The utilization of insect-based feeds (IBF) as an alternative protein source is increasingly gain... more The utilization of insect-based feeds (IBF) as an alternative protein source is increasingly gaining momentum worldwide owing to recent concerns over the impact of food systems on the environment. However, its large-scale adoption will depend on farmers’ acceptance of its key qualities. This study evaluates farmer’s perceptions of commercial IBF products and assesses the factors that would influence its adoption. It employs principal component analysis (PCA) to develop perception indices that are subsequently used in multiple regression analysis of survey data collected from a sample of 310 farmers. Over 90% of the farmers were ready and willing to use IBF. The PCA identified feed performance, social acceptability of the use of insects in feed formulation, feed versatility and marketability of livestock products reared on IBF as the key attributes that would inform farmers’ purchase decisions. Awareness of IBF attributes, group membership, off-farm income, wealth status and educatio...
Feed insecurity associated with prolonged and recurrent droughts remains a perennial challenge im... more Feed insecurity associated with prolonged and recurrent droughts remains a perennial challenge impeding livestock production and a major source of resource-based conflicts in the drylands of many developing countries such as Kenya. Thus, the emerging fodder markets in the drylands act as a secondary source of livestock feed to augment the natural pastures and hence play a crucial role in meeting the year-round feed requirements of pastoralists. However, little information exists on the factors influencing pastoralists to purchase fodder for their own livestock amid their long-held cultural beliefs in using natural pastures for forage . Using primary household survey data from a multi-stage sample of 201 pastoralists, this study assessed socio-economic and institutional factors that influence the pastoralists’ participation in fodder markets in Isiolo County, Kenya. Both descriptive statistics and a Heckman two-step model were applied in data analysis. The findings showed that pastor...
African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 2020
Adoption of agricultural innovations is perceived as a key avenue for poverty reduction and impro... more Adoption of agricultural innovations is perceived as a key avenue for poverty reduction and improved food and nutritional security in developing countries. The International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) has developed and implemented a set of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies in several sub-Saharan African countries aimed at controlling mango infesting fruit flies (Bactrocera dorsalis). Although positive returns from the use of fruit fly IPM have already been documented, the impact of these technologies on food security is not well understood. This study evaluated the impact of the IPM strategy on food security with the help of a two-wave panel household survey data collected in Machakos County in Kenya. A difference-indifference model was fitted to the data of a randomly selected sample of 600 mango growing households. A seven-day recall was used to elicit per capita calorie intake, while a 30-day recall was used to measure household dietary diversity. A before-and-after intervention and withand-without (treatment and control) study design was utilized. The regression estimates indicate that fruit fly IPM use had a positive impact on per capita calorie intake but no significant effect on Household Dietary Diversity Index (HDDI) in comparison with the IPM non-users. This suggests that farmers using the fruit fly IPM technology benefit from income gains, and higher incomes improve the quantity of food consumed but not the diversity of the foods. This could be explained by a large share of the expenditure on food that was devoted to cereal staples such as maize, wheat, and rice as reported during the qualitative study. Other factors that had an effect on per capita calorie include the level of farm income, access to the extension services, wealth category and distance to agricultural input market and household size. This study recommends wider dissemination and upscaling of the fruit fly IPM strategy in mango producing regions to facilitate broader impacts on household-level food security.
African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Nutrition knowledge is an important driver of household dietary diversity that can be improved th... more Nutrition knowledge is an important driver of household dietary diversity that can be improved through access to nutrition information. However, in many rural areas, the formal flow of nutrition information is limited, although social networks could play an important role as an informal source of such information. This paper evaluates the effect of nutrition information networks on household dietary diversity in Nyamira and Kisii counties in Kenya. The paper employs a Poisson regression model on a sample of 462 farmers selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. The results show that the average household dietary diversity of an individual’s network (a proxy for social networks) had a positive and significant effect on the dietary diversity of the individual, implying that social networks have a positive effect on household dietary diversity. Moreover, the average education of an individual’s network, along with household size, wealth status and farm size, had positive signific...
