Socio-economic factors affecting sisal cultivation and adoption in Kiomo Division, Kitui County

Abstract

Sisal cultivation has the potential of contributing immensely towards the economic development of a given country resulting to the improved standards of living. However, despite its potential, farmers are yet to embrace sisal production as one of their economic mainstay. This study examined the factors contributing to the low sisal cultivation and adoption in Kiomo division, Kitui County. During the study, 184 farmers were randomly sampled. Secondary and primary data were used and statistical package for social scientist (SPSS) software was used for data analysis. The study revealed that 57% of the interviewed farmers were aware of sisal cultivation as a commercial activity. The study showed that there was a relationship between gender and awareness of sisal cultivation as a commercial activity (P-Value=0.215>P=0.05). It was also revealed that there was a relationship between the gender and awareness of sisal cultivation as a commercial activity (P value=0.000>0.05). Further, 30.65% of factors identified to be contributing to the low sisal propagation related to lack of knowledge and 0.77% related to financial constraints. This shows that there was association between the awareness of sisal cultivation as a commercial activity and highest level of education (P value=0.332>P=0.05). This study contributes to existing literature on sisal production in the world and Kenya in particular. The analysis of the various restraining factors and driving factors will not only create a good foundation for future research on sisal, but also provide guidance in policy formulation.