African Journal of
Agricultural Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1991-637X
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 6754

Article in Press

Capacity building interventions and performance of hybrid sweet potato projects in kenya: A Case of Njoro Sub-County, Nakuru County.

Duncan Mwaniki Taiti, Angeline Mulwa, NaomI Gikonyo

  •  Received: 25 June 2020
  •  Accepted: 25 August 2020
This study sought to establish the influence of capacity building interventions on performance of hybrid sweet potato projects in Kenya: A case of Njoro Sub-County, Nakuru County. The study was grounded on Resource Dependency Theory and Diffusion of Innovations Theory. The philosophical underpinning of this study was pragmatism where a mixed method approach was used in a descriptive survey study design. The target population of this study was a sample of respondents from the three strata of 951 respondents; namely 909 farmers in hybrid sweet potato projects in Njoro Sub-County, 36 extension service providers in Njoro Sub-County and 6 plant breeders at Kenya Agricultural research organization at Njoro. The sample size was determined using Slovin’s Formula. To sample the target population, cluster sampling technique was used that divided the main population into three sections (clusters) where samples were put into a sampling frame. Simple random technique was used to draw samples independently from each stratum. The sample size of this study was 282 respondents comprising of 264 hybrid sweet potato farmers, 12 extension service providers and 6 plant breeders. Data collection instruments included self-administered questionnaires and structured interview guide. A pilot test was conducted to test and enhance the validity and reliability of the research instruments. Qualitative data was analyzed by the use of thematic analysis and the results presented in prose form. Descriptive data was analyzed by using frequencies and percentages and presented in a table. Both the arithmetic mean and standard deviation were used as statistical tools to measure central tendency and dispersion respectively, while the statistical tools for inferential analysis was Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation. Regression analysis was used to test the strength of these relationships and F-test to study the hypotheses. The study found that there is a significant relationship between capacity building interventions and performance of hybrid sweet potato projects in Njoro Sub-County.This study recommends that, a more elaborate system of input supply and delivery among the farming community be established. The production and breeding of hybrid seed potato by Kenya Agricultural research and livestock organization at Njoro should be strengthened by establishing a potential data base and supply of the materials to would be new entrants to the projects. Documented data base should be established for the farmers to easily identify the hybrid seed potato multipliers and sufficient collaboration between the extension workers and the breeding station.

Keywords: Capacity Building Interventions, Project Performance, Hybrid, Sweet Potato