Globally, arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) infections continue to pose a substantial threat to p... more Globally, arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) infections continue to pose a substantial threat to public health and economic development, especially in developing countries. Available evidence indicates that arboviral endemic countries stand to lose billions of dollars in national income to arboviral diseases (ADs) morbidity and mortality. In Kenya, although arboviral diseases (ADs) are largely endemic, little is known about the factors influencing rural households' knowledge, beliefs, and management (KBM) of ADs. This study employed a multivariate probit model to assess the knowledge gaps in managing ADs and the drivers of KBM using a sample of 629 respondents selected in Kenya's three ADs hotspot counties of Baringo, Kwale, and Kilifi. A multivariate fractional probit model was also used to assess factors influencing the intensity of KBM. The study found that less than a quarter of the respondents had any knowledge of and could not manage any three diseases. The multivariate probit model revealed that gender, religion, access to information, and asset ownership significantly influenced respondents' knowledge of ADs. On the other hand, respondents' beliefs and management of the diseases were influenced by access to information, income, education, and social capital. The results imply that strategies aimed at combating ADs should focus on public health education campaigns to mitigate behavioral barriers in AD management among rural communities in Kenya.
This paper evaluates the trends in staple food price volatility in Kenya for maize, wheat and Iri... more This paper evaluates the trends in staple food price volatility in Kenya for maize, wheat and Irish potatoes relative to three other Eastern Africa countries (Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda) using the unconditional and the conditional standard deviation. The paper tests the volatility of food prices during the global food crisis of 2007–2008. Using monthly wholesale prices data for maize, wheat and Irish potatoes in Kenya for the period January 2003 to February 2012, the paper estimates the conditional and unconditional price volatility and compares it with similar estimates from Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. Overall the volatility of commodity prices in Kenya as implied by the unconditional standard deviation is in the range of 12% to 32% with maize prices being the most volatile followed by Irish potatoes. Wheat prices are the least volatile in Kenya. Compared with the Eastern Africa region, maize and wheat markets in Kenya are more volatile than counterpart markets in Ethiopia, T...
This paper evaluates the potential of Jatropha curcas Linnaeus (Jatropha) as an alternative sourc... more This paper evaluates the potential of Jatropha curcas Linnaeus (Jatropha) as an alternative source of energy for rural households. The plant is said to have potential to diversify rural incomes, reclaim unproductive lands, reduce importation of fossil fuels, and consequently accumulation of green house gases in the atmosphere. A cost benefit analysis was employed to evaluate the feasibility of producing Jatropha as a biodiesel feedstock in relation to other crops in Kwale district. An IRR of 11 percent, BCR of 0.62 and a NPV of (28267.56) showed that production of Jatropha is not feasible at the moment. However we conclude that the plant has a potential to achieve its intended purpose if there is coordination in research and development along the Jatropha value chain and if technical and financial support is accorded to actors at the production level of the chain.
While there seems to be an agreement that Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (CUSTA)/North American F... more While there seems to be an agreement that Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (CUSTA)/North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have benefited member countries, some analysts have argued that the agreements had little effect on the bilateral Canada/US agricultural trade as many other factors have contributed to the increased trade flows. Results from this study reveal that the aggregate bilateral agricultural trade flows have generally experienced a steady growth since the implementation of NAFTA with trade flows seemingly favoring Canada more than the US since 1992. At the industry level, the impacts of NAFTA on Canada/US agricultural trade were varied with the sub-sectors analyzed responding differently to the bilateral trade liberalization.
In Kenya, trade policy reforms in the cereals sector were initiated as a key component of the eco... more In Kenya, trade policy reforms in the cereals sector were initiated as a key component of the economy-wide structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) during the mid 1980s. The SAPs were later strengthened and made irreversible by Kenya's commitments at the multilateral trade negotiations. However, the welfare effects of these trade policy reforms remain controversial. This paper to quantifies the market and welfare impacts of trade liberalization in Kenya's maize sector using a partial equilibrium model with market interrelationships at the farm, wholesale and retail levels. The model is calibrated to simulate a 24 percent reduction in maize import tariffs and a complete abolition of tariffs. The simulations results suggest that tariff reductions yield price decreases across the three market levels. The declining prices increase maize consumption but reduce domestic production. Consequently, consumer surplus increases while producer surplus decreases. However, the gain in consu...
