Open AccessStakeholder Involvement in Upscaling of Soil Fertility Research Output in Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya
Author(s) -
S. W. Kimaru-Muchai
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of global awareness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2692-7179
pISSN - 1932-0817
DOI - 10.24073/jga/2/02/06
Subject(s) - descriptive statistics , fertility , soil fertility , mass media , stakeholder , geography , business , socioeconomics , statistics , mathematics , economics , political science , sociology , public relations , environmental science , demography , population , advertising , soil science , soil water
Food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa has prompted a lot of research in the development of soil fertility technologies; however, few of the recommendations from soil fertility management research have been put into use by the target end-users. The objective of the study was to investigate information exchange pathways used by researchers in upscaling of soil fertility in Maara and Mbeere South Sub-counties in Kenya. Structured questionnaires were used to collect information from 22 researchers and 240 farmers. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics like frequency, mean, and percentages, while Chi-square, Kendal's correlation coefficient was used to test the magnitude of the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Inadequate resources materials and poor networking among stakeholders were among the challenges that the researchers faced in the dissemination of their research outputs. The findings also showed that there was a positive and significant correlation between farm size and the mass media approach. Researchers and extension agents should use a mixed approach; this is the use of combined individual, group, and mass media approaches to cater to the different preferences based on socio-economic characteristics of farmers.