Effectiveness of Community Radio in Disseminating Market Information among Smallholder Maize Farmers: Experience from Suba Sub-county- Kenya

Abstract

Community radio is a powerful tool in imparting agricultural knowledge and creating awareness among farmers. However, no evidence shows that community radio could address the dilemma of poor access to market information among maize farmers. This study sought to assess the effectiveness of community radio in accessing market information in this area. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to collect cross-sectional data from a sample of 97 maize farmers using pre-tested and semi-structured questionnaires through face to face interviews. The analytical tools were descriptive statistics, rating of effectiveness and Chi-Square. The findings revealed that majority (82.5%) owned and operate radio sets; (55.7%) obtain information from community radio while (44.4%) obtained information from traditional sources. Large proportion (83.6%) affirmed that community radio was an effective platform for disseminating market information. The Chi- square test for effectiveness of community radio in disseminating market information at 0.01% level of probability showed the calculated Chi-square to be X²=50 which is much higher than the Chi-square table value of 11.34 hence community radio was found to be effective tool for communicating agricultural innovations to smallholder farmers. The study recommends use of appropriate language and close interaction between agricultural stakeholders for effective delivery of agricultural information.