Unfavorable climate change is a key threat to pastoral production systems, hence limiting the liv... more Unfavorable climate change is a key threat to pastoral production systems, hence limiting the livelihood opportunities available to millions of resource-poor pastoralists. However, adapting livestock production to this threat crucially depends on pastoralists' active involvement and ownership of interventions aimed at building their resilience. This study assessed pastoralists' participation in commercial fodder groups that produce fodder as an adaptation strategy to climate change in Isiolo County of Kenya, and the main drivers of their commitment to this initiative. Data was collected through a household survey on 201 randomly selected fodder group members. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied in data analysis. The findings showed the potential of fodder production as a sustainable strategy for building the resilience of land, livestock, and livelihoods in the drylands. It also offers viable opportunities that promote diversified income-earning activities, especially for women and youth. Results further indicated that access to credit, offfarm income, access to fodder, land size, and age as main significant factors influencing households' commitment to participate in commercial fodder groups. Therefore, community empowerment through asset creation initiatives is crucial to facilitate pastoralists' access to resources, and opportunities towards self-reliance.
Impact of agricultural trade and related policy reforms on food security in Kenya 2 KIPPRA IN BRI... more Impact of agricultural trade and related policy reforms on food security in Kenya 2 KIPPRA IN BRIEF The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) is an autonomous institute whose primary mission is to conduct public policy research, leading to policy advice. KIPPRA's mission is to produce consistently high-quality analysis of key issues of public policy and to contribute to the achievement of national long-term development objectives by positively influencing the decision-making process. These goals are met through effective dissemination of recommendations resulting from analysis and by training policy analysts in the public sector. KIPPRA therefore produces a body of well-researched and documented information on public policy, and in the process assists in formulating long-term strategic perspectives. KIPPRA serves as a centralized source from which the government and the private sector may obtain information and advice on public policy issues.
In Kenya, exports of French beans are one of the leading foreign exchange earners. Nevertheless, ... more In Kenya, exports of French beans are one of the leading foreign exchange earners. Nevertheless, the economic impacts of exchange rate volatility on French beans exports in Kenya are unclear. This paper evaluates the magnitude and direction of the effects of exchange rate volatility on French beans exports from Kenya to its major trading partners in the European Union using monthly data from January 1990 to December 2011. The generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model was employed to measure exchange rate volatility. The analytical framework used encompasses estimation of an export demand model, cointegration and specification of an error correction model. The results reveal a negative and significant short and long run effect of exchange rate volatility on French beans exports. Specifically, the empirical results show that a unit increase in exchange rate volatility in Kenya leads to more than proportionate decrease in French beans exports to the European Union...
Kenya like most other developing countries has been reforming her staple grain markets since 1986... more Kenya like most other developing countries has been reforming her staple grain markets since 1986. The reforms were envisaged to improve the sectors terms of trade as a means of stimulating food production. However, the impacts of trade reforms on Kenya’s maize sector remain controversial. This book evaluates the welfare impacts of trade liberalization and their distributional effects on stakeholders in Kenya’s maize sectorusing a partial equilibrium model (PEM) of trade, which accounts for market interrelationships at the farm, wholesale and retail levels is developed. The simulations results suggest that tariff reductions yield price decreases across the three market levels. The declining prices increase maize consumption but reduce domestic production. Consequently, consumer surplus increases while producer surplus decreases. However, the gain in consumer surplus is not sufficient to compensate the loss in producer surplus. Kenya’s implementation of the Uruguay Round trade libera...
