Determinants of protected tomato production technologies among smallholder peri-urban producers in Kiambu, Kenya

Climate variability and the rise in incidences of pests and diseases continue to undermine production of high value vegetables among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. In order to respond to these challenges, protected farming technologies (PFT) (such as greenhouses) which modify the plant environment and therefore aid in avoiding the harmful eects of climatic factors have been promoted. Greenhouses protect the crops against high solar radiation and heavy rainfall that have the potential of destroying vulnerable crops like tomatoes. Consequently, PFT is associated with better yields and farm incomes. However, the adoption of PFT among smallholder farmers, not least in Kenya is low. Drawing on the Agricultural Household Model (AHM) theoretic framework, this paper assessed the determinants of adoption of PFT among smallholder tomato farmers in Kenya. Tomato is the second most important horticultural vegetable crop in Kenya after potatoes in terms of production volumes and value. Data for the study were collected from a cross sectional multistage random survey of 104 tomato farming households and analysed using maximum likelihood probit model. The probit results revealed that the age of a farmer, educational level, household size, total household income and access to credit positively influenced the likelihood of PFT adoption. The likelihood of adoption was negatively related to distance to input markets and access to the county government extension services. Overall, the results of this study suggest that an integrated promotional strategy that accounts for household heterogeneities and focuses on institutional arrangements that support the accumulation of human and financial capital would enhance PFT adoption

Understanding Consumers` Attitudes: The Key to Increased Intake of Traditional African Vegetable in Tanzania

The contribution of Traditional African Vegetables (TAVs) to reduction of malnutrition, stunting and poor health among consumers in Sub-Saharan Africa cannot be overemphasized. This is due to high contents of vitamins, essential minerals and a source of dietary fiber. Although TAVs forms a significant component of many families` diets in Tanzania, consumption is still below the recommend by WHO and FAO in most regions. This paper aims at assessing attitudes towards TAVs and how they influence the intake of these nutrient-dense vegetables in Arumeru District, Tanzania. Cross-sectional design was used during the study. Pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was used in the survey for face-to-face interview with consumers (n=262). Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis and Principal Components Analysis to show the interrelation among a set of attitudinal statements in order to identify the underlying structure of those attitudinal statements. From factor analyses scores, increasing intake of nutrient-dense vegetables (TAVs) was found to depend on Taste, Health, Freshness and Perception. The results showed that, the likelihood of consuming TAVs tend to be highly dependent on their taste among consumers. Next, Health benefits of TAVs was of high importance to consumers. Also, fresh TAVs were preferred than dried ones. Perception was least important attribute to consumers of TAVs. Consumers with a high awareness on the health benefits from TAVs attached more importance to consumption of these vegetables. In order to increase consumption of traditional African vegetables, promoting positive attitudes of consumers towards these vegetables as well as targeting to change the negative attitudes could play a significant role in encouraging consumers to increase the amounts and varieties of TAVs in their diets. Keywords: Consumer attitude, traditional African vegetables, principal component analysis, Arumeru Distric

Prevalence of abnormal cervical cytology among women infected with HIV in Machakos County Hospital Kenya

Background: Cervical cancer is increasingly becoming a major threat to health among women in the world particularly in developing countries where screening programs are not well established. In Kenya, cervical cancer is the second most frequent cancer among women and the leading cause of cancer deaths in women of reproductive age.Studies have shown that women infected with HIV especially those with low CD4 counts or decreasing immunity are at a higher risk of developing pre cancerous cervical lesions and invasive cervical cancer than those in the general population without HIV infection.Objective: To determine the prevalence of abnormal Pap smears in HIV positive women attending Comprehensive care clinic at Machakos Level 5 Hospital.Design: Cross sectional descriptive studySetting: Machakos County hospital.Subjects: Women infected with HIV attending Machakos County Hospital Comprehensive care clinic.Results: 295 women infected with HIV were enrolled in this study and cervical smear taken for cytology screening. 22 were excluded from the analysis due to unsatisfactory smears. The prevalence of cervical cytology abnormalities was 14 out of 273 (5.1%) with HSIL being the most prevalent at 5 out of 273 (1.8%). Other lesions were ASC-H 4 (1.46%), LSIL 3 (1.05%), SCC and Adenocarcinoma both with 1(0.36%).In this study, age and Pap smear findings had no statistically significant association, X²=6.262, p=0.618.Conclusion: This prevalence of abnormal cervical cytology among HIV infected women in this study was 5.2%. There was no statistically significant association between age and Pap smear findings

