This paper reports on findings of a study to examine the sources used by farmers in search of agricultural information on striga and/or stemborers control technologies and factors that influence acquisition of such information in Western Kenya region. A random sample of 476 households in Suba...

Financing smallholder farming has been one of the major concerns of Kenya’s development efforts. Many credit programs have evolved over the years but with dismal performance. In a study that sought to find the best way to fund smallholder agriculture, it became necessary to analyze and...

Smallholder farmer access to agricultural finance has been a major constraint to agricultural commercialization in developing countries. The ICT revolution in Africa has however brought an opportunity to ease this constraint. The mobile phone-based banking services that started in Kenya urban...

Productivity gaps of 321 groundnut farmers from Uganda and Kenya were analyzed based on data from the 2009 growing seasons, using the stochastic production frontier model of Battese and Coelli (1995). Productivity gaps associated with the use of improved versus local seed varieties, with the...

Modernization and commercialization of the smallholder agricultural sector provides the stimulus and impetus to reducing food insecurity in developing countries. This study seeks to fill the gaps in the literature particularly by comprehensive conceptualization of the drivers of...

We explore households coping and adaptation strategies to climate change and variability in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) using data collected from 500 households across Samburu District; Kenya. We hypothesised that as we move from wet to dry areas, households’ accumulate livestock wealth,...

Paper investigates the determinants of pesticide related Cost of Illness (COI), and acute symptoms, using a balanced panel of 363 farmers interviewed in 2005 and 2008. Finding shows that the incidences of pesticide-related health impairments have increased. Variation in number of symptoms and...

The study assesses the impact of shocks on livestock and the role of adaptation to climate change in protecting assets from weather shocks. Data collection relied on a mixed-method approach, including household surveys and participatory rural appraisals (PRAs) in each site. The study uses panel...

This study assessed the determinants of participation and intensity of participation in collective action initiatives. It also examined the effect of participation in such initiatives on household commercialization and on household welfare (incomes). It uses a double hurdle approach (a logit...

Preserving, managing and improving the health of forest ecosystems worldwide will require equitable leadership and participation from both women and men. Understanding gendered motivations to conserve forest ecosystems may contribute to the design of programs that enable sustainable management...