Findings range from information on land size and ownership of land, to water availability, food security, and usage of various mobile-based services such as mobile money and digital farming groups. Below are some highlights from the data, and you can download the full, 20-page report on farming in Kenya here.

Climate Change is a Key Challenge for Farmers

Unpredictable weather, drought and climactic changes were cited as major issues farmers in Kenya face that affect their yield and make it challenging for them to farm. Climactic changes were found to be the biggest factor affecting yield for farmers, and 27% said it was one of the key challenges they face. In addition, only 36% of farmers said that water was frequently available for farming. Respondents in counties that have gone through dry spells recently, such as Narok County and two other counties in the Rift Valley, reported lower levels of water availability than those in counties on the border with Uganda.

Insights on Mobile Phones and Farming

While GeoPoll’s panel is skewed in terms of mobile usage, as all respondents have a mobile phone and surveys are taken via SMS or other mobile-based methods, we nevertheless can glean interesting findings on how farmers are using mobile phones. GeoPoll found that, of this mobile-owning population, a high percentage own a smartphone, with 53% owning some sort of smartphone, and Android devices being by far the most popular operating system. There were some differences by gender, with females being more likely to own a basic phone with SMS and voice only. We also unsurprisingly observed that younger farmers were more likely to own smartphones than farmers in older age groups.

GeoPoll also examined usage of mobile money and other mobile services, including mobile lending and mobile banking, WhatsApp groups, and farming apps, finding that mobile banking and lending are the most popular services used by farmers in Kenya, likely driven by the prevalence of mPesa throughout the country. However, even among this mobile-owning segment of the farming population, most farmers get their information from word of mouth, with other farmers and agricultural officers combined being the biggest source of information, over social media and mobile apps.

Download the Data on Farming in Kenya

GeoPoll’s full report on Kenya’s agricultural sector and the effect of mobile technology in modern Kenya includes additional insights on upcoming trends in farming, including open-ended responses directly from farmers on what they see as the biggest trends, farm inputs, farm size, popular crop types by age, and much more. Download the full report here, and contact us if you are interested in conducting your own research with GeoPoll’s farmer panel in Kenya or any other country we operate in.

The post Data Report on Farming in Kenya and Mobile Phone Usage appeared first on GeoPoll.

Between March and April 2017, GeoPoll conducted surveys with more than 250 Kenyan farmers on behalf of the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) and Triple Line Consulting Ltd. The surveys targeted banana, French beans and papaya farmers selling crops to Mount Kenyan Gardens Ltd. under the AECF-Mount Kenya Gardens project. Results from the survey helped Mount Kenyan Gardens and AECF understand how farmers benefit from the program’s training and provide valuable insights into how the project improves agribusiness in counties near Mount Kenya region. 

Using the phone numbers of farmers provided by Mount Kenyan Gardens, GeoPoll leveraged its multi-modal data collection capabilities to conduct SMS and computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) surveys. During the first round of data collection in March 2017, GeoPoll surveyed 82 banana farmers, 87 French bean farmers, and 66 papaya farmers. The surveys collected data on the quantity of crops planted and produced during the last harvest, number of crop harvests per year, and the average amount of money spent on fertilizer, manure, chemicals, and pesticides.

In addition, famers were asked if they had grown banana, French beans and papaya before doing business with Mount Kenya Gardens and whether they had hired laborers to work on their farm plots during the last harvest season.

82% of banana farmers, 66% of French bean farmers, and 68% of papaya farmers (68 percent) reported they had grown the crops on their farms before.

67% of banana farmers, 84% of French bean farmers, and 71% of papaya farmers reported hiring laborers during the past harvest season.

After the initial round of data collection, GeoPoll conducted a follow up survey in April 2017 with 30 farmers that participated in the first survey – 10 banana farmers, 10 French bean farmers, and 10 papaya farmers. All farmers selected for the follow up survey had grown bananas, French beans and papayas on before selling to Mount Kenya Gardens and had hired laborers to work on their farms during the last harvest season.

Data from the follow up survey enabled Mount Kenya Gardens to understand how the AECF-Mount Kenya Gardens project affected change in quantities of crops planted and produced for harvest, and prices received by farmers for harvested crops. In addition, the survey also provided Mount Kenya Gardens with more information about hired labor –including jobs performed by laborers, average salary of laborers,  and the number of laborers hired.

GeoPoll’s work with AECF and Mount Kenya Gardens builds off of its extensive experience collecting multiple types of food security and agriculture data – including data on food prices, market operability status, crop harvests, and frequency of meal consumption for clients including the World Food Program and the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Image credits: plantafruit.org

The post Survey Measures Impact of Kenyan Agribusiness Project appeared first on GeoPoll.