Determinants of smallholder sweet potato farmers participation in different market options: The case of Vihiga County, Kenya

Market participation has a potential to increase farmers’ rural incomes and employment opportunities especially if farmers concentrate on production and marketing of local crops requiring low inputs such as sweet potatoes. The purpose of this research was to investigate the factors that determine farmers’ shift in market participation from village to regional market in Vihiga County. Cross-sectional data was collected and a multinomial logit model was used for the analysis. Participation in local town market rather than village market was influenced by credit access, total income, transport mode to market, access to extension services, age, value addition done and the quantity of sweet potatoes supplied, while; transport mode, land size, quantity of sweet potatoes and gender determined participation for the regional option. It is recommended that the local and national government should: Increase its support in the establishment of sweet potato market; improve the rural road networks to cut down transport costs, and increase support to farmer groups or associations to increase farmers’ market participation.   Key words: Determinants, smallholder sweet potato farmers, participation, market options.