Social Economic Factors Influencing Adoption Of Livestock Production Technologies In Kenya: A Case Of “Mifugo Ni Mali”

Abstract

The level of livestock improvement technologies disseminated and adopted by the target audience needs to be investigated. Information dissemination is slowly gaining momentum as a complimentary factor in promoting agriculture in the rural areas. The study sought to establish the social economic factors influencing adoption of livestock production technologies in Makueni County in Kenya. The specific objectives were to: establish influence of training on adoption of livestock production technologies in Makueni County in Kenya, establish influence of cost of implementation on adoption of livestock production technologies in Makueni County in Kenya, establish influence of farmer attributes on adoption of livestock production technologies in Makueni County in Kenya and establish influence of dissemination of information on adoption of livestock production technologies in Makueni County in Kenya. Descriptive research design was utilized in this study. The target population was 129 including livestock farmers registered in “Mifugo ni Mali” programme and livestock extension officers in Makueni County. The sample size was 86 respondents. The data was collected using questionnaires. The collected data was sorted, cleaned and analyzed to give frequencies and inferential statistics by use of using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 25.0). The study found that training greatly influence adoption of livestock production technologies in Makueni County, Kenya (43%). The study also established that on farm training of farmers influence adoption of livestock production technologies in Makueni County, Kenya to a great extent (Mean = 4.114). The study concluded that dissemination of information (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.836) had the greatest influence on adoption of livestock production technologies in Makueni County, Kenya, followed by training (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.769), then farmer attributes (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.774) while cost of implementation (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0. 0.672) had the least effect on adoption of livestock production technologies in Makueni County, Kenya. The study recommends that there is a need for the county government of Makueni in conjunction with national government of Kenya to come with strategies of reducing the cost of implementing the livestock production technologies. The study further recommends that there is need for farmers and extension officers to be trained on livestock production technologies and other technologies that can positively contribute to high productivity among farmers. Further studies are recommended on; effect of government support on adoption of livestock production technologies and another area would be on the challenges facing the farmers in adoption of livestock production technologies