An analysis of agribusiness support projects contribution on coffee production in Machakos county-Kenya
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Date
2016
Authors
Mutua, Martin Ambrose
Kioko, Faith Mumo
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Contemporary Research Center
Abstract
The increasing demand of coffee all over the world has surpassed the supply. This has led to a
focused attention by key stakeholders in coffee production. These players have recently introduced
agribusiness support based projects aimed at increasing the production of coffee. These projects
provide support services on farm advisory services, certification programs, credit facilities and
market information. The focus for the programs has been in Africa with a particular attention given
to Kenya. Despite this, coffee production in Kenya is steadily declining as farmers are changing
their attention from coffee production to other economic activities. The fact that there is a
retrogressive production of coffee in presence of these agribusiness support based project raises
concern as to whether this project achieve improved coffee production. This therefore necessitates
the need to analyse agribusiness support based projects on Kenya’s coffee production. The study
sought to answer the question of the extent to which advisory services by agribusiness projects
facilitative sustainable coffee production, the degree to which certification programs motivate
farmers in coffee production, the extent to which credit facilities enhance profitable coffee
production and the degree to which provision of market information facilitates better market prices
for coffee farmers. The study was of benefit to farmers and all stakeholders in the value chain of
coffee as it will provide a critical insight on how farm advisory services can be enhanced through
adopted demand driven trainings and clustering of farmers to increase the scope covered by the
projects. On certification projects, the study explored the need for participatory approach and
offering premiums on certified coffees geared towards farmer’s motivation and the need to enhance
the effectiveness of credit facilitation on long term basis. The study explored the need to enhance
better ways of accessing market information for farmers. The study adopted a descriptive survey
design. The target population was coffee farmers in Machakos County. Convenient and census
sampling techniques was used to select 2 districts with 100 respondents out of 320 coffee growers
drawn from the management committees from various cooperatives. A questionnaire was used as
the instrument of data collection. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the help of
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Agribusiness, Coffee, Coffee production, Farmers, Market
Citation
International Journal of Education and Research Vol. 4 No. 7 July 2016