Influence of Agriculture Advisory Services on Adoption of Sorghum Production Practices among Smallholder Farmers in Tharaka South Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

The development and dissemination of agricultural advisory services (AAS) amongst smallholder sorghum farmers (SHFs) has played a crucial role in sorghum yield improvement in Kenya. However, there is limited information on the influence of AAS on adoption of sorghum production practices amongst SHFs in Tharaka Nithi County particularly Tharaka South Sub-County. The purpose of the study was to generate information that would deepen the understanding of the influence of AAS in enhancing the adoption of sorghum production practices in Tharaka South Sub-County. A descriptive research design was used to describe the characteristics of the study sample. The study targeted 16,437 smallholder sorghum farmers with a sample size of 108 participants. Stratified proportionate random sampling technique was utilized to select farmers from three strata; Marimanti, Nkondi, and Chiakariga wards. A questionnaire was used for data collection. Piloting study was carried out in South Imenti Ward, Meru County which helped to check and advance the validity of research instrument. The reliability of the research instrument was estimated by computing Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of the variables. The Cronbach’s alpha values for the study were: adoption of sorghum production practices (α = 0.771), while that of AAS was 0.710. The SPSS (V.22) was utilized for computing both the inferential (independent samples t-test) and descriptive (percentage, median, frequency, mean and standard deviation) statistics. The study findings indicated that there was no significant difference in the access and adoption of sorghum production practices between farmers with access to AAS from those who did not t (106) = 0.843, p = 0.401, d = 0.1684 and t (106) = 0.203, p = 0.839, d = 0.041, at 95% confidence interval, respectively. It was concluded that AAS had no influence on the adoption of sorghum production practices amongst SHFs in Tharaka Sub-County. Therefore, the study recommends the government through the State and County departments of agriculture should support impactful agricultural advisory programs that target sorghum farmers to increase the productivity of the crop.