Factors Influencing the Adoption of Sorghum and its Impact on Household Food Security in Machakos County, Kenya

Abstract

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is a cereal crop that is climate smart as it is drought tolerant. KALRO and partners have developed new sorghum varieties. Researchers have released these new/improved varieties in different parts of the country for adoption. Under KCSAP project carried out in 2019-2023, a study was initiated in three sub-counties of Machakos County an ASAL region of Kenya. The aim of the study was to collect data for the situational analysis of the sorghum value chain. The household survey was undertaken in October 2020 covering 414 households. Data analysis was completed using a number of methods and software; descriptive statistics, Logit and HFIAS models to achieve the objectives of the study. The data analysist indicated that there was low adoption of the sorghum technologies in the study sites. The logistic regression analysis identified three factors that significantly influenced farmers’ adoption of sorghum varieties: farm size, age of the household head, and access to credit. The study concluded that, despite the positive contribution of sorghum to household food security, adoption rates remained low within the study areas. Due to this, the study recommended that more effort was required to create awareness on the existence of the new sorghum varieties and also build the capacity of farmers to produce sorghum crop in arid and semi-arid areas of Kenya.