Is the type of agricultural extension services a determinant of farm diversity? Evidence from Kenya

Abstract

An understanding of the determinants of farm diversity is important in dealing with food and nutrition security concerns. Access to extension is a key determinant of farm diversity through technology adoption. However, limited empirical evidence exists on the effects of different types of extension services on farm diversity. A truncated Poisson regression was used on data collected from 744 households that were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. Results show that access to government and private extension services increased farm diversity by 81 and 95 percentage points, respectively. The policy implications are that first, government extension services should be focused on farmers who may not afford private extension services given that the least diversified farms are significantly different from the most diversified farms. Second, policies should incentivize the private sector to invest more resources in the development and dissemination of extension services as a complement to government extension and lastly, there is need for policies that guide privatization of extension services especially in the current devolved system of governance in Kenya.

Keywords

• agricultural extension
• farm diversity
• poisson regression
• multi-stage sampling