DIVERSIFICATION OF INDIGENOUS AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES AND IMPLICATIONS ON HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY: PRACTICES AND LESSONS FROM LOCAL COMMUNITIES OF

the indigenous diversification and their was used A and group and were used to The findings indicated that a range of diversification strategies including knowledge and skill based, enterprise based, diet based, food sources, farming routines and storage diversification were adopted by households.The study concluded that diversification strategies were mitigation measure against climate change and food insecurity. The study recommended the up scaling best practices of diversification to improve household food security.


ISSN: 2320-5407
Int. J. Adv. Res. 9(10), 1232-1240 1233 (2017) justifies the use of IK to mitigate the effects of climate change citing that rural communities have developed a good understanding and knowledge of disaster prevention and mitigation, early warning, preparedness and responsebased on facts that are known or learnt from experience or acquired through observation and practice. Concern Worldwide (2020) further recommends the application of climate smart agriculture like the indigenous practices of diversifying crop varieties as solution to climate change and global hunger. Similarly, Ihenacho et al. (2019) advocate for adoption of climate smart indigenous practices as intervention against climate change effects.
Indigenous agricultural systems especially diversified farming systems bring about resilience to environmental changes and could cope with problems like drought (Ponge, 2013). Kumar (2014) also suggested preservation, expansion and application of IK skills and practices in agriculture to minimize the effects of climate change and variability. Siambombe (2018) argue that African farmers in particular have developed elaborate techniques for tackling climate change. Among the indigenous practices that communities have adopted to reduce the impacts of climate change is the diversification of agricultural practices which takes various forms like crop diversification (Kihila, 2017). Perroni (2017) also presents intercropping and mixed cropping as a form of diversification involving planting multiple crops and whose advantages are to maximize land use while reducing risks associated with single crop failure. This paper therefore examined the indigenous agricultural diversification practices among the rural communities of Baringo County, Kenya and derived lessons from the activities in mitigating food insecurity.

Methodology:-
Self-administered questionnaire were used to collect datafrom 140 households, 12 agricultural extension staff sampled through purposive, census, proportionate and simple random sampling techniques. In addition, a focus group discussion was conducted among key informants who were perceived to be experts in indigenous knowledge practices. An observation guide was also used to collect data in the study. The results from the tools were triangulated.Piloting was conducted and reliability of the households and extension staff questionnaire estimated using the Cronbach alpha which yielded coefficientsof 0.78 and 0.81respectively which implied that the instruments were reliable.

Dichotomies of diversification
This study established various dichotomies of diversification used by households in their farms. Various forms of diversification were foundto be at the disposal of households to increase the chances of survival among the households against adverse effects of climate change and variability while striving to achieve food security. The diversification strategies adopted by households in the study area are presented in the subheadings that follow.

Knowledge based diversification strategies
One of the strategy that involve diversification according to the respondents was the application of both indigenous and scientific knowledge systems in the farming activities. Table 1 summarize the results of the findings. Households according to Table 1 apply both indigenous and scientific knowledge systems in the farm. The results suggests that households relied on blending both knowledge systems perhaps to reap the benefits associated with the two knowledge bases with regard to technologies and innovations.The results (Table 1) further concur with the findings from the focus group discussants who indicated that diversified knowledge and skills for farming practices often yielded positive results. The implication is that households in the study site often blend indigenous and scientific knowledge bases during their farming activities perhaps because the two types of knowledge combine to give a complementary role to each other. The study findings are supported by Salami (2020) in a study on the role of indigenous knowledge in sustainable urban agriculture who suggested the need for incorporating a blended mode of both the formal and indigenous knowledge for a better output. Similarly, (UNESCO(2018) advocate for the integration of the two knowledge based systems to maximize the benefits arguing from the two. Besides, Wang 1234 (2015) suggested the integration of both indigenous and scientific knowledge as a way of forming sustainable agricultural knowledge and for balancing the economic and ecological dimensions of sustainable agricultural development.

