| dc.description.abstract | A household or a country that is food insecure cannot be peaceful let alone being able to achieve any meaningful economic development. One of the most effective ways of enhancing food security is through adoption of modem technologies such as greenhouse technology which increases crop productivity, food safety and also environmentally friendly. From Ministry of Agriculture Nyeri Central District only 16 farmers out 667 farmers had greenhouses in Gatitu Sub-location. The purpose of the study was to assess the factors influencing the adoption of greenhouse technology in Gatitu Sub-Location in Nyeri Central District, Nyeri County. These factors were finances, knowledge, availability of materials and gender issues. The study employed descriptive survey design whereby both Purposive and Simple Random Sampling methods were used.
Purposive sampling was used to sample farmers with greenhouses because they posses more information on greenhouse technology while Simple Random Sampling was used on farmers without greenhouses since this population was homogenous. Questionnaires and observation guide were used as the data collection instruments. Statistical data was analyzed with the help of Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS). For qualitative data, use of content analysis to identify patterns and theme was identified. The relationship between dependent and independent variables was analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Data was presented using frequency distribution tables, mean, standard deviation and percentages.
The key findings of this study were that majority of farmers depended on loans as a source of capital for investing in greenhouse technology although loans were expensive and mostly required collateral as security. Access to finance seemed to be the biggest impediment to adoption of greenhouse technology and it greatly determined the level of greenhouse technology adopted. Access to greenhouse materials greatly influences adoption of greenhouse technology. Majority of farmers were using second hand materials instead of new ones because new materials were more expensive. Materials were also not available locally but available from Nairobi and Naivasha. Most greenhouses were owned by men by virtue of being majority decision makers and having more access to credit men than women.
More women than men were providing labour in the greenhouses despite being minority decision makers and owners meaning that greenhouse is a male dominated activity where women are marginalized. There was low youth participation on greenhouse technology and adoption of greenhouse technology was low and at very low technology levels.
The study recommendations: Ministry of Finance should collaborate with the financial institutions to make credit more accessible and affordable to the farmers, Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with private agricultural extension providers should organize trainings on greenhouse technology and run training programmes through the media to enhance coverage and also make greenhouse materials more available and affordable to the farmers, Ministries of youth and Gender should come up with strategies of encouraging youth and women respectively to adopt greenhouse technology as a means of enhancing employment creation and household food security.
The generalized findings of the study would be useful to the government in 'formulating regulations and policies concerning promotion of adoption of greenhouse technology for enhancement of food security in the country and also as a means of enhancing agricultural development in line with Vision 2030 development plan and millennium development goals. On the other hand, the study would be useful in trying to bridge the knowledge gap on the factors influencing adoption of greenhouse technology. The findings of the study would also help the farmers with greenhouses to deal with some of the factors influencing adoption of this technology. | en_US |
