Populations of Legume Nodulating Bacteria (LNB) were assessed under glasshouse conditions in soils collected from selected landuse systems in Taita Taveta district, Kenya. The populations were estimated by the most-probable-number (MPN) plant infection technique using Macroptilium atropurpureum (DC.) Urban (siratro) as the trap plant. The LNB populations varied from 1.1 × 10 to 6.1 × 106 cells g-1 of soil. There was apparent landuse effect on abundance of LNB with maize-bean cropping system and shrubland giving high population estimates.

Short-term trends show that livestock production is becoming an increasingly important factor in regional development, possibly because of the combined effect of increasing the forages on offer and planting crops better adapted to the environmental and economic conditions of marginal areas and the decreasing interest of the State in expanding the agricultural frontier. Overall planning of land use should be improved, but to do so, a more detailed characterization and monitoring of deforestation are essential.

This chapter summarises the experience of a research project for developing and disseminating technologies for better management of Vertisols for improving productivity.

ILCA acknowledged the potential for increased animal agriculture in the subhumid zone of West Africa by establishing a research base at Kaduna in northern Nigeria. FulBe agropastoralists were selected at the target group because they own most of the cattle in the zone and cattle are the predominant livestock, at least in terms of biomass and traded products. After consultation with experts, farm surveys, and a simulation analysis, ILCA chose to focus the research on overcoming the dry-season nutrition constraint.

Intensification of land-use is inevitable for long term food security in the east African highlands, but technological options need to be environmentally safe. How forages can be used as a basis for intensified grain and fodder production from the same land unit, and serve as a profitable fallow during necessary crop-free rest period is the purpose of this study.