Fruits and vegetables are an important source of nutrients for a large number of Kenyans, as well... more Fruits and vegetables are an important source of nutrients for a large number of Kenyans, as well as major earners of foreign exchange, and are commonly grown crop among smallholder farmers, who often sell them for cash. Little is known, however, about the structure of domestic demand for fruits and vegetables in this rapidly urbanizing nation and in Sub-Saharan Africa in general. We apply the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) with seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) to data collected through a household expenditure survey conducted between June and July of 2009. Inelastic estimates of own-price elasticities for cabbage and tomato, and for all fruits, with the exception of onion and avocado, indicate that these are necessities. The own-price elasticities for the vegetables were negative and in the range of (-0.693) and (-0.792). The own-price elasticities for the fruits range between (-0.577) and (-1.104). Estimated cross-price elasticities also illustrate both substitutability and...
The East African Customs Union was established in 2005 with the aim of increasing intraregional t... more The East African Customs Union was established in 2005 with the aim of increasing intraregional trade. The Customs Union protocol commits member states to eliminate non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to intraregional trade. However, several NTBs are still applied by member states. This study identifies the existing NTBs on maize and beef trade and quantifies their impact on trade and welfare of EAC citizens using a Spatial Equilibrium Model (SEM). Data on NTBs were collected from traders and transporters of maize and beef cattle in East Africa. Roadblock checks, bribes and custom rules and procedures were identified as the main NTBs to trade. The SEM model shows that a 50% reduction of the cost of NTBs, or their complete elimination would improve social welfare in EAC. The study recommends: removal of the NTBs; improved efficiency in administrative procedures; and establishment of a monitoring system to track the effectiveness of implemented initiatives to remove barriers to trade.
Contract farming is a form of vertical coordination largely aimed at correcting the market failur... more Contract farming is a form of vertical coordination largely aimed at correcting the market failure associated with spot markets that arise due to imperfect information. However the impact of contract farming on the welfare of smallholder farmers in Kenya is not well understood. While some authors have argued that contact farming improves access to ready markets by smallholder farmers, other studies have suggested that contract farming lowers the incomes of smallholder farmers because the contractors wield greater market power over the farmers. Consequently, it is seen as a blessing by some and a necessary evil by others. This study uses a propensity score matching technique to shed light on the impact of contract farming on smallholder farmers. The study also examines the conditioners of participation in contract farming. It uses data collected from 180 smallholder poultry farmers stratified by participation in contract production. The study finds that, on average, contracted farmer...
Poultry production is an important economic activity for smallholder farmers in Kenya. Commercial... more Poultry production is an important economic activity for smallholder farmers in Kenya. Commercial poultry farming in Kenyarelies heavily on veterinary inputs, key among them being antibiotics which develop resistance with improper use. Among the many interventions used in the past to curb the risk of antibiotic resistance in livestock in Kenya, there is none that has comprehensively addressed inappropriate use of antibiotics and the incentives driving their demand in the livestock industry. This study, therefore,characterized antibiotic use patterns in poultry production and assessed the responsiveness of antibiotic demand to factor and product price changes in Kiambu County of Kenya. The aim was to generate information which can be used to enrich policy design geared towards reducing the risk of antibiotic resistance in the livestock sector in Kenya. A sample of 238 commercial chicken farmers in Kiambu County was selected using a multistage sampling procedure.Primary data were coll...
Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, 2014
There is lack of consensus in the literature on the impact of contract farming on the welfare of ... more There is lack of consensus in the literature on the impact of contract farming on the welfare of smallholder farmers. Some authors argue that contact farming improves access to markets hence income, while others view contract farming as an avenue by which large corporations exploit smallholder farmers. It is hence seen as a blessing to some but a necessary evil to others. This study examines the factors influencing participation in poultry contract farming in Kenya. It then uses propensity score matching technique to assess the impact of contract poultry production. The study finds, among others, that farmer-specific factors, transaction costs and financial asset endowment affect participation in contract farming. It also finds that contracted farmers earned more net income per bird than their counterparts. It concludes that participation in contract farming practice improves the welfare smallholder poultry farmers in Kenya. The study discusses the policy implications of the findings.
