Dairy cooperative services and livelihoods of local community farmers in dairy farming in Kiambu county, Kenya

Abstract

Dairy cooperatives are significant in the production, distribution, and marketing of milk and dairy products. Through such cooperative initiatives, jobs have been created, and poverty has been alleviated. Therefore, such organizations have equally made it possible for the economy to be stable and have provided a framework for domestically motivated, community-based investment that has seen improved livelihood among the populace. Given the critical role that cooperatives play in overall societal development, this study evaluated dairy cooperative services and livelihoods of local community farmers in dairy farming in Kiambu County, Kenya. The specific objectives included to evaluate the effect of market access on the livelihoods of local community farmers in Kiambu County, Kenya, to assess the effect of credit access on the livelihood of local community farmers in Kiambu County, Kenya, and to analyze the effect of training on livelihoods of local community farmers in Kiambu County, Kenya. Regarding methodology, the study used descriptive research design and the research was conducted among all dairy farmers registered with cooperatives in Kiambu County. Dairy cooperatives were 20 with a local community farmer population of 73,319. The study utilized scientific formula proposed by Yamane (1967) to get a sample size of 398 respondents. The study used simple random sampling during questionnaire distribution. Data was processed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 31 whilst both inferential and descriptive statistics were used during data analysis. The study found that market and credit access as well as training predicted about 8.4% in the variation in farmers’ livelihood. The model (ANOVA) was also significant at 0.001<0.01. Coefficients revealed that market access had a negative significant relationship with farmers’ livelihoods (β= -0.131; p-value= 0.001). However, credit access had positive insignificant relationships with livelihoods (β= 0.067; p-value=0.100) while training also possessed positive insignificant relations with livelihoods (β= 0.143; p-value=0.085). The study concluded that poor market access was occasioned by distantly located markets, stiff competition, transportation costs, and poor road networks in remote areas. The study concluded that farmers were able to access loans with adequate grace period and at friendly interest rates while trainings were regularly offered in the form of basic education in fora such as workshops and seminars. On market access, research recommends that local and national government should support dairy farmers by ensuring rural roads are constructed and maintained to enable the efficient and economical delivery of dairy products. Regarding credit access, research recommends that cooperatives should create loan solutions such as more flexible repayment terms that suit farmers' needs and preferences to boost credit uptake. Concerning training, research recommends that cooperatives ought to add financial literacy to their training modules by emphasizing subjects like debt management, savings, and prompt budgeting to enhance funds’ management and ultimately, improved farmers’ livelihoods.