Enterprise diversification Strategies
Households according to the study findings engaged in a diversified or mixed enterprises in the farm. This varied from mixed farming where households engage in livestock and crop enterprises to diversification of the individual enterprises in both livestock and crops. Similarly, non-agricultural enterprises according to the study were undertaken to diversify income sources. Table 2 summarizes crop diversification strategies by households in the study site. Households according to Table 2 tend to engage in diverse crop enterprises in the farm. The cropenterprises in their farms comprised of a variety of staple cereal and legume food staffs that address household food security. The enterprises also combined vegetables and fruits for balanced diet while crops like sweet potatoes, sorghum, millet and cassava comprised of indigenous drought resistant crops. In addition, cow peas and green grams according to focus group discussants doubled up as food and cash crops.According to the focus group discussants, householdsundertook mixed cropping and intercropping toenable them gain from the variety of food stuffs emanating from the cultivation of wide variety of crops with diet variety which ultimately enhanced food and nutrition security at household level. In addition, the diversification strategy further addressed the problem of both transitory and chronic food insecurity consequently meeting the aspect of stability which is a basic component of food security.
Neudert et al (2020)  Diversification of livestock enterprises are summarized in Table 3.  Table 3 reveal the diversified livestock diversification strategies by households in the study site. Different livestock types were kept by households leading to the generation of variety of livestock products. The focus group discussants further indicated that the practice were mechanisms for spreading risks associated with climate change effects and diseases. In addition, the discussants attributed the practices to increased volumes of production which improved food availability and access through the increased production and incomes. This agrees with Megersa et al. (2013) findings that livestock diversification through multiple species offered food production besides offering sufficient choices for off-take which could be liquidated in times of shortages hence increasing the purchasing power and food access thereby improving household food security. Regassa

Diet Diversification Strategies
Households in the study area further attributed the production of a variety of food stuffs to diversified agricultural activities. Table 4 provide a summary of the resultant food stuffs. The results (Table 4) reveal a diversified foods from variety of crops and livestock sources. The implication for the households is increasedincreased availability of food through production, increased income sources from the sale of surplus foods which further improve income sources to enhance food access and finally increased dietary variety besides improving food stability as a result of continuous production of products from the diversified sources or enterprises. Asante et al. (2017) observed that diversification was one of the mechanisms for managing food security as it can spread risks among the multiple production enterprises besides providing a range of food items for the households. According to focus group discussion, diet diversity achieved through diversification of food stuffs was a strategy for addressing household food and nutrition security.

Diversification of Food Sources
Food sources was also used by the households in the study area to address household food security. Table 5 provide a summary of the food sources for the households.  Table 5 reveal that households in the study area had variety of options at their disposal of meeting their food needs. Majority (97.4%) produced their food stuffs from the farm, 89.7% obtained food through buying while 53.8% received their food from relatives and well-wishers. Similarly, 34.2% and 17.1% obtained their food stuffs from gathering and relief sources respectively. This imply that diversification of food sources was a significant practice for meeting household food security among the households in the study site. The findings concur with observations by Megersa et al. (2013) that, diversification generally improve access to food. Diversified food sources guarded the community against the reliance on one source of food hence a risk eversion mechanism.

Diversification on Farming Routines and Skills
Information on the farming routine practices was also sought from the respondents. The results are summarized in Table 6. The results (Table 6) indicate that households undertake various production and post-harvest routine practices and apply various skills in the farm to deal with climate change and food insecurity. The results indicate that households engage in both crops and livestock routine practices and other practices that aim at mitigating climate change effects and food insecurity. For instance, planting at the onset of rains (45.5%)is a dominant crop related routine where farming households plant their crops early enough for their crops to benefit from early rains and get to the market early enough to fetch higher incomes. The routine practice reduces incidences of diseases, improve production and lead to increased income through better markets. As a result, it reduces risks associated with drought and diseases and avail more food and income for food security. Other routine practices include planting resistant crops,water harvesting, use of indigenous weather forecasting to predict weather and food preservation which accounted for 27.3% each. The strategies also require diversified skills for undertaking the practices.
Similarly, Destocking (36.4%) controlled grazing (36.4%) and feed preservation (27.3%) were some of the livestock based routines practices to deal with effects of climate change and food insecurity by most households (Table 6). Migration (27.3%) was also a strategy for coping with climate change to increase survival rate of livestock ultimately reducing chances of livestock deaths which negatively affect household food security. According to focus group discussion, mulching, practicing irrigation and use of animal manure and combining a variety of production techniques both indigenous and scientific were applied to diversify production techniques to increase food production and achieve food security besides addressing climate change effects. Blending both indigenous and 1237 scientific weather forecasting according to the focus group discussants enabled the households to benefit from the skills on the two knowledge bases to improve accuracy of weather prediction in order to reduce effects of climate change and variability. Similarly, the use of different types of herbs and concoctions used to treat and control pests, parasites and diseases in the farm alongside combining commercial chemicals to manage the same was a diversification of skills and practices that increased the chances of success in farm activities.