The utilization of insect-based feeds (IBF) as an alternative protein source is increasingly gain... more The utilization of insect-based feeds (IBF) as an alternative protein source is increasingly gaining momentum worldwide owing to recent concerns over the impact of food systems on the environment. However, its large-scale adoption will depend on farmers’ acceptance of its key qualities. This study evaluates farmer’s perceptions of commercial IBF products and assesses the factors that would influence its adoption. It employs principal component analysis (PCA) to develop perception indices that are subsequently used in multiple regression analysis of survey data collected from a sample of 310 farmers. Over 90% of the farmers were ready and willing to use IBF. The PCA identified feed performance, social acceptability of the use of insects in feed formulation, feed versatility and marketability of livestock products reared on IBF as the key attributes that would inform farmers’ purchase decisions. Awareness of IBF attributes, group membership, off-farm income, wealth status and educatio...
Feed insecurity associated with prolonged and recurrent droughts remains a perennial challenge im... more Feed insecurity associated with prolonged and recurrent droughts remains a perennial challenge impeding livestock production and a major source of resource-based conflicts in the drylands of many developing countries such as Kenya. Thus, the emerging fodder markets in the drylands act as a secondary source of livestock feed to augment the natural pastures and hence play a crucial role in meeting the year-round feed requirements of pastoralists. However, little information exists on the factors influencing pastoralists to purchase fodder for their own livestock amid their long-held cultural beliefs in using natural pastures for forage . Using primary household survey data from a multi-stage sample of 201 pastoralists, this study assessed socio-economic and institutional factors that influence the pastoralists’ participation in fodder markets in Isiolo County, Kenya. Both descriptive statistics and a Heckman two-step model were applied in data analysis. The findings showed that pastor...
African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 2020
Adoption of agricultural innovations is perceived as a key avenue for poverty reduction and impro... more Adoption of agricultural innovations is perceived as a key avenue for poverty reduction and improved food and nutritional security in developing countries. The International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) has developed and implemented a set of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies in several sub-Saharan African countries aimed at controlling mango infesting fruit flies (Bactrocera dorsalis). Although positive returns from the use of fruit fly IPM have already been documented, the impact of these technologies on food security is not well understood. This study evaluated the impact of the IPM strategy on food security with the help of a two-wave panel household survey data collected in Machakos County in Kenya. A difference-indifference model was fitted to the data of a randomly selected sample of 600 mango growing households. A seven-day recall was used to elicit per capita calorie intake, while a 30-day recall was used to measure household dietary diversity. A before-and-after intervention and withand-without (treatment and control) study design was utilized. The regression estimates indicate that fruit fly IPM use had a positive impact on per capita calorie intake but no significant effect on Household Dietary Diversity Index (HDDI) in comparison with the IPM non-users. This suggests that farmers using the fruit fly IPM technology benefit from income gains, and higher incomes improve the quantity of food consumed but not the diversity of the foods. This could be explained by a large share of the expenditure on food that was devoted to cereal staples such as maize, wheat, and rice as reported during the qualitative study. Other factors that had an effect on per capita calorie include the level of farm income, access to the extension services, wealth category and distance to agricultural input market and household size. This study recommends wider dissemination and upscaling of the fruit fly IPM strategy in mango producing regions to facilitate broader impacts on household-level food security.
African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Nutrition knowledge is an important driver of household dietary diversity that can be improved th... more Nutrition knowledge is an important driver of household dietary diversity that can be improved through access to nutrition information. However, in many rural areas, the formal flow of nutrition information is limited, although social networks could play an important role as an informal source of such information. This paper evaluates the effect of nutrition information networks on household dietary diversity in Nyamira and Kisii counties in Kenya. The paper employs a Poisson regression model on a sample of 462 farmers selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. The results show that the average household dietary diversity of an individual’s network (a proxy for social networks) had a positive and significant effect on the dietary diversity of the individual, implying that social networks have a positive effect on household dietary diversity. Moreover, the average education of an individual’s network, along with household size, wealth status and farm size, had positive signific...
