Bridging the gap between technological possibilities and the people : the case of citrus farming Makueni District, Kenya

This study was conducted in the eastern province of Kenya, Makueni district. The district was selected due to the large numbers of farmer who grow citrus. 20 farmers who grow citrus were selected of which 10 were farmers who grow both the grafted citrus and non grafted citrus to find their perception on knowledge circulation in the farming communities. 3 extension workers were also interviewed to find the role in knowledge circulation. The findings from this research reveal that a lot of learning takes place amongst the farmers themselves. In fact 55% of the learning occurs through farmer to farmer knowledge exchange while the 10 % learning occurs through the formal government extension services. The study also found that Knowledge circulation is also enhanced by other development partners working in the rural areas. The findings show that land size, availability of inputs and other off farm activities the farmer engage in have implication on the numbers of citrus trees planted by farmers. The findings show that the extension service is Kenya is slowly adopting new approach to enhance knowledge circulation. Extension service has adopted the group approach as opposed to the individual farm visits. This has been due to the structural adjustment program which led to under funding in the extension department. A lot of reforms are also taking place in the extension department to ensure a better flow of information and knowledge to the farming communities. Extension is acting as the coordinating unit within the district for all the other development partners working in the district. The government extension service is no longer the sole provider of information and knowledge to the farming communities in the district.