Multidimensional agroecological performance (CAET) of smallholder farms across an elevation gradient in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya

Multidimensional agroecological performance (CAET) of smallholder farms across an elevation gradient in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya DOI: doi.org Version: 1.0.0 License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0) Description This dataset contains farm-level agroecological performance scores for 270 smallholder farms surveyed across the highland, midland and lowland agroecological zones of Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya (90 farms per zone; nine wards; gender-balanced). Each farm is scored 0–100 on the ten FAO Elements of Agroecology following the logic of the Characterization of Agroecological Transitions (CAET), the first step of the FAO Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE), together with an overall CAET score, a Visual Soil Quality Index, a household food-adequacy outcome, and background covariates. The data support all analyses reported in the associated article (see Related Publication). Records are fully anonymized: farms carry an arbitrary identifier, and no names, GPS coordinates, or other directly identifying information is included. The only locational field is the administrative ward. Related publication Kibet, K.,  Ariya, G., Njoroge, R., & Otinga, A. (2026). Multidimensional agroecological performance across an elevation gradient and by gender: a TAPE-informed assessment of smallholder farms in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems (under review). DOI to be added on acceptance. Files File Description agroecology_CAET_data.csv Primary data table, 270 rows × 22 columns (open format). agroecology_CAET_dataset.xlsx Same data plus a Codebook sheet and the indicator-mapping sheet (Supplementary Table S1). README.md This file. Variable dictionary Variable Description Range / values farm_id Anonymous farm identifier 1–270 zone Agroecological zone Highland / Midland / Lowland gender Respondent gender Male / Female ward Ward (survey cluster; administrative unit) text SQI Visual Soil Quality Index 0–100 Diversity CAET Element 1 score 0–100 Synergies CAET Element 2 score 0–100 Efficiency CAET Element 3 score 0–100 Recycling CAET Element 4 score 0–100 Resilience CAET Element 5 score 0–100 Culture CAET Element 6 (culture & food traditions) 0–100 Co-creation CAET Element 7 (co-creation & sharing of knowledge) 0–100 Human_social CAET Element 8 (human & social values) 0–100 Circular_econ CAET Element 9 (circular & solidarity economy) 0–100 Governance CAET Element 10 (responsible governance) 0–100 CAET Overall CAET score (unweighted mean of the 10 elements) 0–100 food_adequacy Household productivity meets food/essentials/saving needs 1 = yes, 0 = no education Highest education level of respondent None / Primary / Secondary / Tertiary farm_size_ac Cropland area acres household_labour Household members participating in farming 4 and Below / 5 / 6 / 7 and above age_band Respondent age band e.g. 41-50 years farming_experience Years of farming experience (banded) e.g. 5-10 years Methods (summary) Data were collected through a cross-sectional household survey administered on KoboToolbox. Each of the ten FAO Elements of Agroecology was operationalized from survey indicators (each scored present = 1 / absent = 0); an element score is the mean of its indicators rescaled to 0–100, and the overall CAET score is the unweighted mean of the ten elements. The full indicator-to-element mapping is provided as a sheet in the .xlsx file (Supplementary Table S1). This is a TAPE-informed adaptation operationalizing TAPE Step 1 (CAET); it does not implement the TAPE Step 2 Core Criteria of Performance. Ethics Research clearance was granted by the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI), Kenya. Participation was voluntary, and informed consent was obtained from all respondents. The dataset contains no directly identifying information. How to cite Kibet, M., Ariya, G., Njoroge, R., & Otinga, A. (2026). Multidimensional agroecological performance (CAET) of smallholder farms across an elevation gradient in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya [Data set]. Zenodo. doi.org Funding Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), through the CRAPAE project No. RU/GRA-GRG/2023/05 at the University of Eldoret. Contact Corresponding author: George Ariya, University of Eldoret, P.O. Box 1125-30100, Eldoret, Kenya. E-mail: gariya@uoeld.ac.ke.