THE INFLUENCE OF INFORMATION ACCESS ON IMPROVED SWEETPOTATO VARIETIES FOR ADOPTION IN MIGORI COUNTY OF KENYA

Abstract

Sweetpotato (Ipomea batatas) is a starchy root crop belonging to the family of convolvulacea. It is the seventh most important food crop after wheat, rice, maize, potato, barley and cassava. It is a food security crop, it offers flexible source of food and income to rural households that are vulnerable to crop failure. It is a drought tolerant crop with a wide ecological adaptability. It is a rich source of carbohydrate offers a cheap source of energy and vitamins for health and nutritional benefits. Improved sweetpotato varieties have been recommended by Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization and disseminated by other institutions, but there still appears to be low uptake of the technologies. The problem that cause low adoption process is unknown. The study therefore seeks to explore access to information as one of the factors that influence any given technology. The purpose of the study is to determine the influence of information access on improved sweetpotato for adoption in Migori County with the following objectives, i) identify and describe information access on production and marketing pathways of improved sweetpotato varieties known by farmers in Migori County ii) to identify and determine socio economic factors influencing information access on improved sweetpotato varieties , iii) to identify the drivers which influence adoption of improved sweetpotato varieties. The total population of Migori County is 591,959 people. The study location will be Suna East and Kuria West sub counties. The study population will be 98803 households. The research design will be sociological survey. The sample size will be 120 farmers. Sampling techniques which will be used are purposive to select location of the study of improved sweetpotatoes varieties which have been disseminated. Random sampling will be used on every fifth household to select sweetpotato farmers in the area. Research instruments will be questionnaires administered as interview schedules. Data collection will be both qualitative and quantitative. Method of analysis will be statistical package for social sciences version 20, descriptive statistics, frequency distribution and percentages will be used. Inferential statistics (Chi-square and correlation) will be used to test the relationships between social-economic factors influencing information access on adoption of improved sweetpotato as well the drivers which influence adoption of improved sweetpotatoes. Results will be presented according to research objectiv