Factors Influencing Production and Marketing of Floriculture Products Among Small Scale Producers in Limuru Constituency, Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

Floriculture has been embraced world wide as the best strategy to improve the income generation of the small scale producers. However, the appropriate strategy for achieving propoor growth in a developing country still needs to be explored in order to determine the best option in the agricultural sector. Moreover prior studies covered the entire discipline in horticulture and hence a need to address the floriculture sub-sector was a prerequisite. The small scale producers are players along the value chain and hence need to explore the status quo of their income generation as a result of floriculture.

The purpose of this study was to show the contributory relationship between floriculture production and marketing and income generation by the small scale producers in Limuru Constituency of Kiambu County. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population comprised of small scale producers from Limuru Constituency and a sample population size of 384 small scale producers was used in the study. The District Agricultural Officer and 24 Agricultural Extension Officers in the Constituency were also included in the study. Primary data was collected using closed and open ended questionnaires, checklists and interview guides. The quantitative data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists.

The qualitative data was analyzed by descriptive statistics. From the findings of the study it's concluded that floriculture alone is a major source of family income as compared to other family financial sources. The study also showed that the extension service was important for development and mainly geared towards control of pests and diseases. It is also concluded that fertilizers .and pesticides were the agro input supplies that consumed most of the production capital. The findings also showed that the type of floriculture pests significantly affected income generated by the small scale producers.

On flower volume, value and quality the study concluded that majority of the farmers do not conduct gross margin analysis and they do not kept farm records. Thus, small scale farmers do not engage in good business practices and therefore it was difficult for them to calculate profit gained from floriculture while the exporting companies maximized profitability. The study recommends that farmers should be trained on ways to diversification approaches in floricultural production. The government and other private firms should seek to employ adequate and qualified extension officers in order to reverse the extension officers to farmer ratio. The small scale farmers should be cushioned from the high production cost through provision of subsidized agro input supplies.