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This study examined the factors influencing the choice of information and communication technology (ICT) tools used in tomato marketing by smallholder farmers in Kirinyaga County, Kenya. Households were selected through a combination of purposive, two-stage stratified and probability proportionate to size sampling techniques. The study employed Semi-structured interview schedules to collect data from the sampled small-scale tomato farmers. Factors affecting the choice of ICT tools in tomato marketing were identified using multivariate model. The study revealed that age, income, level of education, farmers’ experience, and farm size, tomato production, willingness to pay for ICT tools, tomato prices and knowledge on ICT are predictors of choice of ICT use. ICT should be given in such a way that all farmers can get information as per their need. Policy makers and agricultural extension agents should create awareness on the use and importance of ICT tools for farmers to accept and use available ICT tools.

Development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is adversely affected by climate variability and change due to the dependence of its economies and livelihoods primarily on rain-fed agriculture. Agro-advisories boost informed decision-making as well as planning of farm activities. The purpose of this study was to characterize the pathways through which farmers receive usable location-specific agro-advisories as well as to evaluate the effect of the socio-economic environment in the access to such information. Data was collected from 400 randomly selected households in lower eastern Kenya in a cross-sectional survey. Multivariate probit regression was used to determine the factors influencing the choice of pathways used in accessing climate change adaptation information. Household socio-economic characteristics that were found to be significant in explaining access to disseminated agro-advisories include phone and radio ownership, level of education, marital status, and farm size among others. Based on these findings a conclusion is made that the socio-economic environment within which information is disseminated is vital in determining those who access information and probably act on it. Additionally, pathways found to be complementary or substitutable give information providers new insights on the channels to use in information dissemination. The study recommends that these factors be considered in efforts geared towards promoting agro-advisory preparation and dissemination to improve adaptation to climate variability and change in dryland areas.

The study was conducted to evaluate factors that significantly influence indigenous poultry production among smallholder farmers in Tigania west Mer County using the production function approach. The study relied on primary data collected by administering structured questionnaires to 359 respondents randomly selected from 5 wards using the multi stage stratified random sampling and probability proportionate to size techniques. A cross sectional survey design and primary data on poultry yields, inputs and farmer demographics were collected. A one step Cobb Douglas production function in logarithmic form was used to estimate the frontier production. From the analyses, results showed that over 50% of the deviations in poultry output resulted from production constraints. Further, off farm income, technology adoption, flock size, extension access and gender of respondents positively influenced indigenous poultry production, while land under cultivation had a negative influence. Results revealed a possibility to increase indigenous poultry production using improved feeds and vaccinations since they were the most limiting resources. In addition, policy interventions aimed at enhancing technology adoption and improving provision of extension services would serve as a motivation to persuade farmers increase stock and apportion more credits to poultry production. This would increase output leading to economies of scale thus increased returns among smallholder farmers. Key words: Indigenous chicken, production, smallholder farmer.

This study evaluated the effect of participation in factory contracted services on the profitability of smallholder sugarcane farmers inMalava Sub-county in Western Kenya. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaire from a sample of 384 farmers usingsystematic random sampling and proportionate sampling. Analysis of variance was applied to determine if there was a significant difference between profitability of contracted and non-contracted farmers. The effect of contracted services on profitability among contract farmers was analyzed by multiple linear regression. The results showed that contracted extension, labour and credit services had significant effect on farmers’ gross margins. The Kenyan government should formulate policies that enhance provision of contracted extension, labour and credit services. The need for a review of the existing contract engagement terms among sugarcane farmers is also evident in this study. Keywords: smallholder farms, sugarcane, contracted services, gross margins

This paper is based on a study that was carried out to evaluate the effect of land fragmentation on farm efficiency in three agro-ecological zones of Embu County in Kenya from July 2017 to March 2018. The study used data collected from 384 farm-households that were randomly selected from three agro-ecological zones (AEZs) in the Embu County, using the multistage stratified sampling method. The AEZs were the Sunflower-Cotton Zone, the Coffee Zone and the Tea Zone, based on the official classification system in Kenya. Farm technical efficiency was measured using non-parametric data envelopment analysis. The multinomial regression analysis was used to evaluate the effect of farm size and other factors on farm efficiency. Farm size was found to have a negative and significant effect on farm efficiency in the Coffee Zone (p=0.013, β=0.879) and Tea Zone (p=0.046, β=1.016), but was insignificant in the Sunflower-Cotton Zone. However, the study revealed that the impact of farm size on farm efficiency varies within and across different agro-ecological zones. Other key factors that were found to significantly affect farm efficiency in combination with farm size are distance to market outlet, household head’s level of education and age and farm access to credit and irrigation water. Similarly, the impact of these factors was found to vary in and across the three zones. For improvement of farm efficiency in the study area, this study recommends that the remaining large farms in the Tea Zone be managed as smaller semi-autonomous blocks. Other recommendations made were increasing access to agricultural education, markets, credit and irrigation water. Key words: Land fragmentation, farm size, agro-ecological zones, technical efficiency, mixed farming.

