Navigating Market Choices: Understanding Carrot Market Outlet Selection among Smallholder Farmers in Kenya

This research delves into the hurdles and strategies aimed at augmenting the market involvement of smallholder carrot farmers in Nakuru County, Kenya. Employing a Multinomial Logit (MNL) model, it scrutinizes the factors influencing the selection of marketing outlets among carrot farmers. The findings unveil that a significant majority (81%) of surveyed farmers actively participate in diverse market outlets, encompassing the farm gate, cleaning point, local market, external market, and export market. Notably, pivotal buyers include aggregators, brokers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers, with transactions predominantly occurring at the farm level. Additionally, the analysis discerns substantial influences of socio-economic characteristics, experiential factors, and geographical proximity on farmers’ choices of market outlets. Specifically, gender, age, land size, farming experience, and distance to markets emerge as critical determinants. Moreover, the study delves into the examination of market margins along the carrot value chain, shedding light on the potential profitability of carrot farming in the region. Remarkably, higher average gross margins are identified in export and external markets, signaling lucrative prospects for farmers targeting these segments. However, disparities in profit distribution between farmers and traders underscore the necessity for interventions to ensure equitable value distribution throughout the value chain. These findings underscore the imperative for tailored interventions to tackle challenges and foster inclusive agricultural development. Strategies such as farmer organizations, contracting, and vertical integration are advocated to enhance market access and profitability for smallholder carrot farmers. Thus, this study enriches our comprehension of the dynamics within carrot value chains and provides valuable insights for policymakers and development practitioners aiming to uplift rural livelihoods and bolster food security.

Coping with Shocks and Determinants among Indigenous Vegetable Smallholder Farmers in Kenya

Farm households in developing countries are faced with various challenges one of which is occurrence of unexpected negative events namely shocks. Shocks could be caused by extreme adverse natural events (droughts, storms, flood, and landslides) and market-related events (fuel, food, input and output price fluctuations, volatilities and price hikes). Most of these shocks affect production systems, food markets and local economies, all of which have direct effects on food security. This study explores the prevalence of shocks among indigenous vegetable farmers in Kenya followed by an assessment of the type of coping strategies in response to these shocks. We find that over two thirds of farmers have coping strategies that are not based on market-related insurance mechanisms;rather they use strategies such as working for more hours and selling assets. We analyze which socioeconomic and institutional factors determine households’ decision and extent of coping with shocks. The results showed that access to high-value markets and market information were the major factors informing their decision and extent of using coping strategies along with access to critical services such as credit, extension, and farmer groups. This has significant policy implications regarding the dissemination of information and promotion of credit markets through mobile phone-based platforms for easy accessibility in remote rural areas. Social capital should be encouraged because it acts as a necessary and sufficient conduit for information dissemination and mutual support to help farmers’ access critical services and resources needed for successful and sustainable implementation of relevant and appropriate coping strategies.