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Smallholder banana farmers in Kenya grapple with declining farm productivity and low market prices in a fragmented, broker-dominated market. To address these challenges, the Kenya National Banana Development Strategy advocates for the adoption of contract farming. This research utilizes Difference-in-Differences (DID) regression analysis to assess the impacts of smallholder participation in banana contract farming on farm productivity and income. The empirical results reveal positive impacts, emphasizing the potential of contract farming to enhance productivity, increase incomes for smallholder farmers, and invigorate rural economies. These findings provide valuable insights into the efficacy of contract farming as a strategy for addressing challenges in banana farming. To maximize this potential, the study recommends policy interventions, including increased government support, improvements in infrastructure and market accessibility, reinforced institutional backing, and the promotion of sustainable practices. These measures aim to secure enduring benefits for both farmers and food marketing firms in Kenya. This study examines the effectiveness of contract farming in addressing the struggles of Kenyan smallholder banana farmers. The study finds that participating in contract farming leads to increased farm productivity and income for these farmers. These findings highlight the potential of contract farming to revitalize rural economies. To maximize these benefits, the research recommends policy changes, such as increased government support and improved infrastructure, to create a sustainable and mutually beneficial system for both farmers and food companies in Kenya.

Background Agriculture is important for economic growth and development in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania. However, agricultural production and productivity remain relatively low, with significant yield gaps attributed to factors such as limited access to and low adoption of appropriate agricultural technologies, and climate-related risks resulting from climate variability and change. This paper explores the drivers of adoption of climate-smart agricultural (CSA) technologies and practices, taking into account the complementarity among agricultural technologies and heterogeneity of the farm households, using data from Lushoto in Tanzania. Methods We use a Multivariate Probit analysis of cross-sectional data collected from 264 smallholder farmers in Lushoto—a climate hotspot in Tanzania—to understand the drivers of household decisions to adopt CSA technologies and practices. The technologies included diversification of multiple stress (drought, floods, pests, diseases)-tolerant crop varieties, use of fertilizers, and application of herbicides and pesticides. The Multivariate Probit model was preferred as it takes into account the inter-relationships of the technologies as well as heterogeneity of the smallholder farmers for more robust estimates. The independent variables used in the analysis included household socio-economic factors such as the relative importance of crop and livestock enterprises, household land size, social capital, access to agricultural credit and weather information, previous experience with fertilizer use and household characteristics (age, education and gender of household head, and household size). Results About 63% of the households diversified their crop enterprises, shifting to improved resilient crops and crop varieties. Another 37% adopted fertilizers, while 38% applied pesticides and herbicides. Conditional on the unobservable heterogeneity effects, the results show that household adoption decisions on diversification of multiple stress-tolerant crops and crop varieties, fertilizer, and pesticides and herbicides are complementary. In addition, the results confirm existence of unobserved heterogeneity effects leading to varying impact of the explanatory variables on adoption decisions among farmers with similar observable characteristics. Conclusions The findings indicate that any effective CSA technology adoption and diffusion strategies and policies should take into account the complementarity of the technologies and heterogeneity of the smallholder farmers. Therefore, inter-related technologies should be promoted as a package or bundled while taking into consideration household and farm-level constraints to adoption.

PurposeImportance of small-scale tea producers in Kenya is not in doubt. They account for 60% of all tea produced in the country, serve about 560,000 tea farmers and employ about 10,000 people directly. However, the subsector faces a myriad of challenges ranging from declining yields and rising costs of production to fluctuating world prices. Thus, it is imperative that the producers entrench efficiency as a critical success factor. This makes it important for the producers to understand their relative performances to inform decisions on improving input use. Congruent with this motivation, this study sought to analyze the technical efficiency (TE) of the country's small-scale tea processors within and across the regions under the management of Kenya Tea Development Authority.Design/methodology/approachTo allow comparison across regions, this study adopted a stochastic metafrontier approach and to be able to decompose inefficiency into persistent and time-varying components, the study adopted regression analysis.FindingsResults showed that the small-scale tea processors operated at a mean TE level of 76% with a technology gap ratio (TGR) of 97%. This implies that the prevailing level of output could be maintained even if inputs were reduced by 24%. Persistent inefficiency could be reduced possibly through rationalization of structural and managerial components of the firms.Research limitations/implicationsWhile it is important to adopt yield-enhancing technologies and innovation, small-scale tea processors have the latitude to improve their earnings through enhanced TE. They can save up to 24% of their input and be able to pay farmers better even with the fluctuating global tea prices. Enhancing TE should be given priority because it is within the control of the individual firms.Originality/valueThis is a pioneering study in panel data analysis of TE of small-scale tea processors within and across regions in Kenya.

