County Governments’ Interventions in Enhancing Food Security in Kajiado County, Kenya
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Date
2025-09
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
Despite the many attempts to enhance food security in Kenya, insufficiency of food and food items remain a challenge in many parts of the country. Many interventions have been instituted in the past with limited results despite heavy investments and government spending both at policy and implementation levels. The main research objective of the study was to establish the effectiveness of county governments’ interventions in enhancing food security in Kajiado County, Kenya. The particular objectives was to Determine how technology application interventions has enhanced food security in Kajiado County, to assess the agricultural extensions interventions extent to enhance food security in Kajiado County, to examine how credit availability interventions has enhanced food security in Kajiado County, to determine how the research interventions has enhanced food security in Kajiado County and to establish the moderating effect of government policies on the County government interventions in enhancing food security in Kajiado County. Three theories informed the study namely theory of access, Diffusion of innovation theory and stakeholders theory. Pragmatic research philosophy was used to establish the effectiveness of county governments’ interventions in achieving food security in Kajiado County, Kenya. This study used a mixed research design with descriptive and explanatory being employed. The target population comprised of the registered farmers, the agricultural extension officers, and County government officers. A total population of this study was 29,572 respondents which comprised of 29,514 registered farmers, 47 agricultural extension officers and 11county government officials. The study used a sample size of 411 respondents, employing Nassiuma (2000) formula to get 356 registered farmers and a census of all 47 agricultural officers and 11 County government officers. The study utilized semi structured questionnaires for registered farmers and agricultural extension officers and face to face interview for the County government officials to collect quantitative and qualitative facts. The questionnaire was administered physically with a help of research assistant who was able to understand the local dialect of the community around the county and helped fill the information in google forms. In addition to these, the study used 10 interview schedule questions to collect qualitative data from County government officials. The internal consistency was measured using Cronbach's alpha, where an alpha value of 0.7 ≤ α < 0.9. Data was analyzed descriptively and was subjected to an inferential statistics at 0.05 significance levels and was facilitated by SPSS statistical software, version 21. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data involving outlining the useful responses and presenting them in themes in prose form. Diagrams like bar graphs and pie charts together with tables were used to present the findings to easily understand and interpret. The regression model measured the relationship between variables. The diagnostic tests were conducted to ascertain that all the assumptions regarding the multiple linear regression analysis were not violated. The study recommended facilitation of extension officers creating awareness, promotion of policies that incentivize adoption of drought-resistant crops, water harvesting, and sustainable grazing practices to build resilience against climate variability. The study also recommends there should be policy frameworks for flexible loan products aligned with agricultural cycles and non-traditional collateral. It also recommends development of solar-powered irrigation and water storage technologies.
Description
A Thesis Report Submitted to the School of Law, Arts and Social Sciences in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Public Policy and Management) of Kenyatta University. September, 2025
Supervisors
Weldon Ng’eno
Jane Njoroge