Factors Influencing Adoption of Organic Farming among Farmers in Nembure Division, Embu County - Kenya

Abstract

Organic farming has been mooted as an environmentally friendly farming practice in response to the growing concern over the environmental risks associated with modern agriculture. This paper examines the factors that influence adoption among farmers in Nembure division of Embu County, Kenya. Descriptive research design was used for the study. Proportionate stratified sampling was used in selecting 37% of organic farmers in the Division. All the twelve agricultural extension officers were purposively selected for the study. Pre-testing of the questionnaires was done to ensure their validity and reliability. The reliability coefficients obtained for the farmers’ and extension officers’ questionnaires were 0.79 and 0.82 respectively. The study found that women adopted organic farming practices more than men. Contrary to existing literature, age of the farmers, their level of education; labour availability and land size did not statistically influence adoption of organic farming in Nembure division.