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The significance of access to agricultural credit in perpetuating agricultural productivity is unquestionable, because it is a means to achieving optimal productivity. The minimization of any barriers to agricultural credit access should,thus,be a global priority. One of the most significant and current barriers to agricultural credit access is information asymmetry which results into mutual distrust between lending institutions and borrowers in this case the smallholder farmers. To address information asymmetry, both the lending institutions and borrowers need to have definitive descriptive information about either party. Without the profiling of institutions and potential borrowers, an information gap persists, thereby increasing mutual distrust. This study addresses that gap, in the context of Rwanda by characterizing smallholder farmers and agricultural credit institutions. Across-sectional survey design was used in this study with smallholder farmers and staff in agricultural credit institutions in the Eastern, Western, and Central provinces of Rwanda as the units of analysis. A multistage sampling procedure was used,with stratified sampling of administrative levels spanning from province(stage 1) to districts (stage 2) and sectors(stage 3),followed by a simple random sampling of cells per sector, and the convenience sample of households. Staff in the financial institutions were purposively sampled. The data collected was analyzed using principal component analysis and cluster analysis with the K-means statistic(SPSS version 25). The largest cluster of smallholder farmers has the following characteristics: household size of1to 5 people, farmers with education, owning arable land not exceeding a hectare, with more than five years of farming experience,earning from other off-farm activities, with no dependents under five years of age, and renting less than an acre of land. As for agricultural credit institutions, the largest cluster has following compositions:have mechanisms or measures established for managing loan defaults with the majority using refinancing, rescheduling, and collateral release, with variable loan payback options, and provide targeted agricultural credit to farmers such as agricultural input premium.The research findings are particularly pertinent for maize-and rice-growing farmers,and how to reduce the information gap and the implications of broadening access to credit to smallholder farmers were discussed. This study emphasizes the need for characterization for both parties to be better informed about the characteristics and dynamics of each other, all in a bid to lessen asymmetric information and thus improve access to credit.

This paper uses data collected from 452 sampled households to estimate the impact of improved sorghum varieties (ISVs) on poverty reduction in Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya. Consumption expenditure per adult equivalent is used as the poverty indicator. Different matching methods complemented by endogenous switching regression model were used to ensure robustness of the estimated results. The impact results generated by the three models are consistent and affirm poverty reducing effects of adopting ISVs. Therefore, this study recommends formulation and implementation of adoption-stimulating policies that target to raise resource endowment of households, improve access of extension service and rural infrastructure.

We examine the multiple dimensions of the effect of public investment in education on agriculture sector output in a multivariate econometric framework. The study is underpinned by the growing interest in empirical investigations on the effects of public education expenditure on economic growth in developing countries to inform the education sector policy environment. The research employed a longitudinal study approach to examine the extent of public investment in education and effects on agriculture sector output in Uganda. The study relied on data from national statistics for the period 1982- 2017. Overall, public expenditure on education has a net positive effect on agriculture sector output. The impact of education on agriculture output has been proven to promote agriculture output through supporting farmer adoption of new productivity-enhancing technologies.

This study used Cobb-Douglas Stochastic Profit Frontier to analyze economic efficiency of sorghum farmers in Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya. Using a multi-stage stratified sample of 259 farmers, results depicted a wide range of profit efficiency between the best (0.96) and the worst (0.12) farmer with a mean of 0.17. The actual and potential profit was USD 164.88 ha-1 and USD 969.87 ha-1 respectively. This indicates that, sampled farmers incurred profit-loss of approximately USD 804.99 ha-1. Family labour and fixed capital base were the major contributing factors to sorghum profitability. Drivers of profit efficiency pointed out that, farmers who had more experience in sorghum farming, accessed agricultural credit, attended trainings, lived closer to the market and agro-dealers were likely to be more efficient. To increase profit efficiency, this study therefore advocates for policy strategies targeting these factors. Further, policy move targeting increase in uptake and correct application of fertilizer and other inputs should be reinforced. Key words: Improved sorghum varieties, economic efficiency, Cobb-Douglas stochastic profit frontier, Kenya.

Current demand for soybean in Kenya exceeds supply despite numerous efforts by the government to increase production. Soybean farmers are faced with the difficulty in accessing the market reason for their reluctance in producing. Little is known about the soybean market in the central highlands of Kenya. This study was carried out with the aim to assess the structure conduct and performance of soybean markets in EmbuTharaka-Nithi and Meru Counties. Key informant interviews were carried out among soybean farmers’ groups, Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries and soybean processing companies. A structured questionnaire was administered to processors, wholesalers, retailers and assemblers of soybean. Data was collected mainly on characteristics of respondents and marketing information. The collected data were used to calculate Herfindahl Hirschman Index (HHI), gross margins, marketing margin, and marketing efficiency. The results of the study showed that there were eight important marketing channels with channel 1 being the most efficient followed by channel 7, 3, 8, 4, 2, 6 and 5 respectively. The HHI showed that wholesalers were competitive (0.0997); retailers were relatively competitive (0.1701) while processors indicated an oligopolistic market structure with an HHI index of 0.18. Farmers groups, wholesalers and assemblers sold their soybean to processors at a fixed price (60ksh) given by the processors. Quantities traded were low with an average of 333.3kg for wholesalers, 793.33kg for assemblers and 47kg for retailers. There were no trader associations in the study area even though farmers engaged in group marketing. The study concluded that Constraints to marketing by farmers included low prices, lack of processing equipment’s, inadequate marketing arrangements, and high cost of processing.

