Who uses sustainable land management practices and what are the costs and benefits: insights from Kenya

This research paper analyzes the adoption, costs, and benefits of sustainable land management (SLM) practices among farmers in western Kenya, concluding that simple practices like manuring and intercropping offer the highest immediate economic returns, while high-cost practices like agroforestry require longer time horizons and policy support to be viable.

• The adoption of sustainable land management (SLM) practices varies by county and specific practice, influenced significantly by farm and household characteristics, as well as access to advice and assets.
• SLM practices with high maintenance and upfront costs, such as agroforestry and terraces, result in low benefit-to-cost ratios for individual farmers and require many years to reach a break-even point, although they can achieve a positive net present value by 2030.
• Simple SLM practices, specifically intercropping and manuring, are characterized by low input costs and high benefit-to-cost ratios, maintaining a positive net present value through 2030.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2018). Who uses sustainable land management practices and what are the costs and benefits: insights from Kenya. https://www.sei.org/publications/who-uses-sustainable-land-management-practices-and-what-are-the-costs-and-benefits-insights-from-kenya/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Who uses sustainable land management practices and what are the costs and benefits: insights from Kenya. 2018. https://www.sei.org/publications/who-uses-sustainable-land-management-practices-and-what-are-the-costs-and-benefits-insights-from-kenya/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Who uses sustainable land management practices and what are the costs and benefits: insights from Kenya |date=10 May 2018 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/who-uses-sustainable-land-management-practices-and-what-are-the-costs-and-benefits-insights-from-kenya/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2018who, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Who uses sustainable land management practices and what are the costs and benefits: insights from Kenya}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2018}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/who-uses-sustainable-land-management-practices-and-what-are-the-costs-and-benefits-insights-from-kenya/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }