MMA Theses and Dissertations (2020)

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    The Influence of agricultural innovative strategies on banana productivity among smallholder farmers in Kirinyaga County, Kenya
    (Strathmore University, 2020) Kairu, Esther Kanyi
    Increasing agricultural productivity is now a popular subject across nations as a result of increasing population and an increase in demand for food. Consequently, there is an urgency to adopt modern agricultural technologies which will affect the growth of agricultural output, especially among smallholder farmers. The adoption of innovative strategies to help boost banana production is still low and they are not readily visible in most smallholder farms. The study looked at key innovation strategies that influence banana productivity. Key focus being, water management strategies, soil management strategies, and banana plant management strategies and how they affect banana productivity. The study was underpinned by the theory of Diffusion of Innovation. A descriptive research design was applied in the study. Respondents were smallholder banana farmers drawn from three constituencies in Kirinyaga County namely, Kirinyaga Central, Ndia, and Gichugu. The study found that the level of innovative strategies in water management, plant management, and soil testing practices was low. On soil management strategies the study found out that soil testing practices are poor and hardly practiced by the farmers. Other soil management practices such as Mulching and, Intercropping had a significant influence to productivity while fertilizer did not significantly influence productivity. In the case of plant management, a very small percentage of farmers source their seeds from authorized dealers, they mainly recycle the tubers from their farms and neighbors. The study also found out that water management practices such as furrow technique and pumping had significant influence on productivity. Social economic factors such as being trained on banana farming and years of study had significant influence on productivity. Hence, a conclusion was made that farmers who adopt innovative strategies were likely to influence the overall productivity in their farms more so if the strategies are all adopted at once.
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    The Effect of farmer characteristics on entrepreneurial behavior of beekeepers in Kibwezi West Sub County, Makueni County
    (Strathmore University, 2020) Strong, Margaret Mbesa
    Agriculture plays a major role in the Kenyan economy through its significant contribution to the GDP, a foreign currency earner, supplier of raw materials to the processing and manufacturing sector as well as contributing to the food security in the country. In addition, the sector supports rural livelihoods through farm entrepreneurship and farm-generated employment thereby alleviating poverty levels in the rural population. Beekeeping is an important form of farming especially in the ASAL regions of the country where there are frequent occurrences of crop failure. The beekeeping subsector in Kenya is unable to satisfy the growing demand of honey in local, regional and global markets, producing 25 per cent of the national potential. The study sought to focus on beekeeping farmers and investigated their entrepreneurial behaviour, in that despite the huge market opportunity to commercialize their farm enterprises, the farmers operate at a subsistence level. The study aimed at establishing the effect of farmer characteristics on entrepreneurial behavior among bee farmers in Kibwezi West sub-county, Kenya. The study’s specific objective was to evaluate the effect of socio economics, psychological factors, group participation, and beekeeping management practices, on entrepreneurial behaviour of beekeeping farmers in Kibwezi West Sub County, Makueni County. The study was guided by the human capital entrepreneurship theory and the McClelland’s human motivation theory. The study applied descriptive research design. The study utilized purposive sampling technique to select 272 beekeepers from a target population of 816 beekeepers in Kibwezi West subcounty. Data was collected using a pretested questionnaire. The study realized a response rate of 83 per cent. The primary data collected was analyzed by applying descriptive and inferential statistical analysis utilizing SPSS statistical software. Data was presented using tables. Regression results indicated that age, education, number of beehives, psychological factors, and extension participation, had a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial behaviour. Psychological factors and extension participation had high significant influence on entrepreneurial behaviour whereas age, education and number of beehives had a marginal effect. The beekeeping farmers were found to have moderate entrepreneurial behaviour. The study therefore recommends that entrepreneurship development programs targeting beekeepers should prioritize the enhancement of psychological motivation levels of beekeepers namely economic motivation and market orientation, through training and market linkages. In addition, more opportunities for extension participation should be provided, specifically through peer learning via farm visits and practical demonstration of beekeeping management practices – these factors were associated with higher farmer extension participation.
