Browsing by Author "Thogori, M"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

AN ANALYSIS OF INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS AFFECTING OPTIMIZATION OF COFFEE YIELDS IN CHUKA SUB-COUNTY, THARAKA NITHI COUNTY, KENYA
(Chuka University, 2021-12-04) Gathungu, G.K; Kihoro, D.M; Thogori, M
The importance of coffee production in the world economy cannot be ruled out due to its contribution in the developing countries in areas such as creation of employment and rise in foreign exchange. Most of the coffee producing countries in the world have come up with strategies to increase their quantity and improve the quality of their produce. In Kenya, the government have also come with numerous policies to support coffee production at the farm level but production of coffee in Kenya has since 1989 crop year been declining. There has been emergence of other enterprises that are profitable than coffee production such as real estate and dairy sector in most of the coffee- growing zones, but there are many farmers who have been determined to maintain coffee production. Despite the efforts made by the government to maximise coffee production in terms of quality and quantity, production has shown a downward trend, with some farmers completely doing away with production This study was aimed at assessing the factors that affect optimization of coffee production in Chuka sub-County, Thaka-Nithi County. Stratified random sampling was used to select a sample of 140 respondents from a population of 7,428 small-scale coffee farmers from ten cooperatives in the sub-County. The findings of the study indicated that access to extension, access to research and management of coffee cooperative were essential in coffee production with a mean agreement of 58.33%. The research established that access to extension (5%) and management of cooperatives (5%) were statistically significant while access to research at (5%) was statistically insignificant. Similarly, access to extension services increased optimization by 91%, poor management of coffee cooperatives reduced production by 45.1%, while access to research increased coffee production by 51%. Therefore, it is important to ensure farmers access extension services, research and improve management of coffee cooperatives.
IDENTIFICATION OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS AFFECTING UPTAKE OF BANANA VALUE ADDITION BY FARMERS IN CHUKA SUB-COUNTY, THARAKA NITHI COUNTY, KENYA
(Chuka University, 2021-12-04) Muigai, J.K.; Gathungu, G.K.; Thogori, M
Banana farmers in most parts of the country have not embraced uptake of banana value addition despite its accrued economic benefits and emphasis by stakeholders. A study was done in Chuka Sub-County, Tharaka Nithi County to identify the socio-economic factors affecting uptake of banana value addition by farmers. The study was based on diffusion theory and value-added concept to establish the relationship between farming experience, group membership, access to credit and uptake of banana value addition. It was noted that only 31.9% of farmers uptake banana value addition and there were no banana value addition technologies identified with 35.6% and 64.4% of those who uptake doing banana ripening for sale and bulk packaging respectively. The results (P=0.05) showed that group membership (p=0.019) and access to credit (p=0.004) had a positive and significant effect on the uptake of banana value addition by farmers at varying levels. It was observed that farming experience had a positive effect on the uptake, but was statistically insignificant. The study recommended that; farmers should be encouraged to form cooperatives on value addition and the government and other stakeholders in conjunction with financial institutions need to streamline policies to enhance farmers access credit for effective farming among others