The impact of green logistics practices on customer value among food processing firms in Mombasa county, Kenya

Abstract

This research work is about the relationship between Green Logistics Practices and customer value among Food processing firms in Mombasa County, Kenya. This research had three intentions: To determine the extent to which food processing firms in Mombasa practice green logistics, To explore the extent to which green logistics practices determine customer value and To determine the challenges that the food processing firms in Mombasa face in adopting green logistics practices. The study design used a descriptive cross sectional survey design. Questionnaires were used to collect data and descriptive statistics to analyze the data. The study focused on firms in the food processing industry in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study revealed that 98.3 % of food processing firms in Mombasa County have adopted green logistics practices but not to a very large extent. It also revealed that majority of the firms which have not adopted the green logistics practices are in planning and implementation stages. The correlation between customer value and green logistics practices revealed that there exists a statistical significant relationships at F = 10.456 and p value <0.05 which influence the customer perception towards the firm products and services. The study also concluded that lack of advanced technology, lack of awareness among the stakeholders and strict government policies with mean scores of 3.15, 3.13 and 2.96 respectively were the major challenges faced. The study recommended that there is urgent need for firms in Mombasa to go green by incorporating green logistics practices which will help deal with environmental issues such as pollution and environmental degradation, government should not only impose strict regulations but also should provide funding to enable the firms acquire the required equipment with the latest technology and that firms should develop green logistics policy which will act a guide in planning and also implementing the required practices. Despite the limitation of questionnaire filling in data collection, the study suggests further a comprehensive research on how the government policies affect implementation of green logistics and also remedial measures to address the issue.