Despite the many advantages of growing cover crops most farmers have not adopted them in their
cropping systems. The objective of this study was to examine adoption and sociological factors associated
with adoption of cover crops in Kalama (Machakos county) and Kee (Makueni county), Kenya. A
semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 80 randomly selected participants to obtain sociological
information including gender, age category, education levels, and adoption of cover crops. Two
binary logistic regression models were used to determine the factors affecting cover crops adoption by
respondents. Results showed that 80% of the respondents had adopted cover crop technologies at Kalama
compared to 57.5% at Kee. Results indicated that gender had a significant (P < 0.05) effect on adoption.
Men were less likely to adopt. Age category had mixed effects on cover crop adoption. At Kalama age
category had a significant (P < 0.05) effect on cover crops adoption however age effect was not significant
at Kee. Education indicated mixed effects on cover crop adoption suggesting other factors not covered
in the study were at play. Views from farmers with experience in growing cover crops revealed that,
knowledge and skills, demonstration of gains and related cost had a significant (P < 0.05) effect on cover
crop adoption. Majority of farmers, adopters or non-adopters used seeds from market. Non-adopters in
Kee (37.5%) used relief seed suggesting other factors were required to give the threshold required to
influence adoption. This implies research is needed to identify factors with likelihood to reach threshold
for adoption under different farming systems. The study recommends capacity building to develop cover
crop knowledge and skills, demonstrate gains and related costs to improve men and women’s likelihood
to adopt. In addition, the study recommends research to shed light on other factors likely to influence
adoption.