Factors Influencing Choice of Market and Extent of Participation among Smallholder Dairy Farmers in Kuresoi North Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

Kuresoi North Sub-County has experienced a rapid expansion in milk production and there exist both formal and informal milk market outlets. With these abundant opportunities, much of the produced quantities are expected to enter the market and farmers‟ livelihoods be improved. However, it is not clear whether the smallholder milk producers are exploiting the existing and emerging market opportunities. The specific objectives of this study were: to characterize the milk markets and smallholder dairy farmers; to determine the factors influencing choice of milk market outlets, and to determine the factors influencing market participation and the extent among small holder dairy farmers in Kuresoi North sub-county. Multistage sampling procedure was employed to select 196 respondents and a semi-structured and pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data from smallholder milk producers. SPSS and STATA computer programs were used to analyze the data. The results showed that occupation of the household, group marketing, access to credit, distance to market point, number of cows, milk volume, price of milk and type of breed significantly influenced the choice of milk marketing outlets. Education level, credit access, number of cows, milk volume and mode of payment significantly influenced the decision to participate in milk marketing. Further, gender, price information, price of milk, marketing experience, household size, distance to market and marketing under contract significantly influenced the extent of market participation. This study recommended that, for improved market participation among smallholder dairy farmers in the sub-county, extension service which was identified to be lacking in the study area must be put in place. The county government and other policy makers should also increase marketing information and capacity building by promoting expansion of dairy farming and linking the farmers to alternative markets thus improving their returns.