Farmers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) on production of African indigenous vegetables in Kenya

Abstract

Local knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs) among local growers are required to design effective vegetable productivity-enhancing interventions. However, limited studies have been conducted in Kenya to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices on production performance of AIVs. A survey was conducted among 600 AIV growers in Busia, Nyamira and Machakos Counties of Kenya to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding AIVs and their contribution on output/yield. Primary data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire supplemented with key informant interviews. Results showed significant knowledge and positive attitude of farmers regarding AIVs, but insignificant use of improved farming practices. The study used a binary logistic regression to identify the variables that are associated with yield increase in AIVs production. It was established that by employing a 5% criterion of statistical significance, ploughing tools, land proportion allotted to the cultivation of AIVs, and water irrigation in AIVs farming significantly influenced the output/yield. Whereas the agro-ecological zones, gender of the farmer, and the fact of being trained in AIVs farming were statistically significant at 10%. On the other hand, farmers’ KAP was not statistically significant. An important implication of this result is that farmers’ personal characteristics need to be taken into consideration when planning developmental programmes for them. We encourage further intervention studies to be done to complement these findings in order to enable effective methods of interventions to boost production of AIVs.