| dc.description.abstract | The central aim of this study is to investigate the impact
of socio-economic factors namely, land size, pricing system,
labour, extension, credit system, food cash crop dualism,
membership to co-operatives, type of farm equipments and literacy
on agricultural production on small, medium and large farms in
Nyeri District.
The unit of analysis utilized in the study is the farm
household. Probability and none probability sampling was used to
get the sample population. The sample size consisted of 128
respondents. The main research tool utilized in the study was the
survey technique where structured interviews were administered
by use of a standard questionnaire, while unstructured
interviews were used in the key informant technique. This study is guided by one of the major tenets of
modernization paraqigm. According to the modernization paradigm,
modernity at the farm level can only be achieved through the
adoption of technology which conforms to the needs of farmers.
The central finding of the study is that in coffee
production, the socio-economic factors that contribute
sigriificantly to coffee production were namely money spent on
agro-chemicals and land size in the small and large farms. For
food crop production, it was noted that money spent on seeds and
land size were the most significant factors that influenced food
production. It was therefore inferred that socio-economic factors that
are viewed as the main modernizing agents at farm level do not
on an equitable level account for a significant contribution in
increasing farm productivity. Only land size and monetary
investments offered a significant contribution towards farm
productivity.
Based on the findings of the study, the study made the
following recommendations; A review of the agricultural prices
which were quite high, a review of the credit and extension
facilities which rarely existed in the study area, a review of
regulations governing land fragmentation since majority of the
farmers farmed land parcels that are too small to offer them
meaningful economic gains. Research on horticultural farming and
.irrigation should be conducted in the small farmer's region,
since farmers are disillusioned by the prohibitive use of
Government piped water for farm activities. | en |
