IMPACT OF COFFEE CERTIFICATION ON SMALLHOLDER COFFEE FARMING IN EMBU COUNTY, KENYA

Lucy Muriithi (), Dr Ibrahim Macharia () and Dr Elijah Gichuru ()

International Journal of Agriculture, 2018, vol. 3, issue 1, 1 - 10

Abstract: Purpose: The coffee sub-sector plays a significant role in Kenya's economy. It is a major foreign exchange earner and supports about 800,000 households in terms of incomes, employment and food security. Coffee certification has been a relatively new approach, focusing on both small-holder coffee farmers and estates in Kenya. Data on the impacts of coffee certification exists although it has been piecemeal or anecdotal. Therefore, the results obtained from this study, will add to the knowledge base on the impact of certification programs and provide useful insights to coffee certification bodies and coffee farmers in Kenya. Methods: The study was carried out in Embu County. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample 480 coffee farmers. Logit model was applied to establish the factors that influenced farmers' to participate in certification. Propensity score-matching method analyzed the impact of certification on coffee productivity and prices. Results: Results showed there were factors that influenced farmers' to participate in certification. Certified farmers produced more coffee in some years compared to non-certified farmers. However, the study did not find any impact of certification on coffee prices. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommended that on awareness level, policy makers need to focus on training and empowering coffee farmers and coffee stakeholders on the different certification programs available in Kenya, so that farmers are aware and can make decisions on whether to be certified or otherwise and also on the type of certification to implement

Keywords: Coffee Certification; Propensity Score Matching; Coffee Farmers; Certified Farmers and Non-Certified Farmers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://iprjb.org/journals/index.php/IJA/article/view/719 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bdu:ojtija:v:3:y:2018:i:1:p:1-10:id:719

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Agriculture from IPRJB
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chief Editor ().