The Immpact of Group Based Training Approaches on Crop Yield, Household Income and Adoption of Pest Management Practices in the Smallholder Horticultural Subsector of Kenya

Abstract

The recent group-based training approaches such as Farmer Field School (FFS) and Common Interest Group (CIG) have been promoted in Kenya to accelerate dissemination of new technologies among farmers. The acceleration of technology adoption is, in turn, expected to have positive impacts on yield, income and adoption of pest management practices. Yet, no conclusive evidence exists to confirm that this might be the case. Using a data from random sample of 495 FFS, CIG and individual farmers this paper evaluated the impact of FFS and CIG participation on yield, income and pest management practices among smallholder horticulture farmers in Kenya. A propensity score matching method was used to determine the average treatment effect on FFS and CIG participation against farmers who operate individually. From the analysis results, FFS and CIG participation had a positive impact on yield and adoption of pest management practices respectively suggesting the importance of farmer groups.