Sampling of smallholder farmers for involvement in farm adoption studies in western Kenya

Abstract

In rural societies, including Kenya, effective sampling frames for farm adoption studies do not exist. In western Kenya, where the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) is carrying out research and development work, there is no information on villages and the number of homesteads in them. This has compelled social science researchers to search for effective ways of sampling homestead heads or farmers. Three separate but interrelated studies in South Nyanza District where precision in sampling was achieved are reported. The studies show the need for collecting information about villages, numbers of homesteads, and the names of homestead heads of the villages sampled.