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    Assessing the relationship between resource access and youth involvement in agricultural value chains in Kakamega County, Kenya
    (Strathmore University, 2020) Rogito, Jeremiah Magoma
    According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics 2020 economic survey, 75 % of the total population in Kenya is youthful 36% of this are between 15-34 years and 38.1% of them are unemployed. Agribusiness has a huge potential in offering employment to the youth considering its wider labor absorptive capacity. Despite this, youth involvement in agribusiness is low due to existing inequalities in the value chain. In Kakamega County, there is a large percentage of unemployed young people, leading to migration from rural to urban centres by the youth. This study sought to identify the relationship between access to resources and youth involvement in agribusiness value chains. The study objectives included; identifying youth’s access to land use, information services and financial services in the value chain in Kakamega County. The study was guided by the Weberian theory of social stratification which implies that to impart meaningful change in society one requires access to wealth, prestige and power. The research adopted a quantitative research design. For this study, the target population was 2453 members of registered youth farmer groups in Kakamega County. The sample size was 240 respondents. Stratified and simple random sampling was adopted to select the respondents from each of the 12 sub-counties in the County. Data collection involved using a questionnaire. Data was analyzed quantitatively using Eviews7 computer software to generate frequencies, means, percentages and correlation which has been presented, discussed, and interpreted in line with the study objectives. It was established that there is a strong correlation between access to resources in this case land, finance, and information and youth involvement in agricultural value chains. Lack of or inadequate access to these resources is a key constrain to agricultural productivity in Kakamega County. Access to the various resources affect the various segments of the agricultural value chain uniquely. Lack of access to land affects production mainly. Lack of or limited access to finance greatly affects the value chain including consumption. Limited access to information services affects all aspects of the value chain. However, it was found out that in Kakamega County, limited access to these resources does not affect the consumption of agricultural products as this is the last part of the agricultural value chain. Hence, youth are predominantly consumers of products that they did not actively get involved in producing, processing packaging and marketing. Policymakers will make use of findings in the study to formulate policies that will enhance youth equity and consequently youth involvement in the Value Chain. Scholars will find this study useful to broaden their knowledge base. Donors will find the study use as it will direct their minds to what segments of the value chain to focus on youth intervention strategies. The study is significant because agriculture is the backbone of Kenyan economy, and a source of livelihood to residents of Kakamega County.
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    Influence of strategy implementation on the performance of agribusiness firms in Nyanza region, Kenya
    (Strathmore University, 2020) Echessa, Priscah Werimo
    Agricultural value chain development programs must result in lasting change in order to be deemed effective. The programs initiated either by public or private organizations may meet their objectives while in operation by improving agricultural development in terms of increased crop or animal productivity, improved competitiveness, performance of agri-food chains and poverty reduction. However, sustainability of these development initiatives for impact over time has been a challenge especially by agribusiness firms mandated to continue the sustainability strategies once the previous external resources are withdrawn. Strategy implementation is a critical element of strategic management in an organization. It is the transformation of plans into actions that translate into achievement of an organization’s goals. Despite this critical role, implementation of strategy is a major challenge in many management teams, which has led to high rates of failure in attainment of strategic plans. It is not clear whether the firm elements that affect implementation of strategy and performance rank differently in the agricultural sector. The study aimed at establishing the influence of strategy implementation on the performance of agribusiness firms in Nyanza region, Kenya. Specifically, the study objectives intended to establish whether strategic consensus, firm structure and firm resource allocation influenced the agribusiness firm performance in Kenya. The study was anchored on the Higgins 8-S framework, which states that for successful strategy implementation, key internal firm elements must be aligned so as to accomplish the desired strategic outcomes. The study relied on descriptive research design. The unit of analysis was 100 business managers and business unit managers of agribusiness firms drawn from donor funded agribusiness firms. The study employed purposive sampling in the selection of the business managers and the business unit managers as the people responsible for strategy implementation in order to provide relevant data. The study obtained a response rate of 65%. The study relied on primary data which was collected by use of questionnaires. Data analysis of the collected data was performed with descriptive and inferential statistics and the results presented in tables. Based on the study variables, the results indicated that resource allocation presented a positive significant effect on firm performance than strategic consensus and firm structure which both had a negative effect on firm performance. The study suggested that agribusiness firms require to foster strategic consensus throughout the firm by engagement of personnel in the strategic formulation and have proactive leadership for control and coordination of tasks to support implementation of strategy. Furthermore, firms need to adequately allocate financial resources to tasks directed towards strategy implementation for enhanced firm performance.