Determinants of Simultaneous Use of Soil Fertility Information Sources among Smallholder Farmers in the Central Highlands of Kenya

Pamellah A. Asule (), Collins Musafiri, George Nyabuga, Wambui Kiai, Felix K. Ngetich and Christoph Spurk
Additional contact information
Pamellah A. Asule: Department of Water and Agricultural Resource Management, University of Embu, Embu P.O. Box 6-60100, Kenya
Collins Musafiri: Cortile Scientific Limited, Nairobi P.O. Box 34991-00100, Kenya
George Nyabuga: Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Nairobi, Nairobi P.O. Box 30197-00100, Kenya
Wambui Kiai: Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Nairobi, Nairobi P.O. Box 30197-00100, Kenya
Felix K. Ngetich: Cortile Scientific Limited, Nairobi P.O. Box 34991-00100, Kenya
Christoph Spurk: Institute of Applied Media Studies, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, 8400 Winterthur, Switzerland

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-23

Abstract: Soil fertility decline is a significant drawback to food and nutritional security in sub-Saharan Africa. However, information and knowledge barriers seriously impede the adoption, effective use, and scaling up of soil fertility management innovations, especially by smallholder farmers who produce the bulk of the region’s food needs. Apart from the knowledge that smallholder farmers seek soil fertility information from diverse sources, which they apply simultaneously, there is limited knowledge of farmers’ information-seeking behaviour regarding which sources are used simultaneously and the factors influencing these choices. We employed a cross-sectional survey study design to determine the simultaneous use of soil fertility information sources of 400 smallholder farming households in the Central Highlands of Kenya. We analysed the data using descriptive statistics, principal component analysis (PCA), and a multivariate probit model. The PCA distinguished seven categories of information sources farmers use: local interpersonal, cosmopolite interpersonal, aggregative, print/demonstration, broadcast media, community-based, and progressive learning sources. The intensity of use revealed that most of the smallholders used soil fertility information sources simultaneously and primarily as complements. The determinants of simultaneous use of soil fertility information sources were farmer location, marital status, main occupation, age, farming experience, exposure to agricultural training, group membership, arable land and livestock units owned, soil fertility status, soil fertility change, and soil testing. This study’s findings have implications for information dissemination strategies involving using multiple complementary sources of knowledge for improved soil health and productivity.

Keywords: soil fertility information sources; soil fertility decline; dissemination; simultaneous use; heptavariate probit model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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