ABSTRACT Rachuonyo South district is resource endowed in terms of land productivity as is evidenced by annual production outputs of various crops. Sweet potatoes are the main cash crops grown in these areas alongside others such as pineapples, bananas and to some extent tea and coffee. The high outputs enjoyed from the productive lands have not however translated into good living conditions for the residents as their products fetch little in terms of market price the farmers get. Farmers hav...
Despite the pertinence of Agriculture to the economy, its potential has not been realized. To address this shortfall, research and training institutions have designed and generated knowledge and technologies. However, the innovations generated have hardly reached the end users. In response, Egerton University established Farm Attachment Programme (FAP) to innovatively engage small-scale farmers in 2014. Despite FAP being in operation since 2014, little is known about its effectiveness an...
ABSTRACT Ethiopia’s agricultural sector accounts to 40 percent of national Gross Domestic Product. This shows that the sector is important in improving the livelihoods of the bulk of the population. Despite its importance, the agricultural sector in Ethiopia is characterized by low productivity. To improve this and overall economic growth, the Ethiopian government has focused on promotion of organic fertilizer use. However, adoption of organic fertilizer remains low in most parts of Ethiopi...
ABSTRACT This study which aimed at assessing the resilience of dryland grapevine farmers to climate change was conducted in Chamwino District and Dodoma Municipality. The specific objectives were to identify the factors influencing grapevine production in the context of climate change, to assess the level of awareness of grapevine farmers on climate change, to assess the grapevine farmers‟ adaptation strategies and their adaptive capacity to climate change, and to develop the grapevine far...
ABSTRACT This study aimed at undertaking a comparative analysis of farm power technologies; manual, oxen, 2WT and 4WT in Rice Production for Smallholder Farmers in Mbarali District, Tanzania. The study had three objectives namely: (i) identification of different farm operations by power sources used by smallholder farmers in paddy production, (ii) analysing costs and returns per unit area of using the mentioned sources of farm power and (iii) examining factors influencing smallholder farmers�...
ABSTRACT The study examined determinants of farmer participation in agriculture micro insurance in Zimbabwe specific reference to peri urban area in Harare. The study was promoted by low uptake of agriculture insurance products being experienced by companies offering agriculture micro insurance. There was need in the market to develop a product that is affordable due to the informalised nature of the Zimbabwean sector. There is need to reach to the poor households and mitigate their level of ...
Abstract: Given the need to boost food production while guaranteeing environmental sustainability, the black soldier fly (BSF) (Hermetia illucens (L.), Diptera: Stratiomyidae) is gaining traction worldwide as an alternative protein source. In Kenya, BSF production and its use as a feed component is an emerging business, but farmer awareness of the potential use of BSF in animal feed has received limited attention. This study examined the factors influencing farmer awareness of insect farming...
ABSTRACT Market intergration and access, are critical and important aspects to rural poor households. They are a pre-requisite for enhancing agriculture based economic growth through the improvement of competitiveness of farming enterprise and improving rural incomes. Several studies have been conducted on participation and access of small-scale farmers in rice and other crops marketing in Africa, but, specific information on the extent to which small-scale rice farmers are integrated into d...
Abstract: Social networks are an essential source of risk-sharing and capacity building strategies for responding the adverse effects of climate change. However, researches on climate change adaptation strategies not recognized the role of social networks. The current study aims to assess the role of social networks in facilitating smallholder farmers’ adaptation strategies to climate change in Woreilu district, South Wollo zone, Amhara national regional state, Ethiopia. More specifically,...
ABSTRACT Horticultural sector is an important sector in production of food and generation of income. According to Kenya‘s vision 2030, crop cultivation is one of the main pillars of unlocking the potential of Kenya through increased productivity. The importance of snow peas is increasing greatly due to its high demand especially in Europe. In spite of the benefits associated with the production of snow peas, farmers in Nyandarua county have been withdrawing from its production probably due...
TABLE OF CONTENTSDECLARATION ................................................................................................................... iAPPROVAL. ......................................................................................................................... iiDEDICATION ..................................................................................................................... iiiACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................
ABSTRACT This study examined the contribution of oil palm farming to poverty reduction for small scale farmers in Kigoma Rural District, Tanzania. Specifically, the study identified different sources of income among small scale farmers; compared poverty levels between small scale oil palm farmers and non-oil palm farmers and examined the challenges which small scale farmers face. The study employed descriptive survey design (cross-sectional), whereby 50 respondents in the category of small sc...
Smallholder farmers in East Africa need information and knowledge on appropriate climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices, technologies, and institutional innovations in order to effectively adapt to changing climatic conditions and cope with climate variability. This paper assesses farmer adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices and innovation after being exposed to Farms of the Future Approach (FotF). First; we explore and assess the various CSA technologies and practices; includin...
ABSTRACT The poultry sub-sector in Kenya accounts for about fifty five percent of the livestock sector and thirty percent of the agricultural Gross Domestic Product. However, gains from the Indigenous Chicken (IC) enterprises have been challenged by market inefficiencies characterised by high transaction costs and poor accessibility of market information. In response to this, the Kenyan government private sector partnership has in the recent times, been promoting the formation and developm...
ABSTRACT Grape is one of the most important economic fruits crop grown in Dodoma Region - Tanzania. However, grape production faces challenge of low yield of 5.6 t/ha compared to the established yield potential of 25 t/ha under irrigation and 17.3 t/ha under rain-fed in Tanzania. This low productivity was mainly due to rising cost of production, which is coupled with low output prices and an unreliable market. The most cost effective way to improve farm productivity is through efficient use o...