The role of varietal traits on the adoption of improved pigeon pea varieties in Kenya

104 Pages·2016·2.85 MB·English

THE ROLE OF VARIETAL TRAITS ON THE ADOPTION OF IMPROVED
PIGEON PEA VARIETIES IN KENYA: THE CASE OF TAITA DISTRICT
By
ZIPORA AWUOR OTIENO
(BSc. Agribusiness Management. Hons)
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF MASTER OF
SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS,
UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI, KENYA
University of NAIROBI Library
"0416784 7
JULY 2010
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DECLARATION
This thesis is my original work and has not been presented for a degree in any other
University.
(BSc. Agribusiness Management. Hons)
(Candidate)
This thesis has been submitted with our approval as University supervisors.
Si^HtedO ^ ^ ^ * ^ 1------ Date: /V ^
Dr. Julius Juma Okello
(University Supervisor)
Signed: Date: \ /V g
Dr. Rose Nyikal
(University supervisor)
DEDICATION
my dear dad and mum; Eng. Caleb Otieno and Margaret Akinyi Otieno.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the Almighty God for the
opportunity and ability to go through the course. I wish to give a special thanks to my
University thesis advisors Dr. Julius Okello and Dr. Rose Nyikal for their guidance
and support throughout the course of my study.
Secondly, I wish also to express my deepest gratitude to the European Union for
funding this study through the Africa’s Innovation in Dryland Areas (AIDA) project. I
am also grateful to Prof. Agnes Mwang’ombe of University of Nairobi, Dr. Daniele
Clavel of the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development
(CIRAD) and Judith Francis of the Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CTA-
Netherlands) who were part of this research project.
I also wish to convey my sincere appreciation to the African Economic Research
Consortium (AERC) through the Collaborative Masters in Agricultural and Applied
Economics (CMAAE) for the award of a scholarship that facilitated my masters
study.
Finally, I am grateful to my dear dad and mum and my beloved siblings Judy, Paul,
Mike, Anne and Esther for the moral support and prayers during the course of the
study period.
God bless you all.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION...........................................................................................................................................................
DEDICATION.............................................................................................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..........................................................................................................................................iv
LIST OF TABLES.....................................................................................................................................................vii
ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................................................viii
1.0 CHAPTER ONE.....................................................................................................................................................1
1.1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................1
1.1.1 Background..............................................................................................................1
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT................................................................................................3
1.3 OBJECTIVES....................................................................................................................4
1.3.1 Specific objectives...................................................................................................4
1.4 HYPOTHESES..................................................................................................................5
1.5 JUSTIFICATION..............................................................................................................5
2.0 CHAPTER TWO....................................................................................................................................................7
2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW..................................................................................................7
2.1.1 Role of Socio-Economic Factors in Variety Adoption............................................7
2.1.2: Role of Wealth and Assets in Variety Adoption....................................................9
2.1.3: Role of Institutional Factors in Variety Adoption.................................................10
2.1.4 Role of Agro-Ecological Factors in Variety Adoption..........................................11
2.1.5 Role of Varietal Traits in Variety Adoption..........................................................13
2.1.6 Methodological Approach for Analyzing Farmer Decision to Adopt Agricultural
Technologies................................................. 14
2.1.7 Methodological Approach for Analyzing the Intensity of Adoption of New
Technologies.........................................................................................................16
3.0 CHAPTER THREE.............................................................................................................................................18
3.1 METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................................18
3.1.1 Conceptual Framework..........................................................................................18
3.1.2 Theoretical model..................................................................................................19
3.1.3 Empirical Model................*...............................................................................21
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3.2 MAP OF TAITA DISTRICT SHOWING AREA OF STUDY......................................28
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3.3 DATA COLLECTION AND SAMPLING...................................................................29
4.0 CHAPTER FOUR................................................................................................................................................32
4.1 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION......................................................................................32
4.1.1 Socio-economic Characterization of the Farming Households............................32
4.1.2 Farmers’ Knowledge and Adoption of Pigeon pea Varieties...............................35
4.1.3 Extent of Improved Pigeon pea Varieties.............................................................36
4.1.4 Farmers’ Perceptions of Improved Pigeon pea Varietal Attributes......................38
4.1.5 Pigeon pea Variety Attributes and Farmers’ Perceptions of each Variety...........39
4.2.1 Drivers of Adoption of Improved Pigeon pea Varieties in Taita District.............40
4.2.2 Marginal Effects of the Multivariate probit model..............................................48
4.2.3 Factors Affecting the Intensity of Adoption of Improved Pigeon pea varieties.... 49
5.0 CHAPTER FIVE..................................................................................................................................................53
5.1 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS................................53
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................................................56
VI
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Pigeon pea area, production and yield in Kenya (1996-2005)......................2
Table 2: Description of variables used in the Multivariate probit and Poisson
regressions....................................................................................................26
Table 3: Means of the socio-economic variables in the survey area...........................34
Table 4: Awareness and adoption of pigeon pea variety in Taita district, 2008.........36
Table 5: Spread of adoption of improved pigeon pea varieties in Mwatate, Voi and
Wundanyi locations.......................................................................................37
Table 6: Pigeon pea variety attributes and farmers’ perceptions of each variety.......40
Table 7: Factors affecting adoption of improved pigeon pea varieties in Taita district:
Results of Multivariate Probit regression......................................................42
Table 8: Marginal effects from the multivariate probit model...................................48
Table 9: Factors affecting the intensity of adoption of improved pigeon pea varieties
in Taita district: Results of Poisson regression.............................................50
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Conceptual diagram of factors affecting adoption of improved pigeon
pea varieties................................................................................................19
Figure 2: Farmers’ perceptions of improved pigeon pea variety attributes................39
LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: PARTIAL CORRELATIONS..................................................................73
APPENDIX 2: FARM-LEVEL QUESTIONNAIRE.........................................................74
LIST OF ACRONYMS
ICRISAT- International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics.
