Assessing readiness of indigenous vegetable women farmers in Kakamega county to satisfy quality standards of high value markets in Kenya

Abstract

African indigenous vegetable (AIV) farmers have limited information in the areas for training and readiness to access and produce vegetables to satisfy the growing demands by retailers in Kenya. The study assessed the readiness of women AIV farmers in Kakamega County to satisfy quality standards for high value markets (HVMs). Descriptive survey design, multistage sampling technique and interview schedule were used to collect data from 276 farmers. Observations and discussions with key informants were used to collect primary data. Statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviation and appropriate correlation coefficients were used to describe and/or identify the relationships among respondents. Results of the study revealed that farmers had low knowledge on quality standards, especially the transaction attributes. The public extension was the main source of information but the perception of farmers on status of resources was low. The male headed households allocated less land for vegetables compared to females. Farmers were willing to a large extent to satisfy quality standards but had low competencies. Famers’ readiness to satisfy standards of HVM depends on knowledge, perception of resources, educational attainment, infrastructure, finance from credit institutions, contact with extension officers, number of years of marketing vegetables and membership to an organization. The study recommends among others that the Ministry of Agriculture train farmers on AIV production and marketing and develop trade policy to ensure that retailers purchase vegetables from certified local farmers.