Crop diversification analysis amongst smallholder farmers in Kenya(empirical evidence from Kamariny ward, Elgeyo Marakwet County)

Figures & data

Table 1. Definition of the study variables and their expected signs

Variable name	Variable description	Expected sign
AGE	Age	±
GENDR	Gender	±
EDUCN TYPOCRP CRPPING LBRCOST LANDSIZE IRRGN ACSCREDIT	Education level Types of Crops Cropping System Labour availability Land Size Irrigation availability Access to credit	+ ± + + + + +

Figure 1. Location of Kamariny Ward

Data source: IEBC, 2017.

Table 2. Demographic characteristics of the respondents

Variables	Demographic characteristics	Count	Percentage (%)
Age group	Under 35	14	19.9
	Between 35 and 50	22	30.1
	Over 50	36	50
	Total	72	100
Gender	Male	38	52.8
	Female	34	47.2
	Total	72	100
Education level	Informal	6	8.4
	Primary	25	34.7
	Secondary	35	48.6
	Tertiary	6	8.3
	Total	72	100
Choice of diversifying	Non-diversified	43	59.7
	Diversified	29	40.3
	Total	72	100

Source: Authors constructs, Survey data (2016–17).

Table 3. Types of crops grown by smallholder farmers

Types of crops	Count	Percentage
Maize	26	36.1
Beans	12	16.7
Potatoes	10	13.9
Cabbage	5	6.9
Passion fruits	4	5.6
Millet	4	5.6
Wheat	11	15.3
Total	72	100

Source: Authors constructs, Survey data (2016–17).

Table 4. Characteristics of diversified crop farming and non-diversified crop farming

	Diversified crop farming			Non-diversified crop farming
	Variables	Count	(%)	Variables	Count	(%)
Farm size	Below 5 acres	14	48.3	Below 5 acres	11	25.6
	Between5-9	10	34.5	Between5-9	15	34.9
	Above9 acres	5	17.2	Above 9 acres	17	39.5
	Total	29	100	Total	43	100
Access to credit	Yes	15	51.7	Yes	8	18.6
	No	14	48.3	No	35	81.4
	Total	29	100	Total	43	100
Cropping system	Crop rotation	6	20.7	Crop rotation	0	0
	Mixed cropping	5	17.2	Mixed cropping	0	0
	Mono cropping	10	34.5	Mono cropping	33	76.7
	Inter cropping	8	27.6	Inter cropping	10	23.3
	Total	29 100		Total	43	100

Source: Authors constructs, Survey data (2016–17).

Table 5. Gross margins analysis for different types of crops

Variables	Maize	Bean	Potato	Cabbage	Passion fruit	Millet	Wheat
Gross Output
Av. Yield/bag(90kg)	23	8	54	80	50	5	22
Av. Price/bag(90kg)	2,500	8,000	1,800	1,250	4,500	8,000	3,000
Total Gross Output	57,500	64,000	97,200	100,000	225,000	40,000	66,000
Variable Cost/Acre
Av. Cost of seeds	1,800	3,200	14,400	14,400	24,200	3,000	6,750
Av. Cost of fertilizers	7,000	3,000	8,500	5,300	2,000	5,300	6,900
Av. Cost of labour	11,200	15,600	9,700	10,150	30,100	19,000	8,200
Cost of agrochemicals	3,000	2,200	5,000	6,000	33,000	1,000	7,600
Total Variable Cost	23,000	24,000	37,600	35,850	89,300	28,300	29,450
Gross Margins	34,500	40,000	59,600	64,150	135,700	11,700	36,550

Source: Authors constructs, Survey data (2016–17).

Table 6. Returns to capital and labour

Crops	Aver.GM (KES/Acre)	Labour cost (KES/Acre)	TVC (KES/Acre)	Return to labour (GM/L.Cost)	Return capital (GM/TVC)
Maize	34,500	11,200	23,000	3.08	1.50
Beans	40,000	15,600	24,000	2.56	1.67
Potatoes	59,600	9,700	37,600	6.14	1.59
Cabbage	64,150	10,150	35,850	6.32	1.79
P. fruit	135,700	30,100	89,300	4.51	1.52
Millet	11,700	19,000	28,300	0.62	0.41
Wheat	36,550	8,200	29,450	4.46	1.24

Source: Authors constructs, Survey data (2016–17). Note: P. fruit denotes Passion fruit.

Table 7. Average gross margin comparison for diversifying and non-diversifying farmers

Producers	Average gross margin (KES)
Diversifying > 3 crops.	54,583.33
Non-diversifying < 2	37,250.00

Source: Authors constructs, Survey data (2016–17)

Table 8. Logistic model results on factors affecting the choice of crop diversification

Variable	Coef	S.E.	P</z/
Age	1.167**	0.526	.027
Gender	−1.247	0.782	.111
Education	.820*	0.487	.092
Type of crops	−.323**	0.217	.037
Cropping system	−1.234**	0.530	.020
Credit access	−2.992***	0.965	.002
Irrigation facilities	−2.082**	0.895	.020
Labour cost	.000	0.000	.397
Land under crop	.062	0.090	.491
Constant	5.812	3.689	.115

*, **, ***, Significant levels at 10%, 5%, 1% respectively.

IEBC (Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission). (2017). Keiyo North constituency, County assembly wards. Retrieved June 04, 2017 from https://softkenya.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Keiyo-North-Contituency-Map1.png

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