Strategic Planning Practices By Dairy Farmers In Elgeyo Marakwet County In Kenya
Abstract
Strategic planning is a management process aimed at creating and executing long term strategies
and goals which may also extend to the control mechanisms that guide the implementation of
strategies. The concept of strategy refers to the scope and direction of an organization over the
long term. This makes it an invaluable necessity to organizations and without it, they lose
purpose and direction. Mission and vision statements aid organizations in developing valuable
and sustainable objectives and core values that reflect their intent and core values. The strategic
planning process, on the other hand, enables organizations to match their capabilities and limited
resources to the environment. As such strategic planning establishes an organization’s long term
direction and coupled with its mission and vision, the organization looks into the future with a
proactive posture. The dairy industry has had an upward trajectory since it was introduced in the
country and has gone through rigorous changes in the production, processing and marketing
sectors. This has thus increased the competition in the industry with major players coming up.
Strategic planning has gone a long way to enable the industry’s organizations in growth and to
maneuver the complexities in the industry. This study sought to identify the various strategic
planning practices by dairy farmers in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya. The target population
was all dairy farmers in Elgeyo Marakwet County that produce over 100 liters of milk in a day.
The researcher sampled 40 dairy farmers operating in the county in 2017. The study obtained a
total of 30 completed questionnaires that represented a 75% response rate. The primary data
collected was through a semi structured questionnaire that targeted farm owners or farm
managers of the various farms visited. This was on the assumption that the farm owners or
managers were responsible for the strategy formulation and implementation processes in the
farms. The questionnaire was administered through drop and pick-later method and one on one
interview to the target population. The data was coded and entered into Statistical Software for
Social Science (SPSS) and a descriptive analysis ran. Measures of central tendency were applied
on the data and findings, conclusions and recommendations were summarized in the study. The
data was presented using frequency tables, and percentages.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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