Effect of availability, access and utilization of agricultural extension technologies on the food security situation of smallholder farmers in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

Despite the importance of the agriculture sector to the economy, limited access to agricultural extension information has resulted in poor decisions on agricultural production and related activities thus, affecting achievement of food security. This study through a survey of 397 households sought to examine how availability, access and utilization of agricultural extension services affect smallholder farming household’s food security in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Pearson Correlation was used to measure the strength of association while Ordinal regression was used to predict the behaviour of variables and the parameters of the regression model. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between the availability and access to extension services and food security (rho=0.200, 0.108 and 0.623 respectively, p-value>0.05. The ordinal analysis reveals an insignificant (0.812 and 0.369, p-values>0.05) and positive relationships between respondent households’ access and utilization of agricultural extension services and food insecurity respectively. The study recommends more outreach to small-holder farmers by extension services through creation of community-based extension services. For greater buy-in of the extension packages, smallholder farmers should be involved in the identification and delivery of the extension packages.