Factors Affecting Adoption of Integrated Soil Fertility Management Technologies in Machakos and Bungoma Counties, Kenya
Abstract
Common bean is an important pulse crop in East Africa. Bean yields have been low and on the decline in Kenya. The decline in bean yields has been due to biotic and abiotic stresses, such as low rainfall, pests and diseases, low soil fertility, among others. Research was carried out to determine factors that influenced adoption of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) technologies in Bungoma and Machakos counties, Kenya. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to randomly sample 502 smallholder farmers in Bungoma and Machakos counties. Primary data was collected from sampled farmers by carrying out face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. Collected data was analysed using descriptive statistics and Logistic regression. Descriptive statistics results showed that the adoption and use of ISFM varied in the two counties. For example, approximately 32% of farmers in Machakos County did not use ISFM technologies compared to 14% in Bungoma. Approximately 33% of the sampled farmers in Machakos County used manure compared to 8% in Bungoma County. The Logistic regression results showed that region, level of education of the household head, access to extension services, whether the household was food secure and availability of markets for beans significantly influenced the choice of ISFM by farmers. Therefore, to improve adoption of ISFM, there is need to strengthen the extension services and improve bean markets in the study sites.
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