Factors Influencing Smallholder Farmers Participation in Collective Marketing and the Extent of Participation in Improved Indigenous Chicken Markets in Baringo, Kenya

Abstract

Smallholder farmer collective action not only provides a solution to farmer’s constraints such as lack of market accessibility and inability to take advantage of available market opportunities but also holds the potential to diversify their incomes and increase agricultural productivity translating to enhanced food security and poverty eradication. This research aimed at investigating the role of farmer marketing groups in smallholder market participation using a sample of 198 farmers, sampled from a population of 395 smallholder improved indigenous chicken farmers in Baringo, Kenya, using Probit and Tobit models. The study findings established that farmers' involvement in collective action is predominantly determined by; Education level, household size, distance to extension, cost of transport, and the price per chicken. The extent of participation in improved indigenous chicken markets was positively related to; education level of the household head and farm size while negatively and significantly influenced by off-farm income and the cost of farming. The results of this study provide evidence that farmer collective action has the potential of strengthening market participation among smallholder farmers.