scholarly journals The Influence of Farmers' Gender on Factors Affecting Maize Production among Small Scale Farmers in the Agricultural Reform Era: The Case of Western Region of Kenya

Author(s):  
Adijah M. Ali-Olubandwa

The introduction of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) and trade liberalisation resulted in agricultural reforms in Kenya and other developing countries. Hence the Kenya government no longer gives incentives to small scale farmers. Therefore, the small scale farmers, extension service and the government at large have to look for all ways to increase maize production in the country, hence the study. Men and women both make significant contributions in maize-based farming systems and livelihoods, although gender roles in maize cultivation vary greatly across and within regions. Their contribution to agricultural work varies even more widely, depending on the specific crop and activity. The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of Farmers' Gender on Factors Affecting Maize production among Small Scale Farmers in the Agricultural Reform Era: The Case of Western Region of Kenya. This is because maize is the main staple for most of the Kenyan population and Western Region is the food basket.  The study used Ex-post facto research design via cross sectional survey. Busia, Bungoma, Mt. Elgon and Lugari Counties were purposively selected to represent the Western Region of Kenya. Two sub-counties from each of the four Counties were selected by simple random sampling. For uniformity purposes 200 small scale farmers were selected from focal areas through systematic random sampling hence ensuring that they all had been exposed to extension staff. Four key informants were sampled purposefully based on their positions of authority. In addition, 52 extension staffs were sampled through systematic random sampling. The small scale farmers were interviewed with the help of interview schedule containing open and closed ended questions. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results of the multiple regression illustrated that there was a statistically significant relationship between factors affecting maize production among small scale farmers (adoption of improved agricultural practices, attitude towards maize farming attitude towards farmer organizations and attitude towards opinion leaders) and farmers’ gender. The results showed that the adjusted R2=0.090, F=3.830 at p <0.01 and df=8. The study recommended that the Kenya government, extension service and researchers should pay more attention to the women small scale farmers, who form a large percentage of the small scale farmers in the western region, yet produce less bags of maize in order for Kenya to be food secure. There was therefore need for further research to find ways of motivating women small scale farmers to increase maize production in the Western Region of Kenya.

Author(s):  
Adijah Mukabana Olubandwa

Agricultural reforms in Kenya led to the government cutting down incentives to small scale farmers. These also coincided with reduction of agricultural extension staff hence farmers have to rely on advice from opinion leaders. The study looked at farmers’ attitude towards opinion leaders on maize farming in the western region of Kenya because maize is the main staple for most of the Kenyan population and Western Region is the food basket. The study used Ex-post facto research design via cross sectional survey. The counties were purposively selected to represent the Western Region of Kenya. Two sub-counties from each of the four Counties were selected by simple random sampling. Small scale farmers were selected from focal areas through systematic random sampling. Four key informants were sampled purposefully based on their positions of authority. In addition, 52 extension staffs were sampled through systematic random sampling. The small scale farmers were interviewed with the help of interview schedule containing both open and closed ended questions. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study revealed that a high percentage of respondents from all the study Counties agreed that what other farmers said about maize production helped them to invest in the enterprise. The study concluded that small scale farmers from all the Counties, were influenced by other farmers to invest in maize production. In addition most of the respondents always followed the recommendations given by the chief and other local leaders concerning agricultural production. The study recommended that extension staff use farmer groups and local leaders to ensure that the innovations are diffused to a large number of farmers.


Author(s):  
A. Ermagambetova ◽  
◽  
E. Myrzagaliev ◽  

The article analyzes the migration and demographic situation of the population of Western Kazakhstan in the second half of the nineteenth century. Factors affecting population growth, mechanisms for regulating internal and external migration are considered. In the period under review, the population of the Western region of Kazakhstan in terms of number (1142384 people) was densely populated after Southern Kazakhstan (1499201 people). Residents of Western Kazakhstan made up 27.54% of the total population of the region. By the end of the nineteenth century, the population of the city in Western Kazakhstan was relatively small, especially with a small share of the Kazakh population in the city. The majority of the urban population are Slavic ethnic groups, and the number of Tatars in the cities of the region is also growing


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 6617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sevinç ◽  
Aydoğdu ◽  
Cançelik ◽  
Sevinç

Despite agricultural support in Turkey, agricultural production areas, production quantities, and the number of farmers have gradually decreased. In this research, we aimed to determine farmers’ attitudes toward public agricultural support policy for sustainability in GAP, Şanlıurfa, Turkey, and the factors affecting their attitudes. This research is the first of its type for GAP, Şanlıurfa, Turkey. The data were obtained in 2017 from face-to-face interviews with farmers who were selected using the simple random sampling method. Categorical regression, based on the optimal scaling model, was used in the analysis. The results indicate that although 80% of the farmers believe that support has improved agricultural sustainability, 76.2% find public support policy inadequate. The average land area of those who were in favor of the policy was 18.3 hectares, whereas that of those who stated that support does not provide a significant contribution was 7.17 hectares. The age of the farmer, total cultivated area, settlement area, education level, property type, crop pattern, irrigated agriculture, and income were factors affecting farmers’ attitudes. The support policy should be reviewed for small-scale farmers and farmers who engage in dry farming. The results could be helpful to support policy and decision-makers during sustainable agriculture policy planning.


