The horticulture sub-sector contributes substantially to the Kenyan economy, but smallholder productivity is low. This study investigated the role of information literacy on smallholder horticultural productivity performance in a lower highland zone of Belgut Sub-county, Kericho County, Kenya. The study used descriptive cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected between January and April 2019. Smallholder horticulture farmers who previously participated in a program; NALEP, in Belgut Sub-county were purposely selected and interviewed. Data was collected from 31 respondents through face-to-face household interviews using pre-tested semi-structured interview schedules and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Descriptive statistics were utilized to document the farmers’ information sources. Associations between attributes were analyzed by running Goodman and Kruskals’ gamma and Somers’ d. Findings indicated that the smallholder horticulture farmers obtained horticultural information mostly from the public extension, but also from private companies, NGOs/FBOs, mass media, and other farmers. Farmers’ level of formal education, organizational skills, accounting, and farming skills; as indicators of information literacy, showed moderate strength of relationship with productivity and profitability (Gamma = 0.200 to 0.563) but showed mixed strength with horticultural produce quality (Gamma = 0.138 to 0.948).Somers delta showed similar patterns (Somers d = 0.089 to 0.684). When the four indicators of information literacy were amalgamated into an information literacy score, there was evidence of a moderate strength monotonic relationship between information literacy and performance as measured by the Spearman rank correlation; rs (29) = .571, P = .001.The study concludes that farmers obtain horticultural information from diverse sources. Information literacy contributes to the productivity and profitability of smallholder horticulture. Capacity building of the farmers on information literacy is recommended.

Aims: Sugarcane ranks among top ten commercial crops grown in Kenya, but its productivity has been on the decline. This study investigated influence of scale of farm operation and farmers' risk aversion on productivity. Risk aversion was based on farmers' perceived risks associated with new high yielding, early maturing varieties. Study Design: The survey study adopted an ex post facto research design. Place and Duration of Study:The study was carried out in Nandi County, Western parts of Kenya along a sugarcane growing belt. Data was collected between April and September, 2019. Methodology: An enumerator-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 198 respondents. Purposive and stratified random sampling techniques were used to select participants. Data was analyzed with the aid of SPSS Version 20. Chi square test and its related measure of strength of association; Cramer's V, were utilized to estimate relationships between variables. Welch's ANOVA (W-test) was run to test for yield differences between groups. Significant differences were subjected to post hoc tests using Games-Howell test to separate the means. Results:There was a significant association between farmers scale of operation and productivity; 2 (2, N = 198) = 14.11, P = .001, V = .267. Farmers scale of operation significantly influenced productivity based on W-test (P = .001). Medium scale farms were significantly more productive per unit of land than both small and large scale. Risk aversion as measured by perceived risks of changing to new varieties was associated with sugarcane productivity; 2 (2, N = 198) = 9.25, P = .01, V = .216. Those who perceived high risks associated with new varieties recorded significantly lower yields compared to low risks (P = .001). Conclusion: Small scale and large scale farmers experienced low sugarcane productivity compared to medium scale. Risk aversion among the farmers appeared to negatively influence sugarcane productivity. Capacity building of the farmers on crop management best practices and risk management strategies is recommended.

Aims: Knowledge Management (KM) in agriculture is a core aspect of agricultural productivity and profitability, but is one area with scanty literature. The aim of the current study was to determine the knowledge management practices, challenges and coping strategies adopted by public agricultural extension agents in Nandi-hills Sub-county, Nandi County, Kenya under a fairly new devolved system put in place by the constitution of Kenya in 2010. Study Design:  Descriptive cross sectional case study survey design was adopted for the study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Nandi-hills Sub-County, Nandi County, Kenya. Data were collected between January and April, 2019. Methodology: All the Extension agents in the Sub-county were targeted. A questionnaire with closed and open ended questions was used to collect data from the 32 participants in the Sub-county and the data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Descriptive statistics were utilized to document the practises based on their frequencies and associations. 7% of the respondents were certificate holders, 37% were diploma holders while a majority; 56% were degree holders. Associations between attributes was analysed by running Goodman and Kruskals’ gamma. Results: Findings indicated that lack of organized knowledge sharing fora, poor ICT infrastructure, lack of budgetary support and transport were the major challenges facing knowledge management. There was strong negative correlation between education levels with rating of knowledge storage (Gamma = - 0.647, p = 0.001) and with access to stored information (Gamma = - 0.824, p = 0.001). Conclusion: Diverse methods of knowledge capture and storage were utilized and faced varied challenges mostly attributed to inadequate facilitation to support knowledge capture and storage in modern forms such as ICT. Cooperation and collaboration with private sector players was adopted as a strategy to cope with the challenges.