Department of Co-operative and Agri-business Management (DCAM)

Impact of the Meru KOPIA project on poultry farmers’ income in Meru County, Kenya

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Impact of the Meru KOPIA project on poultry farmers’ income in Meru County, Kenya Ngare, Lucy; Gang, Kim Ji; Mugambi, David; M'Itonga, Julius; Musyimi, Scholastica Most farming households in Kenya keep indigenous chickens in scavenging systems characterized by low productivity. In response to this, the Korea Program on International Agriculture (KOPIA) center in Nairobi collaborated with the County Government of Meru to disseminate localized technologies and provide technical support to indigenous poultry farmers using the model village approach. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of the project on participating poultry farmers’ income in Meru County, Kenya, as promoted by the KOPIA. Descriptive cross-sectional survey research was adopted to achieve the objectives of the paper. Data was collected from beneficiaries and a control group through a survey of 236 households using researcher-administered questionnaires sampled from a population of 400 farmers drawn from the 4 participating villages. The study was based on the rational choice theory. Propensity score matching was used to compute the average treatment effect on the treated. Using the nearest neighbor, caliper-based, and kernel-based matching methods, the results showed evidence that program beneficiaries increased their annual income from poultry production, ranging from Kshs 66,616 to 81,674. Being located in Mbaria, Ng’onyi, and Ntalami model villages, the number of livestock enterprises, the number of eggs sold, the number of hens sold, and egg production per hen influenced the impact of the project. The study recommends the establishment of more model villages so as to spread the benefits to a wider area. Future efforts should include addressing constraints in marketing and group cohesion so as to increase the benefits to the participating farmers. Assisting farmers to form a marketing cooperative will not only increase market participation but also benefit farmers from collective procurement of inputs as well as credit for enterprise expansion. A research article published in the African Journal of Empirical Research

Ride-Hailing Drivers' Preferences for Fairwork Principles of Satisfactory Working Conditions and Fair Pay-Profit Distribution and Willingness to Form and Join Worker-Platform Co-Operatives in Kenya

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Ride-Hailing Drivers' Preferences for Fairwork Principles of Satisfactory Working Conditions and Fair Pay-Profit Distribution and Willingness to Form and Join Worker-Platform Co-Operatives in Kenya Gicheru, Njoki Esther; Kiganane, Maina Lucy; Ochieno, Mark Jared Ride-hailing drivers (e-drivers) are among the platform workers who successfully embrace the worker-platform co-operative model's emergence to counter capitalistic ride-hailing platforms and their complex ecosystems, which align with fairwork principles of pay, condition, contracts and (platform) management. This study was conducted to determine the extent of ride-hailing drivers' preferences for satisfactory working conditions, fair pay-profit distribution and willingness to form and join worker-platform co-operatives in Kenya. The study was grounded in the social exchange theory, affective theory of social exchange, and utility theory. The researcher applied critical-realism research philosophy and multimethod research designs of discrete choice experiments and sequential explanatory mixed method research designs. Using the Yamane sampling formula, the study used quantitative data from 497 respondents from sampled 600 of the 20,000 e-drivers in the Nairobi Metropolitan Region. The quantitative data was analysed using multinominal logistic regression. Moreover, the study used qualitative data from 11 participants, which was analysed using thematic analysis. Results indicated that the two fairwork principles were statistically significant to e-drivers’ willingness to form and join worker-platform co-operatives. fair pay-profits distribution (FPD) principle, in particular, was a highly preferred fairwork principle in terms of e-drivers’ willingness to form and join the worker-platform co-operative model (Coeff=1.564, SE = 0.234, Z = 6.67, p< .001), compared to the satisfactory working conditions (SWC) principle (Coeff=0.783, SE = 0.156, Z = 5.012, p< .001). This study brings practical and theoretical contributions to improve the e-drivers’ benefits from the ride-hailing sector. Policymakers, promoters, and platform workers like e-drivers could understand how best to promote worker-platform co-operatives to succeed in the country’s societal context. A research article published in the journal of applied humanities and social Sciences

