Risk Sources and Risk Management Strategies in Coffee Farming: A Case Study of Rwanda

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to evaluate farmers' incentives and perceptions to adopt the risk coping (adaptation) strategies that have been already implemented and to determine the socio-economic factors affecting farmers' participation in the risk reduction strategies on the coffee sector of Rwanda.Design/methodology/approach: In this research, both secondary and primary data were used and 110 coffee farmers were interviewed in August-September 2016. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaires that were administered to the sample of households' heads via person-interviews. The factor analysis was used to determine the risk sources of the coffee farmers and the risk management strategies in the examined coffee farms. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS 20 (Statistical Program for Social Scientists).Findings: According to research results; the main risk sources then were identified to be: price volatility of coffee cherries, lack of enough rain, non-reproductive coffee varieties and floods, and the main risk adaptation strategies were: mixed farming (intercropping), followed by use of enough chemical inputs, use new and resistant coffee varieties and pesticides usage.Originality/value: No studies have been found on the risk of coffee production.