Globally, arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) infections continue to pose a substantial threat to p... more Globally, arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) infections continue to pose a substantial threat to public health and economic development, especially in developing countries. Available evidence indicates that arboviral endemic countries stand to lose billions of dollars in national income to arboviral diseases (ADs) morbidity and mortality. In Kenya, although arboviral diseases (ADs) are largely endemic, little is known about the factors influencing rural households' knowledge, beliefs, and management (KBM) of ADs. This study employed a multivariate probit model to assess the knowledge gaps in managing ADs and the drivers of KBM using a sample of 629 respondents selected in Kenya's three ADs hotspot counties of Baringo, Kwale, and Kilifi. A multivariate fractional probit model was also used to assess factors influencing the intensity of KBM. The study found that less than a quarter of the respondents had any knowledge of and could not manage any three diseases. The multivariate probit model revealed that gender, religion, access to information, and asset ownership significantly influenced respondents' knowledge of ADs. On the other hand, respondents' beliefs and management of the diseases were influenced by access to information, income, education, and social capital. The results imply that strategies aimed at combating ADs should focus on public health education campaigns to mitigate behavioral barriers in AD management among rural communities in Kenya.
This paper evaluates the trends in staple food price volatility in Kenya for maize, wheat and Iri... more This paper evaluates the trends in staple food price volatility in Kenya for maize, wheat and Irish potatoes relative to three other Eastern Africa countries (Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda) using the unconditional and the conditional standard deviation. The paper tests the volatility of food prices during the global food crisis of 2007–2008. Using monthly wholesale prices data for maize, wheat and Irish potatoes in Kenya for the period January 2003 to February 2012, the paper estimates the conditional and unconditional price volatility and compares it with similar estimates from Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. Overall the volatility of commodity prices in Kenya as implied by the unconditional standard deviation is in the range of 12% to 32% with maize prices being the most volatile followed by Irish potatoes. Wheat prices are the least volatile in Kenya. Compared with the Eastern Africa region, maize and wheat markets in Kenya are more volatile than counterpart markets in Ethiopia, T...
This paper evaluates the potential of Jatropha curcas Linnaeus (Jatropha) as an alternative sourc... more This paper evaluates the potential of Jatropha curcas Linnaeus (Jatropha) as an alternative source of energy for rural households. The plant is said to have potential to diversify rural incomes, reclaim unproductive lands, reduce importation of fossil fuels, and consequently accumulation of green house gases in the atmosphere. A cost benefit analysis was employed to evaluate the feasibility of producing Jatropha as a biodiesel feedstock in relation to other crops in Kwale district. An IRR of 11 percent, BCR of 0.62 and a NPV of (28267.56) showed that production of Jatropha is not feasible at the moment. However we conclude that the plant has a potential to achieve its intended purpose if there is coordination in research and development along the Jatropha value chain and if technical and financial support is accorded to actors at the production level of the chain.
While there seems to be an agreement that Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (CUSTA)/North American F... more While there seems to be an agreement that Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (CUSTA)/North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have benefited member countries, some analysts have argued that the agreements had little effect on the bilateral Canada/US agricultural trade as many other factors have contributed to the increased trade flows. Results from this study reveal that the aggregate bilateral agricultural trade flows have generally experienced a steady growth since the implementation of NAFTA with trade flows seemingly favoring Canada more than the US since 1992. At the industry level, the impacts of NAFTA on Canada/US agricultural trade were varied with the sub-sectors analyzed responding differently to the bilateral trade liberalization.
In Kenya, trade policy reforms in the cereals sector were initiated as a key component of the eco... more In Kenya, trade policy reforms in the cereals sector were initiated as a key component of the economy-wide structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) during the mid 1980s. The SAPs were later strengthened and made irreversible by Kenya's commitments at the multilateral trade negotiations. However, the welfare effects of these trade policy reforms remain controversial. This paper to quantifies the market and welfare impacts of trade liberalization in Kenya's maize sector using a partial equilibrium model with market interrelationships at the farm, wholesale and retail levels. The model is calibrated to simulate a 24 percent reduction in maize import tariffs and a complete abolition of tariffs. The simulations results suggest that tariff reductions yield price decreases across the three market levels. The declining prices increase maize consumption but reduce domestic production. Consequently, consumer surplus increases while producer surplus decreases. However, the gain in consu...
