DESCRIPCIÓN DEL CARGO

The literature reviewed identified that the informal paths of seed distribution such as gifts and seed exchange were losing popularity while the use of farmer groups was playing a key role in distribution but the process of distribution by the farmer groups remains unknown. The literature reviewed showed that the norms of farmer to farmer seed exchange vary from one society to another and from one crop to another thus the need to study how individual farmer characteristics influence soybean seed distribution. The review also identified various characteristics likely to influence groups‟ performance on technology distribution but different views were given on same characteristics hence the need for a study to identify specifically the level of influence of the group characteristics on specific projects.

22 CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Study area

The study was carried out in three sub-counties namely; Mbeere South, Meru South and Imenti South (Figure 3.1).

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Mbeere South sub-county covers an area of 1,321.5 km2 (GOK, 2010) and lies in the Lower Midland Zones three, four and five (LM 3, LM 4 and LM 5) agro-ecological zones (Jaetzold et al., 2007). The area experiences a bimodal rainfall pattern with long rains (LR) occurring from mid-March to June and short rains (SR) from late October to December hence two cropping seasons per year. The average annual rainfall ranges between 700 mm to 900 mm. The area lies within an altitude of approximately 500 m to 1200 m above sea level with annual mean temperature ranging from 21.7oC to 22.5oC (Jaetzold et al., 2007). The population density is approximately 105 persons per km2 with an average farm size of slightly less than 5.0 ha per household (GOK, 2010). The soils are predominantly ferralsols and acrisols (Jaetzold et al., 2007). Crops grown in Mbeere South are maize (Zea mays), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), soybean (Glycine maxi. L), green grams (Vigna radiata), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), and finger millet

(Eleusinecoracana). However Khat („Miraa‟) has also gained a lot of importance in

the area.

Meru South sub-county covers an area of 624.4 Km2 and is located in the upper midland zone two (UM2) and upper midland zone three (UM3) and lower midland zones three, four and five (LM3, LM4, LM5) on the eastern slopes of Mount Kenya (Jaetzold et al., 2007). The altitude ranges from 830 meters in the lower areas to 1850 meters above sea level at the base of Mt. Kenya. Annual mean temperature ranges from 18oC to 24oC with a total annual rainfall of between 1200 mm and 1400 mm. The rainfall is bimodal with long rains (LR) occurring from March to June and short rains (SR) from October to December. The soils are mainly humic nitisols which are deep, well weathered with moderate to high inherent fertility (Jaetzold et

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al., 2007). The population density is approximately 205 persons per km2. It is a predominantly maize (Zea mays) growing zone with smallholdings ranging from 0.1 to 2 ha with an average of 1.2 ha per household (Shisanya et al., 2009). Other crops grown in Meru South include; coffee (Coffea Arabica), bananas (Musa spp.), mangoes (Mangifera indica), avocado (Persea americana), beans (Phaseolus

vulgaris), soybeans (Glycine maxi. L), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), cowpea (Vigna

unguiculata) and green grams (Vigna radiata).

Imenti South sub-county covers an area of 661.4 Km2 located in Upper zones-Lower highland one (LH1), Upper midland one (UM1), Upper midland two (UM2), Middle zones- Upper midland three (UM3) and Lower zones- Lower midland three (LM3), Lower midland four (LM4) and Lower midland five (LM5) on the eastern slopes of Mount Kenya (Jaetzold et al., 2007). The altitude ranges from 1180 meters in the lower areas to 2200 meters above sea level at the base of Mt. Kenya. Annual mean temperature ranges from 16oC to 23oC with a total annual rainfall of between 500 mm and 2500 mm. The rainfall is bimodal with long rains (LR) occurring from March to June and short rains (SR) from October to December (Jaetzold et al., 2007). The population is 179,604 persons (GOK, 2010). The soils in Imenti sub- county are humic Nitisols while in other parts of the County they are ferrasols and luvisols. Major crops grown in Imenti South include coffee (Coffea Arabica), mangoes (Mangifera indica), pawpaw (Carica papaya), avocado (Persea

americana), bananas (Musa spp.), soybeans (Glycine maxi. L), pigeon pea (Cajanus

cajan), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), maize (Zea mays), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris),

25 3.2 Research design

Famer groups and individual farmers were interviewed and qualitative and quantitative data on group characteristics influencing soybean distribution obtained. Further, group discussions to enable an in depth investigation into the subject matter under study were also carried out using a checklist. Both primary and secondary data were obtained. Primary sources of data were interview schedules while secondary data sources included government reports, books, journal articles, and theses.

3.3 Sampling strategy

Several sampling procedures were used to select the required respondents for the groups and household surveys. Meru South sub-county in Tharaka-Nithi County, Mbeere South sub-county in Embu County and Imenti South sub-county in Meru County were purposively selected for the study since soybean seeds had been disseminated to various groups in those sub-counties by the Ministry of Agriculture. Random sampling was used to select 20 groups from each sub-county for inclusion in the study from a sampling frame of farmer groups that received soybean seeds obtained at the sub-county level. This formed a total sample size of 60 groups which was representative of the total population of 123 farmer groups by a proportion of 50%. For individual farmer interviews, 90 farmers in each sub-county were randomly selected from the single gendered groups; while in mixed gendered groups stratified random sampling was done to ensure proportionate representation of both genders. The number of households sampled per site was calculated using the following formula by Wonnacot & Wonnacott (1977).

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Where 1.96 is the z-value for a 2-sided 95% confidence interval, c=0.103 is the desired maximal half-width of the confidence interval, and π=0.5 is the population proportion that results in the widest confidence interval for a given sample size (worst-case for a conservative estimate of sample size).

3.4 Data collection

The research instruments used were first pre-tested then revised according to the suggestions made during pre-testing. The pre-testing was done to ensure reliability and validity of the research instruments before the actual data collection exercise. Reliability of research instruments is a measure of the degree to which a research instrument yields consistent results or data after repeated trials while validity is the degree to which the empirical measure or several measures of the concept accurately measure the concept (Mugenda & Mugenda, 1999). This was achieved by conducting a pilot study to evaluate the competency of the research tools. A sample of 4 farmer groups and 12 individual farmers within the groups from Mbeere North sub-county were randomly selected and interviewed. The respondents who participated in the pre-test exercise were excluded in the actual survey.

Farmer groups‟ and individual farmers‟ interviews were conducted to collect both quantitative and qualitative data using a combination of both open ended and closed ended questions. This was done to gain a better insight into the subject under study. Data collected from the farmer groups included farmer groups‟ characteristics and

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soybean seed distribution process while data collected from the individual farmers included farmers‟ demographic and socio economic characteristics and the seed sharing process among the farmers.

Farmer groups‟ and individual farmers survey was guided by structured and semi- structured interview schedules (Appendix 1 and Appendix 2) which were set up and conducted through interviews. Group discussions were conducted using a check list (Appendix 3) which contained open-ended questions. Where necessary, further probing was done so as to get the maximum amount of data and information to help in clarifying the information collected through prior methods.