PLAN DE MARKETING Estrategias de marketing

female groups were 23% (Table 4.1). In Imenti South, mixed gender groups (both males and females) were 80%, same as Mbeere South while in Meru South the mixed gender groups were 70% (Table 4.1). The female groups in Meru South were 30% while in Imenti South they were 20% and Mbeere South 20% (Table 4.1).

There was a variation between the number of males in groups across the sub- Counties among the men who participated in groups (Table 4.1). Imenti South had an average of 11 males while Meru South, had an average of 6 males and Mbeere South 4 males. On number of females in groups, Imenti South had an average of 20 while Meru South and Mbeere South had an equal number of females with an average of 14 each (Table 4.1).

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Table 4.1: Group composition (age, gender and education of group members, group size) in Imenti South, Meru South and Mbeere South sub-counties

Parameters Imenti South Meru South Mbeere South Total Gender composition

Female only 4(20) 6(30) 4(20) 14(23)

Both Male and female 16(80) 14(70) 16(80) 46(77)

Age of group members

20-25 3(1) 0 6(2) 9(1) 26-30 25(4) 14(4) 20(6) 59(5) 31-35 48(8) 26(7) 32(9) 106(8) 36-40 73(13) 35(9) 41(12) 149(11) 41-45 71(12) 51(14) 32(9) 154(12) 46-50 101(17) 48(13) 37(11) 186(14) 51-55 183(31) 148(39) 121(36) 452(35) 56-60 72(12) 47(13) 38(11) 157(12) Above 60 9(2) 3(1) 12(4) 24(2)

Mean Mean Mean Mean

No. of males 11 6 4 7

No. of females 20 14 14 16

Group size 29 19 17 22

Group age 7 8 10 8

No formal education 6 4 3 5

With formal education 24 16 15 19

Values in parentheses are percentages

The findings indicate that, the number of women in groups was higher than men and there were no exclusive men only farmer groups. This implies that women have a higher likelihood of joining/forming farmer groups compared to men. Apart from extension services provision, farmer groups engage in other activities such as merry go round which are mainly associated with women. At the same time, women are also known to talk a lot, share more and also influence each other easily thus their increased ability to form groups compared to men (Gwandu et al., 2014). The findings agree with a study by Kiptot (2007) in Western Kenya where there were female only groups and mixed gendered groups but no males‟ only groups.

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Likewise, Sanginga et al. (2006) in Uganda found that, although there were no exclusively male farmers‟ groups, there were many exclusively female only groups.

Majority of the group members (452) were between 51-55 years (Table 4.1). Group members between 51-55 years in Imenti South were 183 while in Meru South they were 148 and in Mbeere South 121. The age bracket with the least group members (9) was 20-25 years. Imenti South and Mbeere South had 3 and 6 members respectively in the age category of 20-25 years. From the findings the probability of joining farmer groups increases with age to an optimum of 51-55 years and decreases as one gets older. Asante et al. (2011) also found out that younger farmers are more likely to join farmer based organizations, and the older the farmer gets, the less likely he or she is to join social networks. The findings are also consistent with those of Musyoka (2008) in Mwingi district where most farmers in groups were 50 years and fewer farmers above 60 years. Thus the age of the farmer can influence membership to farmer groups.

The overall average of group membership was 22 (Table 4.1). Imenti South had an average of 29 members, Meru South had an average of 19 group members and Mbeere South had an average of 17 members (Table 4.1). Farmers in Imenti South were engaged more in marketing bananas through farmer groups which they sold in designated market centres forming larger groups so as to attract buyers. This then contributed to larger groups in the sub county compared to the others. The findings are consistent with those of Mukindia (2014) in Imenti South where most farmer groups had 30 members and above and were mainly engaged in banana marketing.

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Adong et al. (2013) also noted that farmer group‟s sizes could range between 20 to 25 members which is consistent with the findings of this study.

The mean age of the groups in the study area was 8 years (Table 4.1). In Imenti South the mean age of the groups was 7 years, Meru South 8 years and Mbeere South 10 years (Table 4.1). This shows that majority of the groups had been in existence for more than five years thus in the soybean distribution process existing farmer groups were used to disseminate the soybean seeds. The findings are comparable to those reported by Mukindia (2014) who found out that most groups in Imenti South had been in existence between 5 to 10 years.

The average number of persons in groups with formal education was 19 while those without formal education were 5 (Table 4.1). In Imenti South group members without formal education had an average of 6, Meru South (4) and Mbeere South (3) (Table 4.1). In Imenti South groups, members with formal education were an mean of 24 while Meru South groups had an average of 16 and Mbeere south groups had a mean of 15 (Table 4.1). From the findings farmers with formal education were more compared with the farmers without formal education thus education level influences membership to groups. Education broadens the opportunities of the farmers to engage in trainings, off-farms income generating activities and accessing services to support investment in farms. Most of these opportunities such as trainings, agricultural extension services and credit facilities are mainly accessed through farmer groups in the rural areas (Andre et al., 2009). This may explain why majority of the educated farmers join farmer groups. Adong et al. (2013) noted that farmers with some form of education were more likely to join farmer groups so as to take

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advantage of the benefits associated with groups. The mixture of farmers with different education levels is also crucial in group management since various roles require certain knowledge and skills which results to groups having members of different education categories (Mwanzia, 2014). Hence education is a very important factor influencing the farmer‟s decision to be a member of a farmer group.