Determinants of modern box hives adoption in Kitui County, Kenya
Loading...
Date
2020
Authors
Kiingwa, Kiiti M.
Muiruri, Philomena
Mahiri, Joseph
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Contemporary Research Center CRC Publications
Abstract
Modern beekeeping across Kenya is still a new idea as most of the beekeepers continue to
exclusively use traditional hives leading to low quality and quantity of the honey produced. This
study was carried out to establish the determinants of modern box hive adoption in Kitui county.
Data was mainly collected through questionnaires administered to 110 beekeepers (42 adopters and
68 non-adopters) from the five selected locations of Mwingi Central Sub-county namely; Waita,
Nuu, Kivou, Mwingi and Mui. The collected quantitative data was analyzed using the Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Chi-square tests revealed a statistically significant
relation between adoption of modern box hives and; modern beekeeping training, apiary visit, offfarm employment, credit use and extension contact. T-test analysis indicated significant mean
differences between adopters and non-adopters in terms of; age, education level, knowledge and
experience in beekeeping. Logistic regression further provided more details on the significant
predictor variables. It was concluded that the low adoption rate is linked to a number of socioeconomic and institutional factors which must be addressed in order to increase adoption of the
more productive modern box hives. The study recommends among other things; establishment of
more honey processing and marketing centres and facilitation of more extension contact with
beekeepers
Description
A research article published in International Journal of Education and Research
Keywords
Modern box hives, adoption, determinants
Citation
Kiingwa, K. M., Philomena, M., & Joseph, M. Determinants of modern box hives adoption in Kitui County, Kenya.