Community Participation in Afforestation and Agroforestry Programmes in Kenya: the Influence of Biophysical Environmental in the Case of Teso District

On global scale, community participation in various activities is the core in the quest for sustainable development and environmental protection related issues. Community involvement in tree planting in Kenya is as old as modern agroforestry that started in 1971. However, certain biophysical environmental factors have not worked against the concept of community participation in tree planting. Although deforestation and resultant problems such as woodfuel shortage and reduced other forest based products, climate change, and soil erosion, have occurred world-wide, the worst hit areas are in developing countries of the Sub-Saharan Africa. Teso District falls in this region and therefore not an exception; the district inhabitants encounter these environmental problems. The study revealed that both biophysical environmental factors were major disincentives to community participation in tree planting. Among the biophysical aspects, soil and landscape characteristics, and entomological incidences were quite significant. However, the study also discovered that water availability and pathological factors were not significant obstacles to tree planting in the district