Kenya has been expanding provision of healthcare services, taking health facilities closer to the people. While this would be expected to reduce dependence on complementary/alternative medicine, the consumption has continued to rise. This raises the question of whether alternative medicine is replacing conventional medicine or the two are jointly used to deal with diseases. Thus, this study sought to establish the relationship of the two remedies in household choice of healthcare and explored the determinants of such choices. The study used bivariate probit analysis on cross-sectional data. The study found that consumption of conventional medicine and alternative medicine was indeed interdependent. The two were, on average, substitutes although some groups still consumed them jointly. Gender, education and age of the household head, price of conventional medicine, distance to conventional medicine facilities and social networks were found to influence the decisions. Male household heads, price of conventional medicine and distance to conventional medical facilities had a positive relationship with the probability of using alternative remedies. Education and age of household head, and social capital were associated with lower likelihood of choosing alternative remedies. The results of this study have important ramifications for medical researchers, health policy makers and health insurance providers. For medical researchers, joint use of alternative and conventional medicines makes it important to understand the interactions between the two so as to avoid adverse reactions that may endanger the lives of patients. For the health policy makers, because patients have different preferences for healthcare services, it is useful to provide alternative medicine and conventional medicine in a joint and integrated health system for patients’ freedom of choice, and for safety and efficacy of treatment. Health insurance providers, on their part, need to explore the possibilities and modalities for bringing users of alternative medicine, and joint users of alternative and conventional medicines under their cover.

Background Improving the productivity of grain legumes is important to address global challenges of food security and soil degradation. This study’s objective was to quantify the adoption of improved mungbean ( Vigna radiata L.) varieties and agricultural practices and to identify production constraints for six countries in Southeast Asia and three countries in East Africa. Methods A Delphi method using expert elicitation was applied at subnational levels and then aggregated to national levels. Each panel employed repetitive and independent questioning of experts. The study organized 31 expert panels involving 387 experts across 9 countries. Results The share of improved varieties in the planted area, as estimated by the expert panels, was 92% for the Philippines, 91% for Vietnam, 99% for Thailand, 84% for Cambodia, 60% for Indonesia, 35% for Laos, 91% for Kenya, 30% for Uganda and 25% for Tanzania. The average age of improved varieties was 19 years in Asia and 12 years in East Africa. Of the mungbean area in Southeast Asia, 61% was planted to varieties developed by the World Vegetable Center, but this was only 2% in East Africa. Production constraints generally included insect pests and plant diseases, unstable markets with low price and low market demand, and the lack of quality seed of suitable varieties. Conclusions There are ample opportunities to improve mungbean productivity through wider use of improved varieties and practices, which is important to meet the contemporary challenges of improving human nutrition and agricultural sustainability.

Background African indigenous vegetables are important for food security and nutrition, and income of the poor farm households. In the era of COVID-19, they are critical for boosting people’s immunity. Unfortunately, both production of and trade in these vegetables is likely to be severely affected by the pandemic. Methods This study examined potential effects of COVID-19 pandemic on production and trade of African indigenous vegetables using a cross-sectional survey of 244 farmers and 246 traders from different regions in Kenya. Results COVID-19 has a negative impact on production and trading of AIVs in Kenya. Findings indicate that 75% of the farmers are experiencing declining production due to reduced access to input, farm labour and output market. Secondly, about 98% of the traders have recorded a drop in sales volumes due to containment measures implemented by the government and personal safety precautions. In particular, farmers’ production and traders’ sales volumes declined by 39 and 65%, respectively, during the first phase of the pandemic. Conclusion The findings indicate that the sub-sector requires targeted interventions which may include input support, careful reopening and control of the open-air markets, reduced taxation and facilitated access to urban markets.

