| dc.description.abstract | The benefits of Livestock to mankind and the well-being of the society need not be gainsaid. Therefore, the quality and just the number of Livestock a farmer keeps matters a lot and it is within this understanding that the government of Kenya introduced subsidized cattle upgrading programs in the 1960s. However, the expectation that all cattle be upgraded within the first five years of its implementation has not been met, over 40 years down the line. Nyamira District has remained a net importer of Livestock and Livestock products attributable to low adoption of cattle upgrading technology.
It was therefore necessary to determine the factors that have contributed to the low adoption of cattle upgrading services despite the government's initiatives in Nyamira District. This study was an investigation on how culture, attitude, managerial practices and awareness education influence the uptake of cattle farming upgrading technology in Nyamira District. It was cross-sectional survey conducted among the farmers in Nyamira District between March and April .2010.
Data was collected by the researcher with the help of five (5) research assistants through questionnaires and interviews on a Sample of 127 farmers selected through snowballing. The study established that culture, attitudes, managerial practices and awareness education predict the adoption of cattle upgrading in the following percentage proportions 42.2 %, 43.3 %, 59.5 % and 61.0% respectively. Taken together, culture of the local community, attitude, awareness education and managerial practices, predict for 85.1 % of the extent of cattle upgrading technology in Nyamira District.
The study concluded that managerial practices is the most significant predictor for uptake of cattle upgrading technology and recommended that the ministry of Livestock Development conduct education programs to change the attitude of the community and recruit more extension officers to undertake this very important initiative. To this end, it was further recommended that the Ministry of Livestock work closely with the Department of culture and social services to hasten the process of attitudinal change amongst the farmers in Nyamira District.
The study finally recommends that another study be done to determine other factors determining cattle uptake upgrading technology. This was informed by the fact that this study only looked at culture, awareness education, attitude of the local people and managerial practices that accounted for 85.1 % hence there is need to investigate the other factors that account for 14.9%. | en_US |