Factors influencing smallholder farmers’ inputs use in major bean production corridors in Kenya

This study analysed socio-economic determinants for inputs use in major bean corridors in Kenya. It comprised 417 respondents sampled from four major bean corridors. A structured questionnaire was used in data collection. Probit model was used to assess determinants of input use among the bean-farming households. From the results, 74% of respondents were male with a mean age of 48.6 years. The probability of using agricultural inputs increased with education level and income from crop sales. Fertilizer was mainly used in Bomet (73%) and Narok (74%) counties. Eighty-five percent planted recycled seeds. Education level and Income from crops positively influenced inputs use. It was concluded that education level, incomes from sale of crops, livestock and livestock products, and farm income influenced use of inputs. As a recommendation, Capacity building on merits of input use and promotion of public-private partnerships to strengthen input supply system would enhance increased input use by smallholder farmers.Keywords: Bean, inputs, determinants, Keny

A scoping review

The article processing charge was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – 491192747 and the Open Access Publication Fund of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.Malnutrition continues to be a major problem with negative implications on economic and human development in many parts of the world, including in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Strengthening promising underutilized crops that are nutrient dense, climate resilient, and locally adaptable is an instrumental approach to enhancing dietary diversity. Due to their nutritional and economic benefits, African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs) have the potential to contribute to livelihoods and address challenges of food and nutrition insecurity. Despite their importance but due to their perishability, AIVs tend to suffer from high post-harvest losses (PHLs). Effective distribution systems along the value chain have the potential to reduce PHLs for AIVs. We therefore conducted a scoping review on transport systems and coordination in AIVs value chains in SSA. The objectives of this review were to summarize and analyze the focus of research in AIVs transport, to analyze the extent to which the literature synthesizes interactions of sub-components of the chains, and to identify knowledge gaps in AIVs transport literature. Based on the research foci, we categorize the reviewed articles into seven themes. Our analyses indicate that distance to agricultural market is a fundamental aspect of AIVs transportation, as it interacts with transport costs, market participation, produce quality, and profit efficiency. Results show that collective action is instrumental in the coordination of AIVs transportation and that it contributes to cost reduction. Following light exploration of determinants of choice of means of transport, we recommend further research in this area for improvement of transportation in AIVs value chains.Peer Reviewe

Attitudes of Farmers, Traders and Urban Consumers Concerning Consumption of Traditional African Vegetables in Tanzania

Traditional African Vegetables (TAVs) form a significant source of food and nutritional security in rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. Consumption of TAVs in the region also plays a major role in providing dietary fiber and other important components in the prevention of chronic and lifestyle diseases. However, the consumption of vegetables per individual is still below the recommended level by WHO and FAO. This study determined the attitudes concerning consumption of TAVs in Tanzania. Descriptive statistics and principal components analysis were used to analyze data. Data was collected from randomly selected 63 farmers, purposively selected 65 traders and 262 consumers in Manyire, Embaseny and Bangata markets in Arumeru District, Tanzania. The results showed that of the eleven attitude statements presented to respondents, five scored over 90% and two over 80% on the positive end of the Likert Scale. Three of the remaining four statements scored over 80% and one over 50% on the negative end of the Likert Scale. These four statements carried negative attitudes and also received negative responses; essentially making them positive attitude statements. It was therefore concluded that farmers, traders and consumers have a positive attitude concerning consumption of TAVs. Factor analysis results showed that health, perception and taste factors were the prime movers of attitudes concerning TAVs consumption among farmers, traders and urban consumers. The health factor was the main prime mover for farmers and traders, and the second one for urban consumers. As consumption of TAVs moves away from the farm to urban markets, the importance of the taste factor shifts from the third position for farmers to the first position for urban consumers. Hence taste was the main driver of attitudes for TAVs consumption in urban areas. However, the importance of the perception factor diminishes from the second position for farmers to the fourth position for traders and consumers. It was therefore concluded that there is need to increase knowledge of health benefits for these crops to a larger population across the board. It is also important to train farmers, traders and consumers on innovative ways of mixing various TAVs varieties during preparation, and cooking techniques to enhance taste