Declining soil fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a significant constraint towards increasing agricultural productivity. Soil fertility decline coupled with rapid population growth and low use of organic soil fertility technologies has threatened the population's economic status that lives in the rural area and relies on rain-fed agriculture. We conducted a cross-sectional household survey in the Central Highlands of Kenya (Gatanga and Meru South sub-counties) to determine farmers’ perception of the benefits of using organic resources technologies, socioeconomic drivers influencing their perceptions, and financial returns from the technologies. The selected technologies were; sole animal manure and a combination of animal manure with inorganic fertilizer. We based the benefits of using the selected soil fertility management technologies on four variables; potential to improve soil fertility, crop yields, profitability, and labor requirement. The majority of the farmers strongly agreed that using the selected technologies improved soil fertility, crop yields and were profitable. On the contrary, they agreed it was labor-intensive. Gender of the household head, household size, Tropical Livestock Unit (TLU), access to external labor, access to credit, total land cultivated, age, and years of farming experience were the socioeconomic drivers that significantly influenced farmers’ perception of the use of sole animal manure and animal manure combined with inorganic fertilizer. Results showed that animal manure had the highest financial returns of US$ 440.74 in Gatanga, while in Meru South, animal manure combined with inorganic fertilizer had the highest returns of US$ 456.25. The study highlights that the use of sole animal manure and animal manure combined with inorganic fertilizer is perceived positively by the smallholder farmers and has better financial returns than sole inorganic fertilizer. Thus, the use of selected organic resource technologies should be encouraged by creating more awareness through farmers’ training programs.

Indigenous chicken (IC) production is a source of food security and income among smallholder farmers within high potential areas and semi-arid lands (ASAL). The demand for IC eggs and meat is anticipated to increase threefold by the year 2020 by health conscious consumers. However, potential of IC to contribute to household incomes and poverty alleviation in ASAL is constrained by slow maturity of IC and low productivity. Hence, to address these constraints improved indigenous chicken (IIC) technologies have been developed and introduced to smallholders in high potential area and ASAL. However, only a few smallholder farmers have adopted the IIC technologies. Therefore the objective of this study was to determine the effect of farmer socioeconomic characteristics on adoption and intensity of adoption the IIC technology in Makueni and Kakamega counties. A total of 384 households were sampled using multi-stage sampling to collect data through interviews. The collected data was analyzed using a double hurdle model. The results suggest that sex of the household head, farm size, group membership, which had not been previously identified in IIC studies as a significant variable, distance to training centre, off-farm activities and IIC awareness significantly affected adoption decision of improved IC. On the other hand education of the household head, household size, farm size, source of information on IIC and awareness on IIC had significant effects on the level of adoption. The recommendations from this study have an implication on extension policy, land use policy, food policy, collective action and pricing policy in the context of technology adoption in Kenya.

This paper assesses the impact of access to agricultural credit on the agricultural productivity of 422 smallholder farmers that cultivate maize or rice in the Western and Eastern province of Rwanda. Stratified, simple random and convenience sampling techniques were used to sample districts, sectors, cells and households. Data were collected using structured interviews and analyzed using propensity score matching techniques. Results indicated that productivity was higher by 44% among the farmers who accessed credit implying that they harvested on average an extra 440 kilograms of maize or rice. According to a crop-specific analysis, agricultural credit access had a more significant impact on maize productivity, with a difference in proportion of 68% (p = 0.000) but had no impact on rice productivity (p = 0.149). The study concludes that agricultural credit was important for Rwanda’s agricultural productivity. Thus policy measures should aim at improving smallholder farmers’ access to agricultural credit and promoting the use of modern agricultural inputs, particularly among rice farmers in Rwanda

