Abstract:
Baringo District is one of the districts in Kenya that is categorized as an ASAL area, characterized by high poverty and food insecurity. Subsistence farming and pastoralism have been and still are the main source of livelihood for majority of the people. However, since crop and livestock agriculture are susceptible to drought, beekeeping has become the sole most important alternative form of sustenance. Despite documented potential benefits of value addition, honey is majorly produced and marketed with little processing. There is insufficient knowledge on why this is the case. Using survey data from 110 randomly selected honey producers from two divisions in Baringo District, descriptive methods were used to summarize household characteristics and to characterize the farming systems in the study area, while the Heckman two stage and the logistic regression models were used to determine the extent of value addition contingent on the decision of a honey producer to participate in value addition activity, and to assess the link between honey value addition and household poverty status, respectively. From the results, it emerged that farmers in the study area can be categorized into three farming systems, namely, small scale subsistence, small scale semi-commercial, and medium-scale commercial with varying levels of honey production and value addition. The Heckman two stage results indicated that the decision to add value was positively and significantly influenced by the amount of honey harvested, group membership and amount of hours spent on off-farm activities. On the other hand, value addition was negatively influenced by the age of the farmers as well education level. From the study, it also emerged that value addition plays an important role in poverty reduction among those who practice it. The results implied the need come up with specific measures targeting rural farmers, majority of whom are illiterate. This is important as far as training of farmers is concerned and especially when it concerns adoption of new technologies. It is also vital to put in place measures that would encourage and facilitate the practice of value addition if the welfare of the rural population is to be uplifted. The study highlighted imperative policy implications that can help in the debate of poverty alleviation through engaging in high value markets and boosting value addition at farm level.
