The Role of Agricultural Innovation Platforms in Access and Use of Maize Technologies Among Smallholders in Kenya

Abstract

Maize is the most important food crop for the majority of Kenyan households. However, in the past many years, the country has continued to grapple with a persistent deficit in the maize sub-sector. The majority of maize smallholder farmers, who account for over 75 % of national production, have limited participation in the access and use of maize technologies; which are important pre-requisites in increasing maize yields. Furthermore, many smallholders also have limited access to supportive services such as credit, technical and market information. It is also noteworthy that many smallholders are alienated from crucial stakeholders along the maize value chain. The Government of Kenya (GOK), in the first phase of the vision 2030 medium term plan, identified the strengthening of farmer collective action as one of the strategies to improve input market participation, technology adoption, supportive service access and overall production. One of the many forms of farmer collective action that is anchored on fostering value chain partnerships is manifested in institutional innovations such as Agricultural Innovation Platforms (AIPs); which essentially is an alliance of the main actors along the agricultural value chain. Their importance notwithstanding, there is however not enough empirical evidence documenting the impact of AIPs on access to and use of technologies among smallholders and ultimately their effect on maize yields. Noting this gap, this study set out to investigate the determinants of membership to AIPs and the impact that this membership has on maize yields and access to select technologies. The study was conducted on two sites, namely Embu and Meru, which together comprise the Kyeni AIP. Through a combination of random and purposive sampling, 150 households were sampled in total. The study employed Propensity Score Matching to assess the determinants of AIP membership and also to estimate Average Treatment Effects on the Treated (ATT). Concerning the determinants of AIP membership in Embu, the probability of membership tended to increase among households with larger landholdings. Age of the household head was also found to have a positive significant effect on membership. The key policy asset variable determining participation in the platform in Meru region was cattle, such that participation probability tended to increase among households with larger cattle ownership. A common variable determining membership in both areas was access to training on maize varieties which had a positive significant effect on the probability of membership. The results from the ATT estimation reveal that AIP membership has a positive statistically significant effect on fertilizer quantity use and maize yield among its members in Embu, whereas in Meru AIP membership has a positive statistically significant effect on seed use quantity among members. In Embu, members on average used 21 kg more fertilizer per acre compared to non-members and also their yields per acre exceeded that of non-members on average by slightly over 250kg. In Meru region, ATT results show that AIP membership had a positive and significant effect on adoption of improved seed varieties with members on average using approximately 1.5 kg more seed per acre compared to non-members.