Author(s):  
E. S. Ebukiba ◽  
L. Anthony ◽  
S. M. Adamu

This study evaluated Economics and Technical Efficiency of Maize Production Among Small Scale Farmers in Abuja, Nigeria; Stochastic Frontier Model Approach; Multi-stage sampling technique was adopted and used. Primary data were collected through the use of well-structured questionnaire from one hundred and fifty (150) sampled respondents in the study area. Data were analyzed to achieve the specified objectives using the following tools of analysis, Descriptive Statistics, Stochastic Frontier, Gross Margin Analysis, Financial Analysis, Five Point Likert Scale, and Principal Components Analysis. The results show that majority 40.47% of the sampled respondents were among the age range of 41-50 years of age and 25.33% were within the age bracket of 31-40 years of age. The mean age of the sampled farmers is 44 years. Which indicated that Young and energetic farmers are able to withstand stress and adopt new innovations. Most 88.67% of the farmers were male. Majority 72.67% were married. The mean household size of the sampled respondents is 6 members per family. Majority (67%) of the small-scale maize farmers had 1-2 ha of land and the average farm size cultivated by the farmers was 2.576 ha. The factors influencing total output of maize were seed input (P<0.01), Farm Size (P<0.05), quantity of fertilizer (P<0.05), and labour input (P<0.01) were statistically significant variables. The results of the inefficiency components show that the factors influencing technical inefficiency includes: age (P<0.01), education (P<0.01), access to credit (P<0.05), farming experience, and household size (P<0.05) and were statistically significant. The total revenue realized by the sampled small-scale maize farmers was N238,317 on average. While the total variable costs on average basis was N109,702.93. The gross margin realized was N128667.07. The gross margin ratio was 0.54 while operating ratio calculated was 0.857 and the rate of return on investment (RORI) was 1.17. The retained component from the constraint’s analysis include Lack of Improve Seed, Lack of Transportation, Poor Storage Facilities, Inadequate Capital, and Cattle Herdsmen. The retained components explained 60% of the variation of the component included in the model. The study therefore, recommends that affordable loans and adequate capital should be made available to the small-scale maize farmers, farmers should be properly trained and educated by the non-governmental organizations and extension agents on chemical application, fertilizer use and pests and diseases control measures especially on integrated pest management (IPM). Inputs like improve seeds, fertilizer, and chemicals should be made available to farmers at subsidized rates and at appropriate time coinciding with production periods for proper usage. Provisions should be made for transportation and storage facilities for farmers, the issue of conflict between farmers and herdsmen should be brought to book and resolved amicably for peaceful coexistence.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-53
Author(s):  
Ali Ijaz ◽  
Sulaman Hafeez Siddiqui ◽  
Rabia Rasheed ◽  
Muhammad Shahid Nawaz

Author(s):  
Ramadhona Saville ◽  
Katsumori Hatanaka ◽  
Denis Pastory Rubanga

In this paper, we present an examination of factors affecting the sweetness degree of fruit tomato by utilizing a low-cost smart agriculture framework. Japanese consumers are willing to pay a sky-high price for particularly high sweetness degree of tomato, known as fruit tomato. Japanese farmers would like to produce sustainable fruit tomato, yet only some of the veteran farmers with tens of years of experience or big industrialized farms can produce it. Small scale farmers still struggle to produce sustainable fruit tomato. Many of them would like to know what factors affecting the sweetness degree of tomato. This study aims to clarify factors affecting the sweetness degree production by using a low-cost smart agriculture framework installed in a fruit tomato farmer in Nara prefecture, a western part of Japan. The data used were automatic data gathered from the sensor network, i.e. temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure as well as CO2; and manually input cultivation records, namely, fertilizers (Ca, NO3), pH, EC (electrical conductivity), harvesting record (yield and sweetness degree) as well as cropping calendar. We gathered data from June 2017 to December 2019. We then conducted a statistical analysis using the R statistical computing language. We found that the most significant factor for a high sweetness degree of fruit tomato is the growing time, that is the longer the growing time, the higher the sweetness degree of fruit tomato. The growing time is likely to be affected by season, as in summer growing time is faster than in wintertime. Consequently, summer is not the best time to grow fruit tomato.


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