Ride-Hailing Drivers’ Preference for Fairwork Principles of Trustworthy Labour-Platform Management and Greater Worker-Autonomy and Willingness to Form and Join Worker-Platform Co-Operatives in Kenya

Mon, 11 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Ride-Hailing Drivers’ Preference for Fairwork Principles of Trustworthy Labour-Platform Management and Greater Worker-Autonomy and Willingness to Form and Join Worker-Platform Co-Operatives in Kenya Gicheru, Njoki Esther; Kiganane, Maina Lucy; Matabi, Jared Mark Ochieno Ride-hailing worker-platform co-operatives had emerged as part of and for at least fairwork principles. Moreover, studies on e-drivers have recommended the formation of worker-platform co-operatives in Kenya. The actual worker-platform co-operatives by e-drivers are yet to be established. It was against this backdrop that a study was conducted to determine the extent of ride-hailing drivers’ preference for fairwork principles of trustworthy labour-platform management, greater worker-autonomy and willingness to form and join worker-platform co-operatives. The study was grounded in the social exchange theory, affective theory of social exchange, and utility theory. The researcher applied critical-realism research philosophy and multimethod research designs of discrete choice experiments and sequential explanatory mixed method research designs. Using the Yamane sampling formula, the study used quantitative data from 497 respondents from sampled 600 of the 20,000 e-drivers in the Nairobi Metropolitan Region. The quantitative data was analysed using multinominal logistic regression. Moreover, the study used qualitative data from 11 participants, analysed using thematic analysis. Results indicated that the two fairwork principles were statistically significant to e-drivers’ willingness to form and join worker-platform co-operatives. The trustworthy platform management (TPM) principle, in particular, was a highly preferred fairwork principle in terms of e-drivers’ willingness to form and join worker-platform co-operative model (Coeff=2.62; SE = 0.400, Z = 6.54, p< .001), compared to the greater worker-autonomy contract (GAC) principle (Coeff=1.565, SE = 0.202, Z = 7.74, p< .001). This study brings practical and theoretical contributions to improve the e-drivers’ benefits from the ride-hailing sector. Policymakers, promoters, and platform workers like e-drivers could understand how best to promote worker-platform co-operatives to succeed in the country’s societal context. A research article published in the Journal of Applied Humanities and Social Sciences

Leveraging on Agricultural Cooperatives in Feed and Fodder Production Among Smallholder Dairy Farmers in Meru County, Kenya

Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Leveraging on Agricultural Cooperatives in Feed and Fodder Production Among Smallholder Dairy Farmers in Meru County, Kenya Wambu, Charles; Gichuki, Castro Climate change is having a severe effect on the availability of feeds and fodder, which causes irregular milk output and high production costs for farmers and cooperatives. This study focuses on the role of agricultural cooperatives in promoting feed and fodder, and management. A cross-sectional survey design with concurrent mixed methods approach entailing quantitative and qualitative methodologies was adopted. The target population was drawn from seven dairy producer groups supported by the Meru dairy cooperative union. Systematic random sampling was used to sample one hundred and ninety-five respondents from seven selected dairy cooperatives. Purposive sampling was used to select key informants in the dairy value chain. Primary data was collected using key informants, interview guides, household survey questionnaires and focus group discussion guides. The data collected was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The study findings indicate that 92% of respondents produced their own fodder, while 28.3% outsourced. High cost of feeds and fodder was a major challenge. The agricultural cooperatives supported farmers in production and bulking of super Napier fodder. They also support farmers in access feeds and fodder for This study recommends agricultural cooperatives should conduct trainings on modern feed and fodder production, as well as conservation of fodder and homemade rations. The study also recommends that policy makers should legislate laws that support dairy cooperatives in feed and fodder production. Also laws should be legislated to protect smallholder farmers from exploitation by feed manufacturers. The study also recommends further studies on feed, fodder contamination on quality analysis. A research article published in the Journal of the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO