150404.17
Page(s) 195-199
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Invasion, Ipomoea, Rangelands, Semi-Arid Lands

References
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[3] de Leeuw, P. N. de, Grandin, B. E. and S. Bekure. (1991). Introduction to the Kenyan rangelands and Kajiado district. In S. Bekure, P. N. de Leeuw, B. E. Grandin, and P. J. Neate, Maasai Herding: An analysis of the livestock production system of the Maasai pastoralists in Eastern Kajiado District, Kenya (ILCA systems Study 4 ed., p. 172). ILCA (International Livestock Centre for Africa).
[4] Emerton, L., and G. Howard (2008). A Toolkit for the Economic Analysis of Invasive Species. Nairobi: Global Invasive Species Programme.
[5] Gichua, M., Njoroge, G., Shitanda , D., and D. Ward. (2013). Invasive Species in East Arica: Current status for Informed policy decisions and management. JAGST, 15(1), 45-55.
[6] Kedera, C. and B. Kuria. (2003). Invasive alien species in Kenya: status and management. IPCC Secretariat. Identifiation of risks and management of invasive alien species using the IPPC framework. Proceedings of the workshop on invasive alien species and the International Plant Protection Convention, Braunschweig, Germany, 22-26 September 2003. pp. 199-204.
[7] Lahkar, B. P., Talukdar, B. K. and P. Sarma. (2011). Invasive species in grassland habitat: an ecological threat to the greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis). Pachyderm, 33-39.
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[13] Mganga, K. Z., Nyangito, M. M., Musimba, K. N., Nyariki, M. D., Mwangombe, A. W., Ekaya, W. N., Muiru W. M., Clavel, D., Francis, J., von Kaufmann, R. and J Verhagen. (2010b). The challenges of rehabilitating denuded patches of a semi-arid environment in Kenya. African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, Vol 4 (7), 430-436 .
[14] Mworia, J. K. (2011). Invasive Plant Species and Biomass Production in Savannas. In I. Atazadeh, Biomass and Remote Sensing of Biomass. InTech Open Access Publishers.
[15] Mworia, J. K., Kinyamario, J. I., and E. A. John. (2008). Impact of the invader Ipomoea hildebrandtii on grass biomass, nitrogen mineralization and determinants of its seedling establishment in Kajiado, Kenya. African Journal of Range and Forage Science, 25, 11-16.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Kidake K. Bosco, Manyeki K. John, Kirwa C. Everlyne, Ngetich Robert, Nenkari Halima, et al. (2015). Key Informant Perceptions on the Invasive Ipomoea Plant Species in Kajiado County, South Eastern Kenya. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 4(4), 195-199. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20150404.17

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    ACS Style

    Kidake K. Bosco; Manyeki K. John; Kirwa C. Everlyne; Ngetich Robert; Nenkari Halima, et al. Key Informant Perceptions on the Invasive Ipomoea Plant Species in Kajiado County, South Eastern Kenya. Agric. For. Fish. 2015, 4(4), 195-199. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20150404.17

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    AMA Style

    Kidake K. Bosco, Manyeki K. John, Kirwa C. Everlyne, Ngetich Robert, Nenkari Halima, et al. Key Informant Perceptions on the Invasive Ipomoea Plant Species in Kajiado County, South Eastern Kenya. Agric For Fish. 2015;4(4):195-199. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20150404.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.aff.20150404.17,
      author = {Kidake K. Bosco and Manyeki K. John and Kirwa C. Everlyne and Ngetich Robert and Nenkari Halima and Mnene N. William},
      title = {Key Informant Perceptions on the Invasive Ipomoea Plant Species in Kajiado County, South Eastern Kenya},
      journal = {Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries},
      volume = {4},
      number = {4},
      pages = {195-199},
      doi = {10.11648/j.aff.20150404.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20150404.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.aff.20150404.17},
      abstract = {Invasion of rangelands by undesirable plant species is one of the challenges facing rangeland productivity and to an extension livestock production in East Africa. They have affected communities in different ways in areas where they grow. Focus group discussions and interviews were held in two sites in pastoral and agro-pastoral regions of Kajiado County to get perceptions of farmers, livestock keepers and other stakeholders concerning the invasive plant species Ipomoea. This was accompanied by visits and field excursions to areas heavily infested by the invader species. The interviewed key informants agreed that the plant has more detrimental effects to the environment, ecologically and to the economy of the region. There is need for urgent interventions involving all stakeholders to curb the spread of the species, which is currently at an unprecedented rate. These include efforts by relevant institutions such as Government, Non-Governmental institutions through mobilization, training and capacity building and demonstrations in order to reverse the trend. Any trainings should however include aspects of recovery of invaded and degraded land primarily through pasture improvement and other interventions as this will enhance the utilization of these areas for increased livestock productivity and reverse degradation},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Key Informant Perceptions on the Invasive Ipomoea Plant Species in Kajiado County, South Eastern Kenya
    AU  - Kidake K. Bosco
    AU  - Manyeki K. John
    AU  - Kirwa C. Everlyne
    AU  - Ngetich Robert
    AU  - Nenkari Halima
    AU  - Mnene N. William
    Y1  - 2015/08/19
    PY  - 2015
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20150404.17
    DO  - 10.11648/j.aff.20150404.17
    T2  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    JF  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    JO  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    SP  - 195
    EP  - 199
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5648
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20150404.17
    AB  - Invasion of rangelands by undesirable plant species is one of the challenges facing rangeland productivity and to an extension livestock production in East Africa. They have affected communities in different ways in areas where they grow. Focus group discussions and interviews were held in two sites in pastoral and agro-pastoral regions of Kajiado County to get perceptions of farmers, livestock keepers and other stakeholders concerning the invasive plant species Ipomoea. This was accompanied by visits and field excursions to areas heavily infested by the invader species. The interviewed key informants agreed that the plant has more detrimental effects to the environment, ecologically and to the economy of the region. There is need for urgent interventions involving all stakeholders to curb the spread of the species, which is currently at an unprecedented rate. These include efforts by relevant institutions such as Government, Non-Governmental institutions through mobilization, training and capacity building and demonstrations in order to reverse the trend. Any trainings should however include aspects of recovery of invaded and degraded land primarily through pasture improvement and other interventions as this will enhance the utilization of these areas for increased livestock productivity and reverse degradation
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Arid and Range Lands Research Institute-Kiboko, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, Makindu, Kenya

  • Arid and Range Lands Research Institute-Kiboko, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, Makindu, Kenya

  • Arid and Range Lands Research Institute-Kiboko, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, Makindu, Kenya

  • Arid and Range Lands Research Institute-Kiboko, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, Makindu, Kenya

  • Agricultural Sector Development Support Program, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Kajiado County, Kajiado, Kenya

  • Arid and Range Lands Research Institute-Kiboko, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, Makindu, Kenya

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