Is Cassava Commercialization a Strategy for Improving Household Income of Smallholder Farmers in Kenya? Endogenous Switching Model Approach

Abstract

Improving the economic welfare of smallholder farmers through agricultural commercialization strategy has been of great concern in sub-Saharan Africa. This is especially so in the Arid and Semi-Arid (ASAL) areas of Kenya which are prone to drought and poverty challenges. Among the few crops that can thrive in these areas and be used in commercialization is cassava. Therefore this study purposed to evaluate the effect of cassava commercialization on household income among smallholder farmers in Siaya County, Kenya. A multistage sample of 181 households was obtained. An econometric analysis based on endogenous switching regression model was performed. The study found that farmers who undertook cassava commercialization had a significant higher income relative to those who did not. In addition, several factors were found to significantly affect commercialization. These included farm size, years of education and remittances which positively (p<0.05) influenced cassava commercialization and group membership (P<0.10). However distance to the market (p<0.01) had a negative effect. The study recommends that cassava commercialization should be enhanced in the region through various interventions by key stakeholders. These include providing farmers with high yielding cassava varieties, promoting value addition of cassava and upgrading rural road networks to facilitate easy movement of actors and products to markets.

Keywords: Commercialization, Cassava, Strategy, Household income, Smallholder farmer