s:1662:"TI The economics of short rotation improved fallows: evidence from areas of high population density in Western Kenya 
AU Swinkels, R. 
AU Franzel, S. 
AU Shepherd, K. 
AU Ohlsson, E. 
AU Ndufa, J. 
AB This study assesses the economics of improved fallow in the densely-populated areas of western Kenya, where soils are nutrient-depleted. A formal survey of 71 farmers showed that half periodically fallow 10–50% of their land for at least one season, mainly for soil fertility restoration. This is a higher proportion than expected for areas of high population density. An improved-fallow prototype, established by direct seeding Sesbania sesban, an indigenous tree, into the maize crop preceding the fallow, was subjected to an economic analysis, based on twenty farmer-managed trials where the technology was tested. One would intuitively expect that the yield of maize grown after a fallow would need to be at least double that obtained before the fallow in order to compensate for the lost production during the fallow period. Instead, the break-even yield increase following the one-season fallow, compared to continuous cropping, was only 21% of the long rains yield of 600 kg/ha for the base scenario. It was relatively, low, because the foregone maize yield during the fallow was compensated by savings in crop labour. Improved fallow is a promising technique for reclaiming depleted land, especially for households with access to off-farm income or having low labour-to-land ratios. The farm trials facilitated a realistic economic analysis and farmers' input into the design of the technology to help focus research on improving the practice 
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