Agricultural Economics and Business Management

This paper uses data from a survey of two hundred and fifty cattle keeping households in three cattle keeping systems; intensive, semi -intensive and extensive systems to estimate the value of non -market, socioeconomic benefits of cattle in Kenya. These benefits of cattle keeping are of special importance in developing countries, where financial markets function poorly and opportunities for risk management through formal insurance generally absent. However, when estimating the total contribution of livestock, these non -market functions are often ignored since they are difficult to value, yet they may contribute to a better understanding of livestock production systems. The use of contingent valuation method is employed in this study to elicit these non -market values. Econometric estimations are then used to assess the factors influencing the non -market benefits function. The results indicate that these benefits are highly valued by cattle keepers and comprise approximately 20% of the animal's total value across the three systems. They are influenced by various production system and household related factors. Implications for policy are drawn. JEL: QQ112, QQ118, DD223

Goats, “the poor man’s cow”, provide very important genetic resources that can be exploited for continued improvements of the livelihoods of poor livestock keepers in the semi-arid tropics. This study presents the evaluation of the economic values of goat genetic resources (GGRs) in terms of the important non-market traits embedded in goats and how this information can be utilised to improve livelihoods in semi-arid regions. The results obtained from mixed logit models derived from stated choice data collected from 314 respondents in the semi-arid Marsabit district of Kenya reveal that disease resistance is the most highly valued trait whose resultant augmentation results into a welfare improvement of up to KShs.2899. Drought tolerance and milk traits were found to be implicitly valued at KShs.2620 and 1179 respectively. The study further revealed that improvement in milk trait in does, body size and disease resistance traits in bucks, and drought tolerance trait in both does and bucks will collectively improve the producers’ welfare hence should be given priority. However, improvement in the reproduction and production (“overall body condition/ meatiness” trait) potential of goats will be worthwhile only if issues concerning access to pasture and water resources are addressed prior and simultaneously.

Sheep, recognised as one of the important livestock species especially in the semi-arid tropics with high genetic resource potentials, can be exploited through sustainable utilization in order to improve livestock keepers’ livelihoods. This study presents the evaluation of the economic values of sheep genetic resources (SGR) in terms of the important non-market traits embedded in sheep and how this information can be utilised to improve livelihoods in semi-arid regions. The results obtained from mixed logit models results derived from stated choice data collected from 157 respondents in the semi-arid Marsabit district of Kenya reveal that disease resistance is the most highly valued trait whose resultant increment results into a welfare improvement of up to KShs.1537. Drought tolerance and fat deposition traits were found to be implicitly valued at KShs.694 and 738 respectively. The results further point out that for livestock stakeholders to effectively improve the livelihoods of poor livestock-keepers, development strategies for improving the management and/or utilisation of SGR in terms of drought tolerance, should not only be tailor made to target regions that are frequently devastated by drought but should also succeed other strategies or efforts that would first lead to the improvement of producers’ economic status.

Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have liberalized markets to improve efficiency and enhance market linkages for smallholder farmers. The expected positive response by the private sector in areas with limited market infrastructure has however been disappointing. The functioning of markets is constrained by high transaction costs and coordination problems along the production-to-consumption value chain. New kinds of institutional arrangements are needed to reduce these costs and fill the vacuum left when governments withdrew from markets in the era of structural adjustments. One of these institutional innovations has been the strengthening of producer organizations and formation of collective marketing groups as instruments to remedy pervasive market failures in rural economies. The analysis presented here with a case study from eastern Kenya has shown that while collective action -embodied in Producer Marketing Groups (PMGs) -is feasible and useful, external shocks and structural constraints that limit the volume of trade and access to capital and information require investments in complementary institutions and coordination mechanisms to exploit scale economies. The effectiveness of PMGs was determined by the level of collective action in the form of increased participatory decision making, member contributions and initial start-up capital. Failure to pay on delivery, resulting from lack of capital credit, is a major constraint that stifles PMG competitiveness relative to other buyers. These findings call for interventions that improve governance and participation; mechanisms for improving access to operating capital; and effective strategies for risk management and enhancing the business skills of the PMGs.

Push-Pull technology (PPT) has been promoted as an innovative approach of addressing yield losses due to Striga and stem borer infestations on farmers' maize fields in western Kenya. The technology has been disseminated through different pathways each ...

Push-pull technology (PPT) is currently and widely promoted as a control measure for stemborers, Striga weed and soil fertility improvement in maize fields in western Kenya in order to improve on cereal production. Since it is a new and relatively knowledge-...

The 1 st MDG of cutting by half the number of people living on less than a dollar a day by 2015 is proving difficult to achieve in many developing countries. In Africa, as elsewhere in the developing world, Poverty Reduction Strategies are increasingly being used at national level as vehicles through which governments seek to achieve this goal. In Kenya, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) policy document considers development of the agricultural sector as top priority in the process of poverty reduction. This sector is predominantly smallholder, characterised by poor farmers who seem to be caught in the vicious cycle of low investment, low productivity and low incomes. The farmers also face various exogenous risks emanating from the biophysical and socio-economic environment in which they operate. These risks, coupled with farm specific resource endowments and constraints affect the level and variability of household incomes. This study investigates how such risks affect farmers' production decisions in the crop-livestock systems of Vihiga and Kilifi districts in Kenya. Descriptive analysis gives an overview of the productivity of major staples in the study areas, including socio-economic profiles of the farm households. A comprehensive analysis using Linear Programming and Minimization of Total Absolute Deviation (MOTAD is applied to explore possibilities