The study examined farm-level value addition among small-scale mango farmers in Machakos County, Kenya. A sample size of 352 small-scale mango farmers was proportionately selected from six wards of the study area. A structured interview schedule was used for data collection. Percentage and Heckman two-stage selection model were employed in data analysis. The result showed that only 33.52% of the farmers practised mango value addition. Off-farm income, access to cold storage facilities, price of value-added products, group membership, extension contact, farmers’ awareness, amount of credit and hired labour positively influenced mango farm-level value addition. Training, farmers’ awareness and access to cold storage facilities positively influenced the proportion of mangoes value added at farm-level, while distance to market and livestock equivalence precipitated a negative effect on the proportion of mangoes value added. Relevant authorities in the County should provide adequate and up to date mango storage facilities and improve methods of extension delivery in order to increase the uptake of mango farm-level value addition among small-scale farmers. Keywords: Farm-level value addition, extent of participation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of transactional costs on smallholder avocado farmers’ participation in the export market and the extent of participation in Murang’a County, Kenya.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from 384 avocado farmers in Murang’a County, following stratified sampling. The Heckman two-stage model was used for analysis.FindingsResults showed that the cost of information search was an important variable that impedes smallholders’ participation in export marketing while harvesting costs inhibits the extent of participation in export marketing.Research limitations/implicationsThis study used data at the farm level. Therefore, insights on transaction costs among other marketing agents in the export market value chain would be an issue for future studies.Originality/valueFollowing the debate on transaction costs and market participation among farmers in Sub-Sahara Africa, this paper models transactional costs and export market participation among avocado smallholders and measures the extent of participation with the inclusion of harvesting costs, negotiation costs, monitoring costs and information search costs that are not common in previous studies, thus contributing to the development of literature.

The aim of the study was to determine the farm level technical efficiency and its determinants among smallholder sugarcane farmers in Malava Sub-county, Western Kenya. Primary data were collected using questionnaires from a sample of 384 farmers through systematic random sampling. The study applied stochastic frontier analysis and Tobit regression analysis using computer software STATA. The results found that technical efficiency of sugarcane farmers ranges from almost zero to 0.9829, with mean value of 0.7069, implying that an average farmer could increase sugarcane productivity by 29.31% at the existing level of resources. Maximum likelihood estimate of technical efficiency depicted that the use of fertilizer, labour, seed-cane and farm size are positive and significant at 1% level in determining technical efficiency. Tobit regression analysis showed that education, farming experience, family size, credit access and extension services were positive and significant in contributing to technical efficiency. However, age of the farmer, farm distance from home and contract engagement was negatively influencing technical efficiency. The study recommends the Kenyan government to formulate policies that ensure provision of quality extension services, increased credit access and education among smallholder sugarcane farmers. The results also recommended the need for a review of the existing contract engagement policies among sugarcane farmers. Key words: Technical efficiency, stochastic frontier analysis, tobit, sugarcane.

The study examined adoption of recommended banana production technology among small-scale farmers in Embu West Sub-County, Kenya. Data were obtained from a sample of 384 small-scale banana farmers that were proportionately selected from four wards of the study area. A structured interview schedule was used for data collection. Both percentages and inferential statistics were employed in data analysis. The study used a logarithmic multiple linear regression model based on Cobb-Douglas production function. The amount of credit accessed, cost of the banana plantlets, fertilizer and manure had significant effects on banana output area. In addition, adoption of tissue culture banana, use of irrigation, debudding, desuckering, deleafing and banana value addition had positive and significant effects on banana production. The County government to enhance sensitization of small-scale banana farmers on the importance of adopting these and other recommended technologies for improved banana yields.

