The economics and gender factor in soya bean production and profitability in Kenya: a case of smallholder farms in Western Kenya

Dave Nyongesa, Robert B. Mabele, Anthony O. Esilaba and Christine K. Mutoni

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 2017, vol. 13, issue 3, 211-240

Abstract: Soya-bean is among world's major crops, cultivated for its high oil, proteins content and its ability in soil-fertility amendments. The study assessed the determinants, constraints and profitability/gross-margins of soya-bean production in Western Kenya. Multistage sampling technique and field surveys were used in data-collection process covering 370 households. Regression, gender, profitability and gross-margins were the analyses done. Results indicated gross-margins of soya-bean production within the study sites differed significantly from zero (KES 13,401-20,545); it was profitable because net profits ranged from KES 9243-13,548 for 2010. All gender-cadres shared in soya-bean production activities (5.0-18.0%). The mean technical-, allocative- and economic-efficiencies obtained were 0.78, 65 and 0.59 respectively. Smallholders/farmers' economic-inefficiencies arose from many negatively-signed and statistically significant factors/coefficients with p-values of 0.0000-0.0240. Increased use of these factors and county governments and other stakeholders' interventions would positively impact smallholders' efficiency resulting into higher output and profitability.

Keywords: gender; cost; soya-bean production; profitability/gross-margins; Western Kenya; smallholder(s); interviewees; marketing; technical efficiency; allocative-efficiency; economic-efficiency; stochastic-frontier. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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