Diversification in Storage and Preservation strategies
Diversification strategies involving storage and preservation of food stuffs was examined by the study. Results are presented in table 7 The findings in (Table 7) revealed that households employed a variety of indigenous preservation strategies to ensure food security at household level. Sun drying (100.0%) for household heads and extension staff and (78.9%) in the observation checklist suggested that the strategy was commonly used for food preservation and could be an effective strategy among the community members. Salting (99.1%), smoking and use of ash (98.3%) each, roasting (97.4%) use of pepper(96.6%) and frying (95.7%) among the household heads were also cited as key strategies for food preservation which is also in agreement with the data from extension staff and observation guide.
The findings support Asogwa and Kaya (2016) and Asogwa et al. (2017) assertions that communities possess diverse indigenous food preservation systems which could solve food shortage reduce post-harvest losses and sustain household food security.Strategies for food storage also demonstrated a diversified pattern where a number of strategies were employed by households. Table 8 summarizes the results of the findings. improvised metallic/plastic containers, traditional store with a crib and the use of modern stores.The practices demonstrated a diversification strategy in which households applied a variety of storage facilities to keep their produce in order to increase their shelf life of food stuffs to ensure food availability to households when needed and hopes to ensure food security of households. Indigenous people according to the results on ( Table 8) were conscious of enhancing future food security obligation through variety of effective storage facilities. This had implication on availability and access of food for household consumption. Rankoana (2017) assert that, local community members sustain their future household food security by using indigenous storage means.Households according to the study findings apply a variety of innovative and workable food preservation and storage strategies at their disposal to achieve better results of sustaining household food security.

Implication of diversification strategies on climate change and food security
This paper sought to establish the practices and lessons learnt from indigenous diversification strategies among the rural households of Baringo County. The Results indicated that households engaged in diversified agricultural practices in all aspects of the farming activities. This enabled farming households to benefit from the knowledge, skills and innovations from both the indigenous and scientific knowledge bases for instance in terms of weather forecasting which improved weather prediction resulting in improved farm production for food security.
Diversification of farming enterprises and diets involved practicing mixed farming, mixed cropping, intercropping and keeping a variety of livestock types in the farm. The practice enabled households to escape risks and uncertainties resulting from drought, pests, parasites and diseases besides increasing the amount of food per unit area in addition to availing a variety of food stuffs to ensure food and nutrition security at household level. The strategy has beneficial effectin increasing survival of households as the strategies helped in maintaining sustainable food and nutrition security through the continuous production from the diversified enterprises which avail both food and income.
Diversification of food sources, farming routines and storage and preservation were also employed by households in the study site as mechanisms of survival. Under the strategies, households widened the scope of food sources as a risk eversion strategy so that food could be sourced from a variety of sources. Farming routines like planting early at the onset of rains, water harvesting and irrigation, soil conservation measures like terracing, controlled grazing, social network systems, conserving feeds and destocking were diversified measures applied to reduce crop and livestock losses and geared towards improving household food security. Storage and preservation strategies were also applied to ensure increased shelf life of food and further availed food throughout the year to household members. Diversification according to this study findings is a survival strategy against risks and uncertainties among the rural farming communities of Baringo County, Kenya. This is concur with Feliciano (2018) assertion that diversification especially of crops is a cost effective way of reducing uncertainties in farmers" income particularly among the poor smallholder farmers. Similarly, diversification according to Rampa and Knaepen (2019) is an important aspect of promoting sustainable food systems.
Household food security status was determined by the study to establish whether indigenous strategies for diversification had any bearing on household food security. The results are presented in table 9.  Table 9, majority (80.3%) and (63.7%) of households according to the household heads and extension staff respectively had moderate to very good food security status implying that the indigenous diversified food security strategies enabled households to tackle the problem of food insecurity. Indigenous diversification strategies therefore addressed the basic components of food security of availability, access and stability enabling households to sustain their household food security. The blend of both indigenous and scientific knowledge practices as 1239 diversification strategy perhaps reaped the benefits associated with the two knowledge bases in terms of knowledge, skills, innovations and technologies that boosted food production and storage.

Conclusion:-
Diversification is a survival mechanisms for climate change and food and nutrition security among the rural communities of Baringo County, Kenya. Diversification takes various forms from knowledge diversification, enterprise and diet, food sources, farming routines and storage and preservation strategies.Diversification is a strategic option for improving household food security status which is critical in the achievement of household food and nutrition security. Diversification is a strategy for reducing risks and uncertainties.

Recommendations:-
This study recommends policy implication on up scaling of best practices on indigenous diversification practices for integration and mainstreaming into the main agricultural extension service for the benefit of farming households.