Dissemination Approaches that Enhance Adoption of Climate Resilient TIMPS for Pigeon Pea, Sorghum and Green Grams Value Chains in Machakos County, Kenya

Abstract

Dissemination approaches play a key role in facilitating the adoption of climate smart technologies, innovations and management practices among farmers. Various approaches used in Kenya include the top down approaches and bottom up approaches. This study was conducted to determine and validate dissemination approaches that enhance sustainable adoption of climate resilient TIMPs for Sorghum, Green grams and pigeon peas value chains among farmers in Machakos county. The objectives included: to Identify dissemination approaches for TIMPS in sorghum, green grams and pigeon peas in Machakos county, to assess the frequency of use of dissemination approaches for TIMPS by stakeholders and to determine the stakeholders’ perception on the effectiveness of the dissemination approaches for TIMPS. The study used a survey research design where 27 key informants comprising champion farmers and extension service providers were purposively selected for data collection. The descriptive analysis was conducted using the SPSS version 16. A weighted index was computed to aid comparison for various values chains and categories. The results showed that farmer-to-farmer (96%) and T&V (88.9%) dissemination approaches were the frequently used dissemination approaches whereas education institution (14.81%) was the least used dissemination approach in the three value chains in the county. Farmer to farmer effectiveness was ranked highest in Sorghum and Green grams while the T&V was highest for Pigeon peas Enhanced utilization of farmer-to-farmer, T&V and demand driven dissemination approaches for enhance adoption of green grams, pigeon peas and sorghum for improved productivity and household income.