Influence of Farmers Participation on Sustainability of Kinyaiti Onions Farming Project in Kieni West District, Nyeri County, Kenya.

Abstract

There have been concerns that there are many donor projects initiated and implemented in rural areas but few are sustained long enough to benefit the intended beneficiaries. Most of the projects in rural areas aim at addressing the plight of the rural poor who are isolated from economic opportunities enjoyed by urban population. Agriculture is a major sector in rural area and donors have disbursed huge amounts of funds to help the communities to curb poverty and food insecurity. Sadly, most of these projects have failed to be sustainable. Community participation has been hailed as the panacea for sustainable projects. Farm Concern International started Kinyaiti onions farming project in Kieni West district Kenya in 2007. The project seeks to build the capacity of farmers to increase the quality and quantity of their onions yields which they eventually sell at competitive prices. The study sought to investigate the influence of farmers‘ participation on sustainability of the project. The objectives of the study were; to establish how involvement of farmers in decision making influence sustainability of Kinyaiti onions farming project; to assess how adoption of modern technology by the farmers influence sustainability of Kinyaiti onions farming project and to evaluate how contribution of resources by the farmers influence sustainability of Kinyaiti onions farming project. Participatory theory was applied in the study. Relevant literature review was included as well as conceptual framework. The study used census where 75 farmers in executive committee were the target population, where 67 participated in the study. Descriptive survey research design was used in the study to obtain information from large sample of population and to draw conclusion easily. Questionnaires were used in data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the collected data. The study yielded findings where farmers in decision making, adoption of modern technology and resources contribution were noted to greatly influence sustainability of Kinyaiti onions farming project. Key recommendations included continued involvement of farmers in decision making; County Government of Nyeri and Farm Concern International facilitating farmers to adopt modern technology in farming; National government in liaison with County government of Nyeri to initiate irrigation project in Kinyaiti. Finally, the suggestions for further studies included effects of other commercial crops on sustainability of Kinyaiti onions farming project and the role of value-addition of onions on sustainability of Kinyaiti onions farming project.