Unfavorable climate change is a key threat to pastoral production systems, hence limiting the liv... more Unfavorable climate change is a key threat to pastoral production systems, hence limiting the livelihood opportunities available to millions of resource-poor pastoralists. However, adapting livestock production to this threat crucially depends on pastoralists' active involvement and ownership of interventions aimed at building their resilience. This study assessed pastoralists' participation in commercial fodder groups that produce fodder as an adaptation strategy to climate change in Isiolo County of Kenya, and the main drivers of their commitment to this initiative. Data was collected through a household survey on 201 randomly selected fodder group members. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied in data analysis. The findings showed the potential of fodder production as a sustainable strategy for building the resilience of land, livestock, and livelihoods in the drylands. It also offers viable opportunities that promote diversified income-earning activities, especially for women and youth. Results further indicated that access to credit, offfarm income, access to fodder, land size, and age as main significant factors influencing households' commitment to participate in commercial fodder groups. Therefore, community empowerment through asset creation initiatives is crucial to facilitate pastoralists' access to resources, and opportunities towards self-reliance.
Impact of agricultural trade and related policy reforms on food security in Kenya 2 KIPPRA IN BRI... more Impact of agricultural trade and related policy reforms on food security in Kenya 2 KIPPRA IN BRIEF The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) is an autonomous institute whose primary mission is to conduct public policy research, leading to policy advice. KIPPRA's mission is to produce consistently high-quality analysis of key issues of public policy and to contribute to the achievement of national long-term development objectives by positively influencing the decision-making process. These goals are met through effective dissemination of recommendations resulting from analysis and by training policy analysts in the public sector. KIPPRA therefore produces a body of well-researched and documented information on public policy, and in the process assists in formulating long-term strategic perspectives. KIPPRA serves as a centralized source from which the government and the private sector may obtain information and advice on public policy issues.
In Kenya, exports of French beans are one of the leading foreign exchange earners. Nevertheless, ... more In Kenya, exports of French beans are one of the leading foreign exchange earners. Nevertheless, the economic impacts of exchange rate volatility on French beans exports in Kenya are unclear. This paper evaluates the magnitude and direction of the effects of exchange rate volatility on French beans exports from Kenya to its major trading partners in the European Union using monthly data from January 1990 to December 2011. The generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model was employed to measure exchange rate volatility. The analytical framework used encompasses estimation of an export demand model, cointegration and specification of an error correction model. The results reveal a negative and significant short and long run effect of exchange rate volatility on French beans exports. Specifically, the empirical results show that a unit increase in exchange rate volatility in Kenya leads to more than proportionate decrease in French beans exports to the European Union...
Kenya like most other developing countries has been reforming her staple grain markets since 1986... more Kenya like most other developing countries has been reforming her staple grain markets since 1986. The reforms were envisaged to improve the sectors terms of trade as a means of stimulating food production. However, the impacts of trade reforms on Kenya’s maize sector remain controversial. This book evaluates the welfare impacts of trade liberalization and their distributional effects on stakeholders in Kenya’s maize sectorusing a partial equilibrium model (PEM) of trade, which accounts for market interrelationships at the farm, wholesale and retail levels is developed. The simulations results suggest that tariff reductions yield price decreases across the three market levels. The declining prices increase maize consumption but reduce domestic production. Consequently, consumer surplus increases while producer surplus decreases. However, the gain in consumer surplus is not sufficient to compensate the loss in producer surplus. Kenya’s implementation of the Uruguay Round trade libera...