IPVs-Improved Pigeon pea Varieties^ ^
ABSTRACT
Pigeon pea has recently been promoted by the government and other research
organizations in Kenya due its ability to tolerate moisture stress. It traditionally has
been grown in central and eastern Kenya. However, in Coast province the crop was
introduced in the larger Taita Taveta district on experimental basis in 2004. Since then
the crop has rapidly spread to cover most of the district. While previous studies have
assessed the drivers of the adoption of pigeon pea, none has examined the effect of
variety attributes on pigeon pea adoption.
This study used a multivariate probit and poisson regression techniques to examine
the role of pigeon pea variety attributes on farmers’ adoption of improved pigeon pea
varieties introduced in Taita district. It was based on data collected from 200
households in Mwatate, Voi and Wundanyi divisions of Taita district between April
and May 2009.
The study finds that out of the five improved pigeon pea varieties released to farmers,
only three varieties were adopted. These include, Katumani 60/8, ICPL 89091 and
ICEAP 00068. A multivariate probit regression model was used to analyze the factors
affecting the probability of adoption of improved pigeon pea varieties. Results
showed that the major pigeon pea variety attributes driving rapid adoption are drought
tolerance, pest tolerance, yield, ease of cooking, taste and the variety’s ability to fetch
a price premium. Group membership, agro-ecological zone, distance to the nearest
main market, education level of farmer and years of farming experience positively
influenced the probability of adoption of improved pigeon pea varieties. Early
maturity, a major focus of recent researcjt, has no effect on the farmers’ adoption
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decisions. The marginal effects of the multivariate probit model further confirm that
variety traits had the greatest effect on adoption decisions by farmers.
The poisson regression model was applied to analyze the intensity of adoption and the
results showed that variety attributes such as taste, ease of cooking, pest resistance
and drought tolerance positively influenced the degree of adoption of improved
pigeon pea varieties. Among the socio-economic factors, farmer’s education was
found to positively influence the intensity of adoption of improved pigeon pea
varieties. Farmer’s age, gender and farming experience did not affect the intensity of
adoption of the varieties.
These findings imply that development of improved crop varieties should pay
attention to consumption and market characteristics in addition to production traits.
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IX
1.0 CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.1.1 Background
Pigeon pea is a grain legume that is well adapted to low rainfall patterns and thrives in
low fertility soils. Its production is not labour intensive which is a major advantage in
conditions of declining labour availability due to rural-urban migration and
HIV/AIDS. Other benefits of pigeon pea include its good nutritional properties and
ability to withstand dry conditions and declining soil fertility. It is therefore a crop
that can reduce the hunger gap in many Sub-Saharan countries.
The global production and hectarage of pigeon pea is estimated at 3.6 million tons and
6.3 million hectares respectively (FAOSTAT, 2007). This gives a global pigeon pea
yield index of 0.57 tonnes per hectare. Almost all world pigeon pea is produced in
developing countries with Asia accounting for 90 percent and 94 percent of global
pigeon pea area and production respectively (FAOSTAT, 2007).
Africa is the second largest producing region accounting for 8.1 percent and 5.4
percent of global production and area respectively. In Kenya, pigeon pea is one of the
most important grain legumes in the arid and semi-arid lands. Kenya is the second
largest producer of pigeon pea after India (ICRISAT, 2007). The principal producing
districts are Machakos, Kitui, Meru, Embu and Mbeere (Mergeai et al., 2001). These
are in the semi arid Eastern province of Kenya. In Coast province, improved varieties
of the crop were introduced in Taita district on experimental basis in 2004. Since then,
the crop has spread to cover most of the district. Inspite of the widespread adoption of
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