Abstract:
This paper gives an insight into the role of indigenous knowledge systems in improving
agricultural productivity in Kenya. It examines how application of indigenous knowledge can
help to scale up sustainable agricultural intensification in order to increase production, protect
the environment and reduce poverty. The paper describes different forms of indigenous
knowledge and recognizes the important role that indigenous people and their knowledge of
the environment, can play in the enhancement of agricultural productivity and environmental
protection. While indigenous knowledge has been the basis for local-level decision-making in
many rural farming communities in Kenya, the paper finds that, its application has not been
wholly integrated into the farming systems not only by local farming communities but also by
researchers, extension service providers, scientists, policy makers and planners striving to
improve conditions in rural areas and suggests how indigenous knowledge can be applied in
improving agricultural productivity among smallholder farmers in Kenya. The paper considers
the broad knowledge indigenous people have on how to live sustainably, but discerns that
formal education systems sometimes disrupted this sound knowledge by creating an
assumption that it is outdated and irrelevant in addressing present-day agricultural challenges.
The findings of this paper will help agricultural stakeholders change the perceptions and
attitudes they have towards various Indigenous Knowledge Systems in enhancing agricultural
productivity and should, therefore, be promoted and that awareness of this importance should
be created through policy formulation and implementation in order to foster consciousness
among smallholder farmers in Kenya.
