Analysis of sorghum market chain in Isiolo County, Kenya

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dc.contributor.advisorGabriel Mwenjerien_US
dc.contributor.advisorLucy Ngareen_US
dc.contributor.authorKalawa, Gitonga Gregory
dc.date.accessioned2023-09-14T06:22:30Z
dc.date.available2023-09-14T06:22:30Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.descriptionA Research Thesis Report Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (Agribusiness Management and Trade) in the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences of Kenyatta University, July 2023en_US
dc.description.abstractThe sorghum market in Kenya has grown significantly over the past few years, and it has continued to expand as a result of the commodity receiving considerable attention from a various interest groups. The absence of a planned and aggressive marketing strategy for raw sorghum and its value-added products, however, continues to be a significant barrier to the market's further expansion. This study analyzed the market chain of sorghum with reference to structure, conduct, and performance, and analyzed the causal factors of selling outlets preference and selection among sorghum farmers in Isiolo County. Data was collected from 203 producers and 85 traders using random and clustered sampling respectively. Structured questionnaires were used to acquire information from respondents. Analysis was done using STATA version 14 to obtain descriptive statistics and the empirical results using multiple linear and multinomial logistic regressions. The Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient were employed to assess the level of market concentration in the research area. The performance of the sorghum market in Isiolo county, Kenya, was evaluated using the marketing margin, marketing efficiency and gross margin. The study's findings revealed that the Gini coefficient for wholesalers and merchants was 0.612, an indication that the market was very concentrated thus consequent income disparity. Additionally, this research revealed that producers had the largest gross margins of Kenya shillings Ksh11 per Kilogram, followed by wholesalers and retailers with Ksh9 per kilogram and Ksh5 respectively. I used Multiple linear regression to predict the sorghum producer market supply. Factors such as gender, selling price, farm size under sorghum production, producers’ age, education level and membership to a cooperative were found to be positive and statistically significant. In addition, to predict the sorghum trader market supply, results indicated that experience, age, selling price were positive and statistically significant while buying price and trader type were negative but significant. To determine the market outlet used by the producer, multinomial logit regression was applied. Factors such as age, education level, farm size under sorghum production, access to information regarding the market were positive and significant while membership to a cooperative group, experience and distance to the market were negative but significant. In conclusion, it was discovered that sorghum trading and production in Isiolo are profitable but uncompetitive. Therefore, this study suggests that the national government together with county government should formulate regulations that strengthens sorghum production and marketing to make it more competitive and ensure all the actors are well protected from the hefty cost that reduces their efficiency hence low-profit margins. Secondly, since the profits from both producers and traders are still low, access to information should be accelerated through investment in telecommunication platforms such as the use of cell phones to aid reliable and timely sharing of market information to the users. Given the market's relative lack of competition, it was important to establish a clear market research and development strategy for sorghum in order to remove market obstacles and advance market efficiency through quality control, decreased price volatility, and a steady supply of the commodity. Furthermore, in order to lessen the likelihood of a closed and uncompetitive market, the government must put in place an institutional structure to control sorghum contracts and assist market participants in contractual arrangements. By putting these policies into place, the county's general sorghum market may become more effective and organized, ensuring fair returns for all participants.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipKenyatta Universityen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/26951
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherKenyatta Universityen_US
dc.titleAnalysis of sorghum market chain in Isiolo County, Kenyaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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