Smallholder agriculture dominates Kenya’s agricultural landscape, accounting for 75 % of total agricultural output and 70 % of the marketed agricultural produce. As a result, the Government of Kenya, with the support of development partners, has invested in production and dissemination of productivity-enhancing technologies such as high-yielding varieties and inorganic fertilizers targeting the smallholders. Adoption of these technologies has remarkably improved, especially in the maize sub-sector. However, productivity has been declining or, at best, stagnating. Productivity is attributable to not only technological improvements but also technical efficiency. Consequently, this study sought to determine the technical efficiency of the country’s smallholder food crop farmers and establish how it correlates with environmental factors. The study used a two-stage nonparametric approach on household panel data to estimate the efficiency levels of the smallholders and establish the sources of its variation across households. Controlling for endogeneity and incorporating geographic information system-derived measures of environmental factors in the analysis, the study finds that technical efficiency differentials are influenced by environmental factors, production risks and farmer characteristics. The policy implication is that the country has room to improve agricultural productivity by addressing environmental and farm-level constraints. Viable options include switching from rain-fed to irrigated agriculture, entrenching land tenure security, improving transport network among farm communities and setting up smallholder credit schemes.

Smallholder banana farmers in Kenya face declining farm productivity and low market prices due to a fragmented, broker-dominated market. While the Kenya National Banana Development Strategy promotes contract farming as a potential solution, farmer participation remains surprisingly low. This study investigates the factors influencing smallholder participation in banana contract farming in Kenya. Employing a heteroskedastic probit model with robust standard errors to assess the drivers of participation in smallholder banana contract farming in Kenya, we identify key drivers such as household head education, credit access, cooperative membership, irrigation, and banana farm size. Based on these findings, we recommend policy interventions focusing on: Enhanced farmer extension services and technical assistance, facilitated credit access, cooperative development, investment in irrigation, and incentives for contract farming companies. By addressing these critical factors, policymakers can encourage wider smallholder participation in banana contract farming, unlocking its potential to improve livelihoods and contribute to sustainable agricultural development in Kenya.

Vision 2030, Kenya’s development blueprint for the period 2008–2030, envisions transforming the country into middle-income status where citizens enjoy a high quality of life. The blueprint has three pillars: economic, political and social. The thread that binds the three pillars is the natural environment, which supplies both renewable and non-renewable resources. Unfortunately, development in the other sectors may easily compromise the conditions of the natural environment and put the supply of clean water, food and fiber in jeopardy. For example, processing of agricultural products may increase gains from agriculture and lead to rapid expansion of the sector. If this is not carefully done, it may be characterized by wastage of resources, cutting down of forests to provide fuel and more land for cultivation, disposal of raw wastes into water bodies and over-exploitation of the soils. Using the example of small-scale tea processors in the country, this study sought to understand the environmental efficiency of the small-scale agro-processors. Small-scale tea processors were chosen because they have been implementing environmental efficiency-enhancing techniques in their production, yet no study had endeavored to test whether their initiatives were yielding positive results. The study adopted the innovative inverse data envelopment analysis approach on panel data to generate environmental efficiency scores, in the first step. In the second step, it analyzed the predictors of environmental efficiency using Tobit regression. Overall, the results showed that small-scale tea processors in Kenya were still environmentally inefficient, recording a mean efficiency index of only 49%, despite previous initiatives to improve efficiency. Thus, the processors could reduce 51% of the environmentally detrimental inputs without compromising output. Environmental inefficiency could be attributed to pursuit for higher profits and higher cost of investible funds. This shows that investment in environmental conservation is expensive and eats into the profits of the processors. Therefore, the small-scale processors may lack the incentives, in the short term, to invest in environment-friendly technologies. This may be compounded by the high cost of finance to be invested in such initiatives. Policy implication is that government should intervene in terms of tax concessions for firms that invest in environmental conservation, subsidies on technologies that guarantee environmental efficiency and access to cheaper funds for purchase and maintenance of environment-friendly technologies.

This paper examines the impact of integrated agriculture aquaculture (IAA) adoption on productivity and net farm incomes among smallholder fish farming households in Kenya. To control for selection bias, the paper uses an endogenous switching regression model (ESR) on farm-level cross-sectional data from 427 randomly selected farmers from four counties of Kenya. Results show that the adoption of IAA reduces the volatility of net yields and the risk of crop failure while significantly improving farm productivity and farmer income. Other factors found to be associated with an increase in farm productivity and farmer incomes are access to credit, secure land ownership, farmer education, number of economically active members in a household, and farm enterprise diversification. The policy implication is that integrated agriculture aquaculture is a worthwhile agricultural innovation that should be promoted by the national and sub-national governments through, say, improving farmer access to tailored credit facilities, providing appropriate farmer education and training, and linking the farmers to providers of the requisite services and input. While deliberately targeting integrated agriculture aquaculture, the governments should also pay attention to other sector-wide productivity and farmer income-enhancing measures such as access to agricultural credit, security of land tenure, less labor-intensive technologies and agricultural diversification.