Use of geospatial techniques in selecting suitable areas for rearing dairy cattle, goats and honey bees in Baringo county.

Abstract

Food insecurity has been a major issue all over developing nations including Kenya especially in rural areas where lives are solely dependent on agriculture. This situation has been worsening with the climatic conditions which have been constantly changing negatively. This study intended to analyse and map suitable areas for rearing dairy cattle, goats and honey bees in Baringo County. A spatial model for each the value chains was designed and developed to achieve the objective. The study area has experienced a lack of food year in year out during the dry season and has led to hunger killing several people. Contrary to this the area is known to have great potential in the production of honey, goat meat, and cow milk within different spatial extent of the area. The study entailed data collection, data manipulation and analysis which involved spatial overlay of several factor maps among others to generate the overall suitability maps for each of the value chains. This research aimed to identify and delineate the land that can best support dairy cattle, goat, and honey bees, using the GIS-based MultiCriteria Evaluation technique and Remote Sensing. It is possible to increase livestock keeping and apiculture ability in an appropriate area by identifying the important factors and ranking suitability of the land. These factors were therefore considered for each of the value chains. These criteria included: food, water, land use, temperature, humidity, biological hazards, the potential for mechanization, slope, rainfall regime, agrarian culture, market index and root rating for forage growth. The final output of this project are land suitability maps for dairy cattle, goats and honey bees. According to the study, 95% of Baringo county is moderately suitable to highly suitable for goat rearing, 65% suitable for honeybees and 41% suitable for dairy keeping. Notably, the results from the experiment were validated by actual findings on the ground. The findings of this research therefore should be considered by the farmers and the stakeholders in order to improve food security in the area.