Wafula, Justus Otiato2021-05-202021-05-202004http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/22197A Thesis Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Sociology Kenyatta University, 2004The major objective of the study was to examine the impact of socioeconomic characteristics of work force on productivity among the contracted outgrowers ofMumias Sugar Scheme, western Kenya. Data were collected from Mumias Sugar contracted outgrowers and their workforce based on sample of 30 contracted outgrowers farmers and 90 workers. Sampling was guided by stratified and systematic sampling, while data collection used a survey in which structurerd questionnaires were major data collection tools. Descriptive statistics were used to obtain frequencies, percentages and averages. Inferential statistics including chi-square were used to estimate the differences between groups and the extent to which the observations were significant and can be generalized to the population. Multiple regressions were used to identify impact of the various factors on productivity and other dependent variables. The findings of the study showed that farmers' age(s), education and work contract are the key socio-economic characteristics that account for productivity in the scheme. More important to the study was the impact of the socio-economic characteristics of the workforce on production and which the findings indicate that workers age(s) and education significantly influence production.enThesis