Determinants of performance of small scale Tea farming projects: a case study of Kisii County in Kenya

Abstract

Tea is the most popular drink in the world and Kenya is ranked the fourth nation that produces tea in the world, where tea sector is mainly supplied by small scale tea farmers who produce about 62 per cent of total tea production. Tea production needs a lot of labor and the industry offers employment in rural areas, whereby millions of people around the world depend on tea picking and processing. The research study was carried out to explore determinants of performance of small scale tea farming in Kisii County and it was guided by four main objectives; To assess the extent to which availability of small scale tea market influence performance on SCTF; To assess the extent to which cost of farm inputs influence performance of SCTF; To examine the influence of weather conditions on performance of SCTF; To assess the influence of level of education in SCTF in Kisii County. Data was collected using random sampling a large population of 2000 small scale tea growers whereby a careful sample size of 200 farmers from the population were selected questionnaire was used as a research instrument to collect data. Obtained data was analyzed using Qualitative methods and their final results presented using frequency tables and percentages and charts through SPSS and excellent programs. The researcher decisively concluded that small scale tea farmers should be sensitized about factors that influence performance of SCTF by improving their level of education, and accessing effective farm inputs.