INFLUENCE OF EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL FACTORS ON UPTAKE OF AVOCADO IMPROVED PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES: CASE OF KISII AND NYAMIRA COUNTIES REGION, KENYA

Abstract

The study was carried out to evaluate influence of social and educational factors on uptake of  improved production technologies in avocado smallholder farming. The study was done in Kisii and Nyamira counties region, Kenya.The general objective is to improve avocado production. The specific objective is to assess influence of farmer’s social factors; gender roles, age and level of formal education on upake of improved production technologies in Avocado smallholder farming. Low avocado production in the study region is attributed to low uptake of improved  production technologies by  small scale farmers, among other factors. The study hypothesised that the low  uptake could be due to  chance and there is no  significant influence  of the farmer’s social factors; gender roles,age and level of formal education  on  the  uptake  hence the study. Descriptive survey  research design  was used.Stratified and  purposive sampling procedures  and Morgan’s table of sample size determination were applied in obtaining respondents. There was one sub county  purposively sampled from each  of  the 4 agroecological zones in the region.Thus from 4 sub  counties with 1,211  house holds, a sample of 291 respondents was accessed  using Morgan’s table. Reliable structured questionnaires with  Cronbach Alpha, α=0.724 were  used to collect  field data from 291  small scale avocado farmers.The data was analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) computer software. Descriptive, analysis of variance, least significant difference and regression outputs were obtained. Results show that where male farmers  control family resources more than females, influence of  the gender roles has more significant  mean difference and positive  correlation  with uptake  of avocado improved production technologies hence better for the uptake. Although influence of farmer’s age of over 70 years has more significant difference on uptake of the technologies, their correlation is not significant. Thus, farmers’ uptake of  the technologies non-significantly decreases with both decrease and increase in age. Influence of  farmer’s secondary level of formal education has more significant  difference and positive correlation on uptake  of avocado improved production technologies hence better for the uptake. Gender inclusivity should be encouraged and  there is room for offering extension services even to the aged farmers involved in production of improved production technologies such as avocado. Secondary level of formal education should be prioritized for the citicenry for increased  uptake of  avocado improved  production technologies.