The Effect of Cassava Commercialization On Household Income of Smallholder Farmers in Arid and Semi-arid Land (Asal), A Case of Kilifi County, Kenya

F. Opondo and G. Owuor

No 276040, 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia from International Association of Agricultural Economists

Abstract: Agriculture is the main economic activities in Africa. In Kenya, about 75% of the population comprise of smallholder farmers. Transforming smallholder farmers from subsistence farming to a commercial oriented farming has been at the centre of discussion. One of the pathways of this transformation is through commercialization. Most studies have addressed commercialization with respect to market participation with limited studies on value addition concept which is a strategy for enhancing commercialization. Various interventions from development bodies have been targeted towards promoting marketing of value added products in Kilifi County to enhance commercialization, hence improve household income. However, little information exists with regards to the effect of commercialization on household income. This study developed commercialization index which integrated both value addition and market participation. An endogenous switching regression model was fitted to determine the effect of commercialization on household income. Significant factors influencing cassava commercialization for Kilifi County were farm size (p<0.05), off-farm income (p<0.10), age (p<0.05) and distance to market (p<0.01). Similarly, off-farm income and remittances had significant impact on household income (p<0.01). Generally, farmers who undertook cassava commercialization enjoyed more income relative to those who did not

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Farm Management; Land Economics/Use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27
Date: 2018-07
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:iaae18:276040

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.276040

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