| dc.description.abstract | Unemployment is steadily increasing in many countries across the world, yet so acute in developing countries with relatively explosive population parameters, that job creation becomes the focus of all nations. In an attempt to address issues of job creation for sustainable development, more effort is being put on exploitation of locally available resources to provide livelihood. This study focused on factors influencing productivity of potato farming projects in Kabondo Kasipul Sub County, Homa Bay County. The study was grounded on the influence of such factors as, training on value addition, resource mobilization, marketing and preservation and storage and how these would influence productivity of potato farming projects. The study would be significant to the potato project initiators in the potato industry by informing them of the best industry management practices to embrace in order to boost the productivity of the potato industry. It also promised to provide insight to the government to formulate policies that would be favorable to the growth of potato industry, in extension to the general investment initiatives in the county. Various investors also stood to benefit from the study findings, given that this is still an unexploited dimension of the economy in Kabondo Kasipul Sub County and the entire Homa Bay County that offers to provide ingredients to the” Homa Bay County We Want’’. The study was be anchored on the theory of social action by Slocum (1962) and Rothman (1968). Descriptive survey research design was used in the study targeting a population of 1200 potato project stakeholders and the study sample was 10% of the target population; (120) respondents. Sample for the study was obtained by employing cluster sampling procedure. Data was collected using questionnaire, which was pretested to establish its effectiveness. Validity was ascertained through adequate coverage of research objectives, expert judgment and peer review, while reliability was measured using slit- half method. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, such as percentages and frequencies and presented using frequency distribution tables. The study revealed that training on value addition, resource mobilization, marketing strategies and preservation and storage had great significance on productivity of potato farming projects in Kabondo Kasipul Sub County. It was recommended that strong policies be instituted by the government in order to boost productivity of potato farming projects and further research be done to establish other measures of productivity of agricultural projects. | en_US |
