| dc.description.abstract | Sugarcane crop (Saccharum officinarum) is one of the important industrial crops that are
major employers and contributor to the Kenyan economy. Despite the importance attached
to this subsector, sugarcane production is dismally performing in Kenya. In a bid to attain
self-sufficiency in sugar production, Kenya has made remarkable efforts to develop the
subsector. Despite efforts put up by the Government of Kenya and other stakeholders,
sugarcane production still faces low productivity, comparing the expected potential yields
and the actual yield. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of adoption of
best agronomic practices, socioeconomic factors and factory contracted services on
performance of sugarcane production in Malava Sub-county. Primary data were collected
using structured questionnaires from a sample of 384 farmers through systematic random
sampling and proportional sampling allocation technique. Descriptive statistics including
mean, percentages and standard deviation were used to summarize socioeconomic factors,
agronomic practices and factory contracted services which affect efficiency, production
and profitability among smallholder sugarcane farmers. Cobb-Douglas production function
was applied to analyze the effect of adoption of the best agronomic practices on production.
The study applied stochastic frontier model to analyze technical efficiency and tobit
regression model to explain the effect of socioeconomic factors on efficiency. One way
ANOVA was applied to determine if there is a significant difference between profitability
of contracted and non-contracted farmers. Gross margin was used as proxy for profitability
where the effect of contracted services on gross margin among contract farmers was
analyzed using multiple linear regression model. Use of improved seed-cane varieties, soil
testing before planting, type of fertilizer used, harvesting at recommended time and
recommended number of weeding per season were found to be positive and significantly
affecting sugarcane production. The results showed that technical efficiency of sugarcane
farmers ranges from almost zero to 0.9829, with mean value of 0.7069, implying that an
average farmer could increase sugarcane productivity by 29.31% at the existing level of
resources. Maximum likelihood estimate of technical efficiency depicted that use of
fertilizer, labour, seed-cane and farm size are positive and significant at 1% level in
determining technical efficiency. Tobit regression analysis showed that education, farming
experience, family size, credit access and extension services were positive and significant in
contributing to technical efficiency. However, age of the farmer, farm distance from home
and contract engagement were negatively influencing technical efficiency. Moreover, the
study showed that non-contracted farmers are more profitable than contracted farmers and
that profitability between the two groups of farmers is statistically and significantly
different. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that participation in contracted labour
services, extension services and cash credit services have a significant effect on gross
margin. Based on the results, the study recommends the need to increase awareness among
smallholder farmers on soil testing to guide the type of fertilizer to apply and adoption of
the recommended number of times to weed sugarcane farms in order to increase
productivity. The Kenyan government should formulate policies to ensure provision of
quality extension services, increased credit access and education among smallholder
sugarcane farmers. The need for a review of the existing contract engagement policies
among sugarcane farmers is also evident in this study. | en_US |
