Effect of farm succession on coffee production in Kenya
This article (PDF) in the International Journal of Agricultural Extension studies the effect of farm succession on coffee production. Coffee farmers in Kenya are elderly (average 55 years), and reluctant to release coffee farms to the new generation, leading to reduced adoption of new technologies and reduced coffee production despite its profitability and opportunity of expansion. The objective of the research study was to establish the effect of farm succession on coffee production in Kisii County. Simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were employed to obtain quantitative and qualitative data using structured questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussion and case studies on a sample of 227 respondents from a population of 69,000 coffee farmers. The research findings indicated a weak significant correlation between farm succession and coffee production. The research findings are aimed at filling policy gaps by encouraging agricultural extension practitioners to encourage the youth to participate in coffee farming and encourage the elderly farmers to mentor the youth to take up farming. The coffee farmers need to be encouraged to widen the choice of farm successors beyond family members and beyond gender imbalance in order to encourage spurring of coffee production, thus increasing production and profitability.