Influence of multi-stakeholder linkages and practices on the adoption of technologies and innovations in lower Eastern Kenya

The study is an assessment of how the factors related to multi-stakeholder linkages and practices (MSLIAD) influence the adoption of Gadam sorghum technologies and practices by farmers in six sub-counties in lower eastern Kenya where past public-private-partnership development initiatives have been implemented. The factors studied included: (i) farmers’ attitude towards MSLIAD, (ii) prevailing policies, (iii) coordination of stakeholders in production and provision of services, (iv) competition among the stakeholders, (v) information sharing among the stakeholders, and (vi) collective action in access to markets. Stratified random sampling was used to select 165 household heads who were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Significant (p <.05) negative influences were found to exist between the MSLIAD factors and the adoption of technologies and practices by the farmers. Strong linkages between research, policy and practice were found necessary to enhance technology adoption. Further, existing linkages should be clearly defined for proper coordination of information sharing and feedback across all communication levels

Influence of multi-stakeholder linkages and practices on the adoption of technologies and innovations in lower Eastern Kenya

The study is an assessment of how the factors related to multi-stakeholder linkages and practices (MSLIAD) influence the adoption of Gadam sorghum technologies and practices by farmers in six sub-counties in lower eastern Kenya where past public-private-partnership development initiatives have been implemented. The factors studied included: (i) farmers’ attitude towards MSLIAD, (ii) prevailing policies, (iii) coordination of stakeholders in production and provision of services, (iv) competition among the stakeholders, (v) information sharing among the stakeholders, and (vi) collective action in access to markets. Stratified random sampling was used to select 165 household heads who were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Significant (p <.05) negative influences were found to exist between the MSLIAD factors and the adoption of technologies and practices by the farmers. Strong linkages between research, policy and practice were found necessary to enhance technology adoption. Further, existing linkages should be clearly defined for proper coordination of information sharing and feedback across all communication levels

Assessment of Technical Efficiency of Open Field Production in Kiambu County, Kenya (Stochastic Frontier Approach)

The study conducted an estimate of the mean technical efficiency and the determinants of technical efficiency for the open field tomato farmers in Kiambu, Kenya. A multistage sampling technique was used to draw a sample of 75 respondents who participated in the study. The method of analysis used was a two stage approach; a Cobb Douglas stochastic frontier analysis and a Tobit regression to compute the mean technical efficiency and determine factors influencing technical efficiency respectively. All the analyses were computed using Stata versions 13. Results indicated a mean technical efficiency of 65 percent ranging from 26.7 percent to 96.3 percent implying that there is room to increase efficiency by 35 percent. Education, family size and experience positively influenced technical efficiency while gender and farm size had a negative significant influence. The study demonstrated that farmers had a lower level of experience (5 years) and education (9 years) as compared to the national and other local areas within the country despite their positive significant influence on technical efficiency. The implication from the study findings is that greater attention should be paid towards farmer training to enhance their knowledge and farming experience with regard to tomatoes. A few farmers had received credit (16%), extension (14%) and agriculture support facilities (8%). Extension is very important as it bridges the gap between researchers and farmers whereas credit access enables farmers to buy farming inputs like fertilizers. Investments in farmer education without appropriate dissemination techniques may not cause any impacts. The study therefore recommends that accessibility to these services be enhanced