The Immpact of Group Based Training Approaches on Crop Yield, Household Income and Adoption of Pest Management Practices in the Smallholder Horticultural Subsector of Kenya

The recent group-based training approaches such as Farmer Field School (FFS) and Common Interest Group (CIG) have been promoted in Kenya to accelerate dissemination of new technologies among farmers. The acceleration of technology adoption is, in turn, expected to have positive impacts on yield, income and adoption of pest management practices. Yet, no conclusive evidence exists to confirm that this might be the case. Using a data from random sample of 495 FFS, CIG and individual farmers this paper evaluated the impact of FFS and CIG participation on yield, income and pest management practices among smallholder horticulture farmers in Kenya. A propensity score matching method was used to determine the average treatment effect on FFS and CIG participation against farmers who operate individually. From the analysis results, FFS and CIG participation had a positive impact on yield and adoption of pest management practices respectively suggesting the importance of farmer groups.

[1]  N. Röling,et al.  Transforming extension for sustainable agriculture: The case of integrated pest management in rice in Indonesia , 1994 .

[2]  Jonathan N. Agwe.  Cultivating Knowledge and Skills to Grow African Agriculture , 2007 .

[3]  Rajinder Peshin,et al.  Integrated Pest Management: Dissemination and Impact , 2009 .

[4]  S. Praneetvatakul,et al.  THE IMPACT OF FARMER FIELD SCHOOLS ON PESTICIDE USE AND ENVIRONMENT IN THAILAND , 2006 .

[5]  T. Irani,et al.  Extending technologies among small-scale farmers in Meru, Kenya: Ingredients for success in farmer groups , 2004 .

[6]  E. V. D. Fliert.  Integrated pest management: Farmer field schools generate sustainable practices , 1993 .

[7]  Gershon Feder,et al.  Sending Farmers Back to School: The Impact of Farmer Field Schools in Indonesia , 2003 .

[8]  A. Janvry,et al.  The Impact of Farmer Field Schools on Knowledge and Productivity: A Study of Potato Farmers in the Peruvian Andes , 2003, Economic Development and Cultural Change.

[9]  John M. Staatz,et al.  Agriculture for development in Sub-Saharan Africa , 2007 .

[10]  H. Berg.  IPM Farmer Field Schools: A synthesis of 25 impact evaluations , 2004 .

[11]  I. N. Oka.  Success and challenges of the Indonesia National Integrated Pest Management Program in the rice-based cropping system , 1991 .

[12]  D. Atkinson,et al.  Crop protection--what will shape the future picture? , 2004, Pest management science.

[13]  W. Lewis,et al.  A total system approach to sustainable pest management. , 1997, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[14]  E. van de Fliert,et al.  Integrated pest management : farmer field schools generate sustainable practices : a case study in Central Java evaluating IPM training , 1993 .

[15]  M. Gautam.  Reconsidering the evidence on returns to T&V extension in Kenya , 1999 .

[16]  Sandra E. Black,et al.  Human-Capital Investments and Productivity , 1996 .

[17]  D. Purcell.  Agricultural extension and research : achievements and problems in national systems , 1997 .

[18]  J. Lagat,et al.  Environmental hazards in African agriculture: factors influencing application of agrochemicals in Nakuru district, Kenya , 2007 .

[19]  P. O'Connell,et al.  Does Training Generally Work? The Returns to in-Company Training , 1999, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[20]  A. Janvry,et al.  World development report 2008 : agriculture for development , 2008 .

[21]  Ping Li,et al.  Effects of training on acquisition of pest management knowledge and skills by small vegetable farmers , 2008 .

[22]  V. Ruttan,et al.  The transition to agricultural sustainability. , 1999, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[23]  George W. Norton,et al.  Effectiveness of Integrated Pest Management Dissemination Techniques: A Case Study of Potato Farmers in Carchi, Ecuador , 2007, Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics.

[24]  Sascha O. Becker,et al.  Estimation of Average Treatment Effects Based on Propensity Scores , 2002 .

[25]  J. Antle.  Pesticide Policy, Production Risk, and Producer Welfare: An Econometric Approach to Applied Welfare Economics , 2015 .