Food Production and Food Security of Smallholder Farmers and their Support by the County Government of Siaya, Kenya

Abstract

Over the years, smallholder farmers in Kenya have been facing several challenges that have contributed to reduced crop production and food security among them. In Siaya County there is food deficit due to reduced crop production. The purpose of this research was to establish food production and food security of smallholder farmers and their support by the county government of Siaya, Kenya. The study objectives were to assess level of food crop production in the study area, to examine the farmers level of crop husbandry and associated yield, to establish the effects of farmers characteristics on their food production and food security and to examine the county government’s extension service level of support of the farmers and its influence on food production and food security. The research design employed in the study was cross sectional descriptive survey which sought to obtain data that were to describe the existing status of household food security and coping strategies among the smallholder farmers. A total of 116 smallholder farmers’ households were randomly sampled from the total population of 580 smallholder farming households in the sub-county. Additionally, data was collected by use of structured questionnaire, observation, and key informant interview guide. Data analysis was done using SPSS (Version 21.0) computer software program. Frequency tables and bar graphs were used to present the findings of the study. The results revealed that farm husbandry remains a problem to many smallholder farmers in Siaya County with only 24.1% were considered to have adopted farm husbandry; this may be attributed to the cost of farm inputs in the area and low extension services. Also, most farmers do not attend field days and only 17.2% have access to credit. Majority of farmers (58.6%) were not food secure and 41.4% were food secure. Reduction in size of meals was the major coping strategy. The county government should avail subsidized seeds and fertilizer in good time and make it accessible. Proper sensitization should be done by county extension officers to all smallholder farmers about the available extension services and county government should provide sufficient facilitation to county extension officers to promote extension services. Farmers should be encouraged to form groups in order to access credit services for their produce and acquire farm inputs collectively.