Promoting Commercialisation of African Indigenous Vegetables through Communication Strategies: lessons from Farm Concern International, Kenya.

Abstract

The study sought to analyse the efficiency of Farm Concern International’s Communication strategies in promoting the commercialisation of African Indigenous Vegetables in Lari Sub-County, Kenya. Qualitative and quantitative research designs were adopted for the study and purposive sampling, followed by random sampling used to select 100 farmers from the five villages in Lari Sub County. The data was gathered from the primary source through the use of structured questionnaire for both quantitative and qualitative. The data was then processed and presented by the use of graphs, tables and pie charts and analysed by use of descriptive analysis. The study used two theories, Rational Argumentation Theory propounded by Cragan and Shields (1998) and Trans theoretical Model (TM) by Prochaska, Johnson and Lee (1998). The study established that the rate of commercialisation is currently high, with the majority of farmers earning between sh. 5, 000 to sh. 15, 000 per month. Majority of farmers sold AIVs to Uchumi Supermarket. The findings also indicated that FCI majorly used two forms of Ora-Media, barazas and demonstrations, to promote production, consumption and commercialisation of AIVs. However, a bit of Use of projector was also used, but no form of mainstream media or internet and drama was used. The study recommends that NGOs should liaise with financial institutions to train farmers on financial literacy and facilitate them to make savings to enhance production. Also, there is a need for more campaign by NGOs and other gatekeepers like the media, government leaders and local leaders to enhance increased production of AIVs.