Factors Affecting Commercialization of Sweet Potatoes in Kenya a Case Study of Mosocho Division, Kisii County

Abstract

Commercializing Agriculture is important because it is necessary for unlocking opportunities including sustainable livelihoods for smallholder farmers as well as provision of better incomes. This study examines factors affecting commercialization of sweet potatoes in Mosocho Kenya. Lack of market information for sweet potato and support from the government as well as other agricultural institutions are major challenges that most sweet potato farmers experience. There are no proper researches on marketing of sweet potato. This study addresses this problem by investigating factors affecting sweet potato commercialization in Mosocho, Kenya. This will help to assess the economic viability of commercializing sweet potatoes as a first step out of poverty for smallholder farmers especially in areas where land is declining. The objectives of the study include to examine factors affecting sweet potato commercialization in Mosocho and to draw policy recommendations based on the findings. In this study, the Tobit Model was used to analyze data and the findings show that accessibility to Market information, Quantity of sweet potato sold, distance to the market and access to hired land positively affected sweet potato commercialization in Mosocho. Key Words, Commercialization, Sweet Potato, Mosocho