Soil fertility decline continues to be a major challenge limiting agricultural productivity globally. Despite the novelty of organic-based technologies in enhancing agricultural production in Kenya's central highlands, adoption is low. Therefore, we carried out a cross-sectional household survey of 300 randomly selected smallholder farmers to determine the specific organic-based practices by farmers; and the socioeconomic factors that influence the adoption intensity of selected organic-based technologies. We used descriptive statistics to summarize the data and the Tobit regression model to evaluate the socioeconomic determinants of adoption intensity of selected organic-based technologies. We identified nine organic-based technologies that had different adoption rates among the farmers. The majority of the farmers had adopted manure (97%) and manure combined with fertilizer (92%) in Murang'a and Tharaka-Nithi, respectively. Manure was applied to the largest land in Murang'a with 31% of the cultivated land. In comparison, manure combined with fertilizer had the highest adoption intensity in Tharaka-Nithi applied to about 25% of the cultivated land. Gender, age of the household head, level of education, household size, access to external labor, training, Tropical Livestock Unit, agriculture group membership, access to credit, land cultivated, and farming experience influenced the adoption intensity of organic-based technologies among smallholder farmers. Based on the smallholder farmers' adoption behavior, this study can be used to disaggregate the farming households better in order to tailor specific organic-based soil fertility technologies solutions that meet their unique needs. One group would be those households that face specific constraints, as reflected in their low adoption rates, women-headed households and older farmers, and thus require more targeted / intensive efforts to overcome these barriers. The other group would be those households that require less focus because, when confronted with the technologies, they are more likely to adopt them easily, for example, the male-headed households. Hence, the smallholder farmers' adoption behavior, can enable policymakers to form a base for designing appropriate policies that encourage the adoption of organic-based soil fertility technology by smallholder farmers.

This paper discusses the economic potential in terms of income changes that may result from conversion to low-external-input agriculture (LEIA) organic farming in a Kenya’s catchment area. A spreadsheet model applying the gross margin and net present value analysis was developed to estimate economic returns to labour and land of alternative smallholder cropping systems in the East Mau Catchment. The income and costs over a 10-year horizon associated with current cropping practices of a typical farm household cultivating 1.12 hectares of maize–bean intercrop, Irish potato, carrots, tomatoes, cabbages and kales mix were characterized based on field work conducted in 2008–2010. An “average” smallholder LEIA organic farm was simulated based on the conventional one, and its income discounted. A comparison was then made of the two farm types. Results indicate annual net present value returns to cropped land average Ksh 21,878/ha ($ 267/ha) and Kshs 22,561/ha (€ 275/ha) in 2010 values for conventional and prototype LEIA organic farming systems, respectively. Net returns are particularly sensitive to crop yields and price and cost of fertilizers and seeds. Further efforts should be made to provide an economic analysis of other LEIA organic farming practices such as composting, double digging and agroforestry in terms of additional labour costs resultant. The model can be extended to build more scenarios on the role of price premiums. Additionally, further research should be done to exploit the socio-demographic factors affecting the adoption of low-external-input systems.

Indigenous chickens are important in Kenya for food security, income generation, employment and improved livelihoods. However, despite these benefits producers are constrained from participating in the high value markets. A purposive multi-stage sampling was used to sample 130 households from Makueni County. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. These data were then analysed using descriptive statistics and a probit econometric model. The decision to participate in the indigenous chicken high value market was influenced by the education level of the household head, processing, the age of the household head, group membership, the flock size and region. Therefore, it is recommended to form farmer groups for increased productivity, collective marketing and enhanced value addition.

Indigenous chicken (IC) contributes significantly to the socio-economic development and nutritional requirements of rural and peri-urban households. Therefore, focusing on IC productivity remains crucial. Despite the IC potential, unimproved breeds are usually constrained by slow growth and maturity rate leading to low productivity. As an appropriate strategy to improve productivity, improved IC have been disseminated to smallholder IC farmers in Kenya. However, information on impact of improved IC breeds remained scanty thus necessitating this study. A total of 384 households were sampled using stratified random sampling procedure in Kakamega and Makueni. A structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data. Secondary data were accessed from Makueni and Kakamega livestock offices. Propensity score matching (PSM) econometric model was employed using STATA 13. Results from PSM estimates showed that the average egg production/hen/year of adopters was greater than for non-adopters. Education level, group membership, distance to the training point and non-farm activities positively and significantly influenced the impact of improved IC. On the other hand, gender of the household head negatively and significantly influenced adoption decision. Policies should target strengthening the IC farmer’s access to frequent extension services. Moreover, formation of farmers groups is fundamental in enhancing information sharing on improved IC breeds. Further, policies should target more women in poultry production by developing programs in their favor.

Majority of the rural households in Kenya depend on agriculture as a source of food and livelihood. Agricultural productivity has been declining due to many factors resulting in increased food insecurity in the country. Consequently, there is a renewed interest in promoting drought-tolerant crops such as sorghum which thrives in the arid and semiarid lands of the developing world. However, performance of sorghum production among the smallholder farmers has still remained low. This study was thus carried out to identify factors that influence technical efficiency of sorghum production among smallholder farmers in Machakos and Makindu districts of the lower eastern Kenya. Collected data on farm and farmer characteristics were analysed by use of descriptive statistics and Tobit model. Result highlights show that technical efficiency was influenced positively by formal education level of the household, experience in sorghum farming, membership in farmers associations, use of hired labour, production advice, and use of manure. Surprisingly household size, meant to enhance labour, had a negative influence. To increase technical efficiency, efforts should focus on improving information flows on agronomic practices. Farmers should also be encouraged to form and actively participate in various farmers associations, which enhance learning and pooling of labour resources, hence improving technical efficiency.