Drought mitigating technologies: An overview of cassava and sweetpotato production in mukuyuni division Makueni District in Semi-Arid Eastern Kenya

Abstract

Farmers in Mukuyuni can easily adopt drought mitigating technologies like cassava and sweetpotato. They are mainly propagated through stem cuttings or vines to produce starchy tuberous roots, which would provide the much needed carbohydrates if promoted properly. The results showed that about 90 % of the farmers put between 0.125 and 0.25 acres under cassava cultivation. The number of years under cassava and sweetpotato production ranged between 1 and 20 years with only a few farmers indicating to have been growing cassava for a period above 20 years. The majority of farmers were growing local cultivars of the two crops. The main method of utilizing cassava was boiling and eating as a snack (45 %). Over 77.8 % of the respondents indicated the origin of their cassava and sweetpotato cultivars as other farmers. The main method of utilizing sweetpotato was boiling and eating as a snack (56.3 %). About 3.1 % of the farmers mixed sweetpotato with beans and maize and consumed it as a stew while another 3.1 % have not utilized sweetpotato at all. Only 3.1 % fed sweetpotato to livestock. The rest, 28.1 % sold sweetpotato in the local market. This study established that there is a lot of room for commercializing cassava and sweetpotato production in Mukuyuni Division Makueni County through processing and promoting their utilization as a meal.