The Influence of Market Access Factors on Commercialization of Smallholder Dairy Value Chain Development in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

Varied smallholder farming is central to livelihoods of many rural households in developing economies. Dairy farming in Kenya is the largest sub sector of agriculture growing at the rate of 4.1% per annum in comparison to 1.2% for agriculture sector as a whole. Commercializing smallholder dairy value chain development, therefore, is crucial in providing alternatives out of poverty and sustainable rural development. However, smallholder dairy value chain development is influenced by different factors at different levels of commercialization. Uasin Gishu County leads in milk production in Kenya with subsistence, semi-commercialized and commercialized farming being 70%, 20% and 10% respectively. Therefore, an assessment of market access factors on household commercialization may help unlock the transition from subsistence to commercialized smallholder dairy farming. The objective of this paper is to assess the influence of market access factors on commercialization of smallholder dairy value chain development. Guided by the theory of profit maximization, the paper utilized social survey research design and both secondary and primary data to execute the methodological process. A sample size of 384 smallholder dairy producers was studied out of a population of 50,457 respondents. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires, focused group discussions, and key informants. The County was stratified into six sub-Counties and simple random sampling technique was used to select the respondents in each of the strata. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) andinferential statistics (Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient; Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and multiple regressions) to describe and evaluate the relationship between market access factors (independent variables) and Household Commercialization Index (HCI) (dependent variable). The results the study concludes that the market access factors have significant influence on commercialization of smallholder dairy value chain development. In view of these results, it is recommended that the National and County Governments formulate policies, strategies, projects and programs that address the market access factors for increased level of dairy commercialization and sustainable rural development.