Abstract

The study determined factors affecting income-poverty among French bean farmers in Kirinyaga County, Kenya. Results show that 72.6% of French bean farmers were poor. Relative to the poor households, non-poor had the highest net French bean income per acre (KES. 24,133), total net crop income (KES. 150,608), total net livestock income (KES. 21,674), and off-farm income (KES. 198,070). Aversion to risks (p=0.051 and β=-2.802), household size (p=0.000 and β=-5.032), daily household expenditure per adult equivalent (p=0.001 and β=2.016), net annual household income (p=0.000 and β=7.733), access to credit (p=0.086 and β=1.187), household annual asset value (p=0.051 and β=-0.482) and age of household head (p=0.066 and β=-2.009) statistically and significantly influenced poverty status of French bean farmers. The results suggest that crop insurance, farm diversification and expansion of acreage under Global-GAP certified French bean are necessary strategies for French bean farmers to alleviate household poverty.

Key words: Smallholder farmers, French bean, global-GAP standards, determinants, income-poverty