Journal of Environment and Earth Science www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-3216 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0948 (Online) Vol.5, No.7, 2015 72 Knowledge Based Sustainable Land Use Management: A Case of Mainstreaming Sustainable Land Management in Agro-Pastoral Production Systems of Kenya project. Leonard Odini Barbara Ombasa Kimathi Mutungi Abstract Land degradation in Arid and Semi – Arid Lands (ASALs) is a potential precursor to widespread desertification and is linked to various human induced factors as a result of poor land use and management practices. These factors include; inappropriate development models, unsustainable farming practices, reduced livestock mobility and over-exploitation of available pastures, high population growth encroaching on wet- season grazing areas for pastoralists as well as encroachment of agriculture into marginal land. In addition, the increasing demand to fuel wood charcoal and timber has led to loss of forest covers aggravating land degradation. These man- made crisis coupled with the devastating impacts of climate change has further undermined the lives and livelihood of pastoral and agro-pastoral communities rendering them perpetual dependents on famine relief. The ASALs of Kenya are characterized by hot and dry climate, fragile ecology, low and erratic rainfall (arid: -450mm/yr and semi-arid 500-850mm/yr) and are most vulnerable to droughts and floods (Miriti et al. 2012; McCown and Jones 1992). The paper highlights and synthesizes findings from a review of the project that has addressed the challenges of sustainable land management using two approaches; firstly it supports review of policies related to sustainable land management and mainstreaming SLM in all national planning process, secondly, the project supports implementation of sustainable land use in the pilot sub counties (Mbeere North, Kyuso, Dadaab and Narok North) of Kenya using Farmer/Pastoral Field School (F/PFS) methodology. The local communities in the pilot sub counties are trained and supported to adopt various SLM practices and lessons learnt from these counties will be used to upscale in other ASALs areas. Keywords: Sustainable land use, farmer field school, communities, Arid and Semi- Arid areas, degradation Introduction The pressure exerted on land today to support rapid population growth has led to degradation. Land Degradation has become a longstanding and increasingly severe problem in most tropical countries. Poor and inappropriate land management practices result in rapid land degradation, massive soil loss, falling yields, deforestation, the disruption of water resources and the destruction of natural pastures ( Nabhan et al., 1999) Figure 1.0 Map of ASALs in Kenya (Source: GoK 2005a) Arid and semi-arid (ASAL) areas are defined as areas falling within the rainfall zones of 0-300 mm and 300-600 mm, respectively (FAO, 1987). In Kenya, Arid and Semi-arid areas are about 467,200 square kilometers or about 80% of the Kenya’s total landmass and are characterized by generally hot and dry climate, low and erratic rainfall patterns makes the land most suitable for livestock production compared to other land use types (Miriti et al. 2012; McCown and Jones 1992). Over the years there have been changes in the land use systems that have resulted in severe land and natural resources degradation. The land degradation is primarily driven by inappropriate land use types, and interrelated factors that include inappropriate development models, unsuitable farming practices, loss of soil productivity, overstocking, especially where livestock mobility has been impeded, and breakdown of traditional customs of seasonal migration. High population growth within and