Determinants of Women in Post- Production Agri-value Chain Activities on Group Participation in Njoro and Molo Sub-counties, Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

The Kenyan government has been promoting group participation to enhance agricultural productivity through marketing and financial access to improve livelihoods. Groups have also been valued for their ability to foster social capital and collective actions. However, women's involvement in these groups has not been primarily focused on and taken seriously. Although previous researchers have clearly shown the importance of group participation, the determinants of group participation by women agri-preneurs is still unknown. This article therefore, determined the factors influencing women participation in groups in Njoro and Molo Sub-counties, Nakuru County. A multistage sampling technique was employed. Njoro and Molo Sub-counties in Nakuru County, Kenya between March and August 2023.The study sampled 267 female agri-preneurs, both group participants and non-participants. Data processing was done using STATA and SPSS software. The Binary Logit regression model determined the factors influencing women participation in groups. The major factors influencing women agri-preneurs’ participation in groups included: Previous experience about group membership, the size of agribusiness enterprise in terms of income and ability of the female agri-preneur to access and borrow the loan at 95% confidence level. : Previous experience about group membership (P=.000), the size of agribusiness enterprise in terms of income (P=.000) and ability of the female agri-preneur to access and borrow the loan (P=.002) were statistically significant in (P<.05) to their participation in groups. Previous experience about group membership, the size of agribusiness enterprise in terms of income and ability of the female agri-preneur to access and borrow the loan positively influences women participation in groups. This can be attributed to more experience, skills, knowledge and attitude that female agri-preneurs get as they involve more in previous groups and the accessibility of the resources needed to manage their post- production activities.