Potential Role of Information Communication Technologies in Sugarcane Production by Farmers of Bungoma County, Kenya

Abstract

Sugar cane production in Kenya has been on the decline mainly because of poor information flow from extensionists to the farmers.  Yield decline fell from 71 tons per hectare to 60 tons per hectare among the out growers between 2004 and 2015.  The overall objective of this study was to examine the potential role of Information Communication Technologies in sugar cane production by the out growers of Nzoia sugar Company, Bungoma County.  Specifically, this study aimed at determinining the information needs of farmers which can be addressed by ICTs for sugarcane production.  The approach was correlational research design targeting the population of 8711 farmers in Milo, Misikhu, Matisi, and West Sang'alo sub locations.  Proportionate random sampling method was used to obtain a sample size of 211 farmers.  Focus Group Discussions and key informants were purposely selected using the quota sampling to augment the survey results.  Data collection was by use of the questionnaires, interview guides, focus group discussions, key informants, and observation checklist.  Pilot testing was on 30 farmers of Lugari Sub County and an alpha score of 0.70 was obtained.  Data analysis done using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 21). This was for both inferential and descriptive statistics.  Each hypothesis was tested and accepted at α = 0.05 confidence interval.  Findings were presented in form of tables and cross tabulations.  The study showed that information availability had a significant positive effect on sugar cane production.  i.e. (land preparation p=0.000, use of recommended planting materials p=0.015, type of topdressing fertilizer p=0.000 and knowledge of production costs p=0.000).  The research concluded that farmer's access to agricultural information had positive effect on sugar cane production.  The study recommended that the sugar company emphasizes provision of agricultural information to sugar cane farmers and incorporate use of mobile phones in passing technical information.