Do farmer groups improve the situation of women in agriculture in rural Kenya?

Abstract

Production by smallholders in rural Kenya is limited by institutional, technical and investment constraints. Female farmers are the majority among smallholders and have significant roles in agriculture; nonetheless, they face constraints in accessing resources. Recent primary data of 347 farmers (proportional random sampling) was used to examine: (a) factors affecting women’s participation in agriculture; (b) factors influencing female farmers’ decision to join a farmer group; and (c) the effect of women’s membership in a farmer group on crop yield. We applied Probit and linear regression with endogenous treatment maximum likelihood methods. Results reveal that women’s participation is positively influenced by membership in a farmer group and land ownership. Women’s decision to join a farmer group is positively affected by access to credit, and negatively by limited decision-making power and lack of access to land. Crop yield is positively affected by membership years in a farmer group and ownership of mobile phones, negatively by lack of credit. Farmer groups are a particularly effective platform to improve crop yields and other constraints confronting female farmers. Surprisingly, this platform is under-utilised. Policymakers should invest in human, financial and physical capital of farmer groups as a pathway to rural development, improved rural livelihoods and reduced poverty.

Adopting modern agricultural technologies and impact on economic performance: evidence from cashew farmers in Kenya

“…Likewise, in Ghana, access to extension services significantly influenced the frequency of pesticide application (Denkyirah et al, 2016). A recent study shows that extension services are a primary driver of knowledge and technology in Kenya (Ingutia and Sumelius, 2022). Some studies affirmed the importance of extension services to significantly influence the adoption of novel technologies (Sanyang et al, 2009;Toma et al, 2018), basal fertilizers (Ouma et al, 2002), pesticides and frequency of pesticide application (Denkyirah et al, 2016).…”

“…The improved access to agricultural information is expected to increase farmers' adoption of new agricultural technologies and consequently improve the economic performance of farmers. In addition, farmer group membership status (Abebaw and Haile, 2013;Balogun et al, 2018;Denkyirah et al, 2016;Ingutia and Sumelius, 2022;Liverpool and Winter-Nelson, 2010;Sanyang et al, 2009;Wossen et al, 2017) and access to extension (Afful and Ayisi, 2016;Buehren et al, 2017;Elias et al, 2013;Emmanuel et al, 2016;Nata et al, 2014;Wossen et al, 2017) have been proven empirically to have a significant effect on agricultural economic performance.…”

“…Extension support: The extension variable expresses if farmers in the study area have access to extension services or not. Some studies have highlighted the relationship between access to extension services and technology adoption (Denkyirah et al, 2016;Ingutia and Sumelius, 2022;Ouma et al, 2002;Sanyang et al, 2009;Toma et al, 2018), while others explored the effect of extension services on crop yields (Afful and Ayisi, 2016;Emmanuel et al, 2016) and farm productivity (Elias et al, 2013).…”

“…Other studies revealed that cooperative membership and other social capital variables have significantly influenced farmers' productivity (Balogun et al, 2018;Ingutia and Sumelius, 2022;Saha and Devi, 2014;Wossen et al, 2017) but studies investigating the effect on income considering the cost of production are yet missing. The policy implication is to focus resources on facilitating effective cashew-oriented farmer groups to increase information flow -especially the promotion of increased cashew planting density among farmers resident in the three major cashew-dominated counties, and especially to support rigorous studies on how the use of fertilizers and pesticides in the area affects the quality of nuts and the economic performance of smallholder farmers.…”

“…Recent evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa asserts -farmer groups or cooperative -participation may have a favourable influence on the use of agricultural inputs, as highlighted in a study about the economic performance of agricultural cooperatives in Ethiopia (Sebhatu et al, 2021). As adduced in another recent study conducted in Kenya, efficient farmer groups may economically and socially empower their members by providing various services (Ingutia and Sumelius, 2022) and access to knowledge on new agricultural technologies. Also, increased access to extension support significantly facilitates the adoption of chemical fertilizer and consequently exerts positive influences on food security (Emmanuel et al, 2016).…”