Fruits and vegetables are an important source of nutrients for a large number of Kenyans, as well... more Fruits and vegetables are an important source of nutrients for a large number of Kenyans, as well as major earners of foreign exchange, and are commonly grown crop among smallholder farmers, who often sell them for cash. Little is known, however, about the structure of domestic demand for fruits and vegetables in this rapidly urbanizing nation and in Sub-Saharan Africa in general. We apply the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) with seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) to data collected through a household expenditure survey conducted between June and July of 2009. Inelastic estimates of own-price elasticities for cabbage and tomato, and for all fruits, with the exception of onion and avocado, indicate that these are necessities. The own-price elasticities for the vegetables were negative and in the range of (-0.693) and (-0.792). The own-price elasticities for the fruits range between (-0.577) and (-1.104). Estimated cross-price elasticities also illustrate both substitutability and...
The East African Customs Union was established in 2005 with the aim of increasing intraregional t... more The East African Customs Union was established in 2005 with the aim of increasing intraregional trade. The Customs Union protocol commits member states to eliminate non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to intraregional trade. However, several NTBs are still applied by member states. This study identifies the existing NTBs on maize and beef trade and quantifies their impact on trade and welfare of EAC citizens using a Spatial Equilibrium Model (SEM). Data on NTBs were collected from traders and transporters of maize and beef cattle in East Africa. Roadblock checks, bribes and custom rules and procedures were identified as the main NTBs to trade. The SEM model shows that a 50% reduction of the cost of NTBs, or their complete elimination would improve social welfare in EAC. The study recommends: removal of the NTBs; improved efficiency in administrative procedures; and establishment of a monitoring system to track the effectiveness of implemented initiatives to remove barriers to trade.
Contract farming is a form of vertical coordination largely aimed at correcting the market failur... more Contract farming is a form of vertical coordination largely aimed at correcting the market failure associated with spot markets that arise due to imperfect information. However the impact of contract farming on the welfare of smallholder farmers in Kenya is not well understood. While some authors have argued that contact farming improves access to ready markets by smallholder farmers, other studies have suggested that contract farming lowers the incomes of smallholder farmers because the contractors wield greater market power over the farmers. Consequently, it is seen as a blessing by some and a necessary evil by others. This study uses a propensity score matching technique to shed light on the impact of contract farming on smallholder farmers. The study also examines the conditioners of participation in contract farming. It uses data collected from 180 smallholder poultry farmers stratified by participation in contract production. The study finds that, on average, contracted farmer...
Poultry production is an important economic activity for smallholder farmers in Kenya. Commercial... more Poultry production is an important economic activity for smallholder farmers in Kenya. Commercial poultry farming in Kenyarelies heavily on veterinary inputs, key among them being antibiotics which develop resistance with improper use. Among the many interventions used in the past to curb the risk of antibiotic resistance in livestock in Kenya, there is none that has comprehensively addressed inappropriate use of antibiotics and the incentives driving their demand in the livestock industry. This study, therefore,characterized antibiotic use patterns in poultry production and assessed the responsiveness of antibiotic demand to factor and product price changes in Kiambu County of Kenya. The aim was to generate information which can be used to enrich policy design geared towards reducing the risk of antibiotic resistance in the livestock sector in Kenya. A sample of 238 commercial chicken farmers in Kiambu County was selected using a multistage sampling procedure.Primary data were coll...
Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, 2014
There is lack of consensus in the literature on the impact of contract farming on the welfare of ... more There is lack of consensus in the literature on the impact of contract farming on the welfare of smallholder farmers. Some authors argue that contact farming improves access to markets hence income, while others view contract farming as an avenue by which large corporations exploit smallholder farmers. It is hence seen as a blessing to some but a necessary evil to others. This study examines the factors influencing participation in poultry contract farming in Kenya. It then uses propensity score matching technique to assess the impact of contract poultry production. The study finds, among others, that farmer-specific factors, transaction costs and financial asset endowment affect participation in contract farming. It also finds that contracted farmers earned more net income per bird than their counterparts. It concludes that participation in contract farming practice improves the welfare smallholder poultry farmers in Kenya. The study discusses the policy implications of the findings.
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Papers by Jonathan Nzuma