Factors influencing household food security among small-scale farmers: the case of West Kanyaluo Location, Rachuonyo District, Kenya.
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Date
2001-01
Authors
Oswago, Robert Omondi
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Abstract
The problem of food security continues to be persistent development problem in a
number of developing countries. Many households go to bed without a bite and
yet in some developed countries thousands of tons of food is thrown away or fed
to animals. The paradoxical coexistence of hunger against a background of plenty
is in deed quite unreasonable. In Kenya, the attainment of food security for all has
been a central concern of the Kenya Government right [rom independence. This
concern not withstanding, the proportion of households experiencing food
shortage keeps on rising year after year. This study therefore set out to investigate
socio-economic factors influencing food security among small-scale farmers in
West Kanyaluo location, Rachuonyo District with a view to charting the way
forward for a sustainable food security system.
Data was collected from a total of 60 small scale farmers sampled [rom the study
area using stratified random sampling. The research design employed was a
survey with the use of a questionnaire, focus group discussions, and key
informants interviews to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The
quantitative data from the study area were entered into the computer spreadsheets
and analysed using the SPSS statistical package.
The results indicated that 35 percent of the households had sufficient food
supplies annually. However, the remaining 65 percent had varied levels of food
deficiency annually. Further statistical analysis usmg Contingency Coefficient
measure of association indicated that the main factors influencing food security in
the study area included family size; age; education level; land owned; land under
crops; main occupation; secondary occupation; level of institutional extension and
production technology employed; and structure of decision making on livestock,
crops, technology, and soil. However, the Chi-Square test (of significance
indicated that the significant factors influencing household food security at 0.05
probability error were: access to agricultural information and training, the size of
land owned, and land under crop.
The study therefore concluded that inappropriate use of technology and poor
socio-economic conditions are key contributors to household food insecurity
among small-scale farmers. It is therefore recommended that access to
agricultural information and training, size of land owned, education, and
information on family planning, need to be enhanced. There is also need to
encourage rural industrialisation, and small-scale entrepreneurship through
enhanced micro fmancing in order to control rural urban migration and thus
ensure retention of adequate labour in the rural agricultural sector.
Description
Department of Sociology, 115p 2004