SOCIAL INEQUALITIES INFLUENCING AWARENESS OF GOOD AGRICULTUAL PRACTICES AMONG SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN MURANG’A COUNTY IN KENYA
Abstract
Awareness of GLOBAL G.A.P. standards is the bedrock for the growth of export horticulture as it provides livelihoods to many small-scale farmers in developing countries. However, non-compliance with food safety requirements has evoked questions about farmers’ levels of awareness. Previous studies have overlooked the awareness-seeking behavior of smallholder farmers with diverse social characteristics. Therefore, this study was conducted in Murang’a County in Kenya to investigate the influence of social characteristics on awareness-exposure behavior among smallholder French bean farmers. The study systematically selected 115 small-scale French bean farmers. Questionnaires were administered through face-to-face interviews to elicit the data. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics by employing Pearson’s correlation and the Chi-square test. The study found that farmers differed in their awareness of different components that constitute GLOBAL G.A.P. Gender, farmer’s position in household, occupation, and wealth status were among the social inequalities that had a significant influence on the awareness of GLOBAL G.A.P. standards. In addition, farmer’s participation in awareness forums and affiliation with multiple sources of information on GLOBAL food safety standards had a significant influence on their level of awareness. This study recommends that proponents of farming innovations should always consider the socioeconomic status of potential adopters.
Keywords
awareness; good agricultural practices; exposure; social characteristics; social inequalities
References
Dolan, C. (1995). Contested terrain: Gender, labor and religious dynamics in horticultural exporting, Meru District, Kenya. (Working Paper No. 501). Retrieved from: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/123456789/1099
Fan, L., Niu, H., Yang, X., Qin, W., Bento, C., Ritsema, C., Violette, G. (2015). Factors affecting farmers’ behaviour in pesticide use: Insights from a field study in northern China. Sci. Total Env., 537, 360–368; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.150 0048-9697/
Gignac, G.E., Szodorai, E.T. (2016). Effect size guidelines for individual differences researchers. Pers. Indiv. Differ., 102, 74–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.06.069
GLOBAL G.A.P. (2019). GLOBAL G.A.P. TOUR stop conference on our experts in your region. Conference proceedings of GLOBAL G.A.P. conference held at KALRO headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya. Retrieved from https://www.GLOBALGAP.org/uk_en/media-events/tour/tour-2019/tour-2019-kenya/
Kariuki, J.G. (2013). The gender implications of men’s shift from cash-crop farming to dairy farming in Central Kenya. Int. J. Soc. Sci. Entrep., 1(5), 631–646.
Kassem, H.S., Alotaibi, B.A., Aldosari, A.O., Herab, A., Ghozy, R. (2020). Factors influencing smallholder orange farmers for compliance with GobalGAP standards. Saudi J. Biol. Sci., 28, 1365–1373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.
2020.11.070
Kersting, S., Wollni, M. (2012). New Institutional arrangements and standard adoption: Evidence from small-scale fruit and vegetable farmers in Thailand. Food Pol., 37(4), 452–462. DOI 10.1016/j.foodpol.2012.04.005
Kuwornu, J.K., Mustapha, S. (2013). Global GAP standard compliance and smallholder pineapple farmers’ access to export markets: Implications for incomes. J. Econ. Behav. Stud., 5(2), 69–81.
Macharia, I. Mithöfer, D., Waibel, H. (2013). Pesticide handling practices by vegetable farmer in Kenya. Env. Dev. Sustain., (15), 887–902. DOI 10.1007/s10668-012-9417-x
Murang’a County Government (2014). First County Integrated Development Plan. Murang’a County. Republic of Kenya. Retrieved from www.kpda.or.ke/documents/CIDP/Murang’a.pdf
Muriithi, B., Mburu, J., Ngigi, M. (2011). Constraints and determinants of compliance with EurepGAP standards: A case of smallholder French bean exporters in Kirinyaga District, Kenya. Agribusiness, 27(2), 193–204.
Ouma, S. (2010). GLOBAL standards, local realities: Private agrifood governance and the restructuring of the Kenyan Horticulture Industry. Econ. Geogr., 86(2), 197–222. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-8287.2009.01065.x
Rogers, M. E. (1983). Diffusion of Innovations. 3rd Edition. The Free Press, New York, USA.
Sharifzadeh, M.S., Abdollahzadeh, G., Damalas, C.A. Rohollah, R. (2018). Farmers’ criteria for pesticide selection and use in the pest control process. Agriculture, 8, 24; doi: 10.3390/agriculture8020024
Tallontire, A., Opondo, M., Nelson, V. (2013). Contingent spaces for smallholder participation in GLOBAL GAP: Insights from Kenyan horticulture value chains. Geogr. J., 180(4), 353–364. https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12047
UNCTAD (2007). Challenges and opportunities arising from private standards on food safety and environment for exporters of fresh fruit and vegetables in Asia: Experiences of Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam. United Nations. New York. USA. Retrieved from: https://unctad.org/en/Docs/ditcted20076_en.pdf
University of Nairobi Kenya
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3239-1240
University of Nairobi, Kenya Kenya
University of Nairobi, Kenya Kenya
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This journal permits and encourages authors to post items submitted to the journal on personal websites or institutional repositories both prior to and after publication, while providing bibliographic details that credit, if applicable, its publication in this journal.