Socio-economic and institutional factors influencing smallholder farmers’ participation in cassava production in Msambweni sub-county, Kwale county, Kenya

Abstract

Agriculture continues to be the key driver of the Kenyan economy. However, the sector faces challenges in production due to frequent and prolonged droughts. This calls for farmers to adopt more drought-tolerant crops like cassava. Cassava farmers face a number of socioeconomic and institutional factors that influence their production decisions. This study sought to contribute to improved food security of smallholder farmers in rural areas by improving production policies through determining the socio-economic and institutional factors influencing smallholder farmers‘participation in cassava production in Msambweni Sub-County of Kwale County. The specific objectives included: to characterize the production systems and farmers in Msambweni Sub-County; to determine the socio-economic and institutional factors influencing cassava production decisions in Msambweni Sub-County and to determine the area under cassava production in relation to other food crop enterprises in Msambweni Sub-County. In this regard, data was collected from 186 farmers selected proportionately from Vanga, Kikoneni/Pongwe and Dzombo Wards in Msambweni using face-to-face interviews. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data for objective 1. The data for objective 2 and 3 were analyzed using Heckman model while data for objective 4 were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS), Excel and STATA programs were used to process and summarize the data. Among the Socio-Economic factors, farm size positively influenced participation in cassava production whereas education level and age negatively influence participation in cassava production. Among the institutional factors, production and market information, storage facility and access to cuttings positively influence participation in cassava production whereas group membership and means of transport negatively influence participation in cassava production. Access to information and group membership had a positive influence while Gender of household head had a negative influence on extent of cassava production. The study recommends that the policy makers consider policies that encourage the following aspects: improved education and training among farmers to increase their capacity to engage in cassava production profitably. As land seemed to be a limiting factor, intercropping cassava with other food crops should be encouraged so as to fully and intensively utilize the land resource. Farmer Group empowerment and development should be encouraged as they are easy conduits for seed/cuttings distribution and training