Kimondo, James Munga is a Chief Research Scientist in Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI). Born 5th January 1959, is married with four children born between 1989 and 1994. From 1973 to 1978, he joined Kagumo High School for his secondary education.He obtained his BSc Forestry from University of Nairobi in 1983 and immediately joined Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Forest Research Department.In 1984, he was awarded a Kenya-Canada General Training Fund scholarship to pursue an MSc programme in University of Alberta, Edmonton Canada. He attained is PhD in 2010 at the University of Wales, Bangor, UK. His thesis was on domestication of Vitex payos, an important indigenous fruit tree species common in dry lands of several countries in East and Southern Africa. The thesis title is "The potential for optimization of Vitex payos as a dryland resource in Kenya". Research interest include utilisation of natural resources on a sustainable basis while benefiting the local communities through concerted efforts of managing existing germplasm on farms and expansion of ex-situ conservation of others on farms intercropped with agricultural crops.
Past research activities include development of growth models of eucalypts, evaluation of growth performance Eucalyptus urophylla and Casuarina equisetifolia and Casuarina montana and utilisation of natural regeneration of plantation species Cupressus lusitanica and Pinus patula in the high potential of Kenya. Since 1999, research interests are concentrated in the dry areas, especially on improvement of seedlings survival after planting through use of water management and manipulation of the soil and ground cover to conserve moisture.
My motivation in research is greatly driven when any findings are adopted by farmers, as they are the ultimate consumers of most applied research. Lately this has been achieved through simplification of research proposals to the farmers’ level. They are applied through farmer field schools (FFS), where a catalogue of activities is provided to the farmers, who in turn select activities according to the resources at their disposal, and that are relevant to their environment. An implementation guideline guides the farmers in laying out the trials on their farm and provides a monitoring system that facilitates the farmer to observe and apprehend the outcomes. This methodology has bridged the existing gaps of researcher-extensionist-farmers linkage.
Currently, I am based at the KEFRI Forest Products Research Centre, Karura pursuing resource assessment of the indigenous fruits to advice the SMEs, estimation of forest volume and biomass in relation to climate change and preparation of guidelines to enhancethe utilisation of woodland resources in the country.
This website is managed and maintained by James Kimondo