| dc.description.abstract | Due to poor market and physical infrastructure, high transaction costs, pnce risk, and
information problems, past liberalization and structural adjustment policies have not been
able to improve market access, hence decreased commercialization for smallholder farmers.
The private sector that replaced public sector has largely failed to make the investments
needed for effective market coordination. Consequently, over the past few decades, scientists
and development agencies have highlighted production and marketing challenges faced by
smallholder farmers and suggested various forms of policy intervention. Collective action has
been one of the recommended interventions in production and marketing through producer
and marketing organizations. Collective action arises when people come together because of
constraints and to take joint action and decisions to accomplish an outcome. Hence, it is vital
to know what governments can do to better support the farmer organizations.
Collective action (in form of farmer organizations) is widely recognized as a positive force
for rural development in Africa. However emerging empirical evidence suggests that farmer
organizations perform differently. Are there certain structural factors or characteristics of
farmer organizations that contribute to or inhibit effective performance? The current study
therefore seeks to examine the role of social capital on the performance of farmer
organizations. Social capital refers to the quality and depth of the relationships between
people in a group or community. It is the obligations and expectations, information channels
and social norms. In particular, the study assesses the effect of various dimensions of social
capital on (i) commercialization of smallholders' produce and (ii) on the performance of the
farmer organizations' marketing function. It uses data collected in 2007 from 225 farmers
selected by membership to farmer organizations in 45 farmer organizations in western Kenya.
The effect of social capital on commercialization and performance of the organizations'
marketing role is tested using econometric techniques. Two econometric models are
estimated. Both objectives of the study were addressed by estimating ordinary least squares
(OLS) regressions.
The findings of the study suggest that, among the social capital dimensions, diversity among
members in the farmer organization, frequency of attendance to the farmer organization's
meetings, level of solidarity and level of trust in the organization positively influenced
household's level of commercialization. Level of democracy in decision making and density
of membership to other formal and informal organization did not spur commercialization at
household level. The findings of the second objective indicated that diversity among
members in the farmer organization, frequency of attendance to the farmer organization's
meetings, level of democracy in decision making, level of solidarity and density of
membership to other formal and informal organization positively influenced the performance
of a farmer organization. An increase in the level of trust among the members in the farmer
organization had a negative influence on its performance. The conclusion derived from the
results therefore indicate that, smallholder farmers participating in farmer organizations'
activities and with higher levels of social capital were more commercially oriented in their
production. Social capital also enhances the performance of farmer organizations as
marketing intermediaries. The findings highlight the role of social capital on farmers' access
to lucrative markets and hence integration into the market economy.
Keywords; social capital, collective action, agricultural commercialization and performance
offarmer organizations | en |