Aim: To determine the effect of urban development on agricultural resources in peri-urban areas of Embu town. Study Design: Descriptive survey design involving observational and survey methods. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in three sub-locations lying within the peri-urban areas of Embu town, namely, Kamiu to the East, Njukiri to the West and Nthambo to the North of the town. The study was carried out from June to August 2018. Methodology: Purposive stratified sampling was applied in this study where the three sub-locations were organized into three strata depending on their distance from the Central Business District i.e. 2, 4 and 6 Km for Kamiu, Njukiri and Nthambo respectively. A structured questionnaire was administered to 51 households per sub-location making a total of 153 respondents. Additional data was collected using personal observations and interviews with selected institutions with key information relating the study area. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Descriptive analysis was carried out to generate frequencies and correlations. Quantitative data was subjected to Analysis of Variance where the three sub-locations were considered as treatments and means separated using Least Significant Difference at 95% level of confidence. Results: The results indicated that urban development had encroached into hitherto agricultural areas exerting pressure into available agricultural resources such as land, water and labour thus contributing to reduced farming activities in the area. Significant differences between the three sub-locations were observed in average farm sizes, proportion of land allocated to farming, proportion of farmers in the area and availability of irrigation water and agricultural labour. The study recommends policy interventions to manage peri-urbanization in Embu and other towns with similar set up, in order to reduce degradation of agricultural resources and control unsustainable land sub-division and land use changes.

Despite the increase in area under coffee in Kenya in the last decade, productivity has been on the decline. Numerous production technologies have been developed through on-station research but there has been limited on-farm research to assess the impact of these technologies at the farm level. On the other hand, smallholder farmers are endowed differently and this would positively or negatively affect the adoption of recommended technologies and hence coffee productivity. This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of socioeconomic factors and technology adoption on smallholder coffee productivity at the farm level. The study employed stratified random sampling where 376 farmers were randomly sampled from six cooperative societies which had been preselected using probability proportional to the size sampling technique. The effects of socioeconomic factors and technology adoption on coffee productivity were analyzed using the stochastic Cobb-Douglas production function. The study revealed that off-farm income, access to credit, type of land tenure, and land size had significant positive effects on coffee productivity. Therefore, coffee farmers should be encouraged to diversify their income sources and to embrace credit financing, as the government reviews land use policies to avail adequate agricultural land. The study further revealed that the adoption of recommended application rates of manure, fungicides, and pesticides had significant positive effects on coffee productivity. The adoption of these technologies should therefore be enhanced among small-scale farmers to improve coffee productivity at the farm level.

Vegetables are largely cultivated by smallholders and contribute immensely on agricultural growth in Kenya. Tomato is among vibrant vegetables that sustain rural households underwriting 7 percent of horticultural yield and 14 percent of vegetable output. However, tomato marketing experiences inefficiencies leading to unprecedented inequalities among smallholders. This is attributed to limited information on market expansion at farm level and inadequate literature on characteristics that affect market diversity. The study assessed available market channels and computed the magnitude of market expansion using the Simpsons index while Tobit regression model was applied to investigate factors influencing market expansion. Majority of the farmers were found to market their produce in at least three channels with prices across outlets differing significantly at 1 percent level. A large proportion of fresh tomatoes was sold through middlemen with contract markets recording the least despite attracting high produce prices. Besides, results show an average index of 0.4771 and showed that market diversity among smallholder farmers was responsive to household size, type of road, income, extension, experience, group membership, financial credit and distance to the nearest markets. This articulates an opportunity to diversify further thus enabling farmers to explore existing markets. Besides, farmers will be able to generate income from different channels and minimize losses that result from tomato spoilage during a glut. The study endorses policy interventions aimed at improving road infrastructures, promote organized groups, increased extension access and enhanced contract markets that reciprocate the benefits of market diversity.

This work covers the dissemination of climate change adaptation information in arid and semi-arid regions of Kenya with the aim of improving the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers through dissemination of well package technologies referred to as agro-advisories.

Sorghum as a drought tolerant crop provides an alternative opportunity towards increasing food production in the face of global climate change, mostly affecting Sub-Saharan Africa. Kenya is in the fore front in increasing the production of sorghum since its landmass is 80 percent arid and semi-arid. Few studies have evaluated farm and farmer related characteristics affecting adoption of sorghum production. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine how selected factors affect the propensity of farmers to adopt sorghum production in Siaya County, Kenya. A total of 300 households were randomly selected as respondents in four sub-counties under sorghum production. Data was collected using semi-structured interview schedules administered to the selected farm households. The selected factors were subjected to descriptive analysis, while binary logistic regression model was applied for the quantitative analysis of the effect of these factors on adoption of sorghum production. The results of the regression analysis reveal that farm size, land size allocated to maize, beans and groundnut enterprise, land ownership and access to training significantly affected adoption of sorghum farming. The study underscores the significant impact of resource allocation decisions on uptake of sorghum production among farm households. Our findings show that farmers with larger farms are more likely to adopt sorghum production. However, due to industrial demand and food security potential of sorghum, we recommend that the extension service providers should also incentivize those with smaller farms to participate in sorghum production. Policies that will make sorghum enterprise more competitive over other crops, both at the farm and market level, are key. In addition, agricultural development policies should target provision of such services like training to streamline sorghum production in the arid and semi-arid areas in Kenya.