In Kisumu up to 60 % of the inhabitants practice some form of urban agriculture, with just under 50 % of the workers being female. On average, women spend more hours a day in the gardens than men. Therefore women's knowledge is pivotal for effective agricultural management. To enhance and better use women's knowledge, gender-related sociocultural obstacles linked to land ownership, investment, and farm inputs have to be taken into account. We aimed to determine how the agricultural knowledge and motivations of female farmers working in the Nyalenda urban gardens in Kisumu (Kenya) influence the soil nutrient status as reflected by the total soil C and N; available soil N and P; and exchangeable soil Na, K, Mg, and Ca. Two prevailing practices were compared to determine how the agricultural management practice influences soil nutrient content: (1) applying manure only and (2) applying manure while intercropping with cowpeas. Interviews and focus group discussions were held to explore the agricultural knowledge and motivations of the women working in Nyalenda. Soil analysis showed that the soil in Nyalenda was rich in nutrients overall but that the intercropped fields contained significantly lower total soil nutrients than fields where only manure was applied. While theoretically intercropping with a legume such as cowpeas should increase soil N content, due to socioeconomic factors, such as poverty, intercropping was applied in a way that did not increase soil nutrient contents; rather it diversified revenue. The knowledge of the female farmers was found to be limited to practical and sensory knowledge. This shows that when aiming to improve soil nutrient status and agricultural yields through agricultural training, socioeconomic conditions, cultural context, and gendered knowledge differentiation have to be acknowledged.

中文翻译：

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肯尼亚基苏木Nyalenda城市花园中妇女的农业作法及其对土壤养分含量的影响

在基苏木，多达60％的居民从事某种形式的都市农业，其中不到50％的工人是女性。平均而言，女性每天在花园里花费的时间比男性多。因此，妇女的知识对于有效的农业管理至关重要。为了增强和更好地利用妇女的知识，必须考虑与土地所有权，投资和农业投入有关的与性别有关的社会文化障碍。我们的目的是确定在肯尼亚基苏木Nyalenda城市花园工作的女性农民的农业知识和动机如何影响土壤养分状况（由土壤总C和N反映）；有效土壤氮和磷；以及可交换的土壤Na，K，Mg和Ca。比较了两种主要的实践方法，以确定农业管理实践如何影响土壤养分含量：（1）仅施肥和（2）在与cow豆间作时施肥。进行了访谈和焦点小组讨论，以探讨在Nyalenda工作的妇女的农业知识和动机。土壤分析表明，尼兰达地区的土壤总体上营养丰富，但间作田间的土壤总养分明显低于仅施肥的田间。从理论上讲，与豆科植物如cow豆间作能够增加土壤氮含量，但由于社会经济因素（如贫困），间作以不增加土壤养分含量的方式进行。而是使收入多样化。发现女性农民的知识仅限于实践和感官知识。这表明，在旨在通过农业培训改善土壤养分状况和农业产量的过程中，必须认识到社会经济条件，文化背景和性别差异化知识。