Economic Analysis of Smallholder Farmers’ Participation in the Cassava Marketing Value Chain in Taita-taveta and Kilifi Counties, Kenya

Abstract

Cassava is an important food crop with high production potential for different agroecological zones across the world. Therefore, cassava has a great potential as both a food security crop and other industrial purposes. However, the cassava industry and value chain in Kenya is still underdeveloped since there are many cassava marketing opportunities that are yet to be exploited. This study analyses the participation of smallholder farmers in the cassava marketing value chain in Taita-Taveta and Kilifi Counties in Kenya. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires from a sample of 250 smallholder cassava farmers and 105 cassava traders. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the socio-economic characteristics of respondents and to map both the cassava marketing channels and the marketing value chain. A binary Probit model was used to analyse the socio-economic factors that influence farmers participation in cassava marketing while an Ordered Probit model was used to analyse the cassava commercialization levels in the study area. The results show that most cassava farmers participate in cassava marketing but at different commercialization levels and cassava trading is dominated by female traders. However, there was little value addition to cassava tubers since cassava is mostly consumed as food and 92 percent of farmers sell fresh roots while 78 percent of traders resale the fresh roots. The results of the binary Probit model show that, access to extension services, price of cassava product and quantity harvested had a positive and significant influence on market participation decision while years of schooling, household size and farm size had a negative and significant influence on the market participation decision. On the other hand, the Ordered Probit results show that, pest management, seed buying and access to extension services had positive and significant influence on commercialization level while household size and distances to the nearest market place had negative and significant influence on commercialization level. Therefore, based on the findings, the study recommended policy interventions targeting organization and

coordination of the cassava marketing system and provision of appropriate incentives to farmers and traders in the bid to develop the cassava marketing value chain. Key Words: Cassava, Participation, Commercialization Level, Marketing, Farmers, Traders