Factors Affecting the Performance of Small-Scale Tea Farmers in Embu County

Abstract

The contribution of the tea sector to the economy of Kenya is enormous as it accounts for 4% of the GDP and indirectly supports 10% of Kenyans population. The main purpose of this study was to assess the factors influencing the performance of small scale tea farmers in Embu County, Kenya. The study was guided by the following objectives to determine how farmers motivation influence the performance of small scale tea farmers and to establish what social economic factors determine the quality of tea produced which influence the performance of small scale tea farmers. The study adopted descriptive research design which involves gathering data that describe events and organizes, tabulates, depicts and describe the data collected. The study had a target population of 232. The study used simple random sampling to sample farmers. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collected data and analyzed qualitatively using narratives and presented using themes while the qualitative data was analyzed and presented descriptively using frequency tables, correlation tables and regression tables. It was found that social economic factors affecting tea quality and farmers motivation affected the performance of small scale tea farmers and if all these factors were acted upon the would result to a better performance of small scale tea farmers thus their output will be increased.