TITLE:
Effects of Production and Market Innovations on the Level of Competitiveness of Sorghum Small Scale Agrienterprises
AUTHORS:
Kipchumba Judith, Edith Gathungu, Oscar Ingasia Ayuya, Paul Kimurto
KEYWORDS:
Product Innovation, Market Innovation, Competitiveness, Multivalued Treatment Effect, Small Scale Agrienterprises
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Economy,
Vol.12 No.7,
July
26,
2021
ABSTRACT: Agricultural innovations are
keys to economic growth, income stability as well as nutritional enhancement
particularly in marginal areas since they are well-adapted to poor or
unpredictable agro-ecological conditions. Innovation is a critical player that
is seen to bring competitiveness, increase productivity and efficiency to
agrienterprises. Despite that, there is limited empirical evidence on whether
the uptake of the innovations has on sorghum competitiveness in small scale
farm level agriprenuers in most ASALs of Eastern Kenya. This study examines the
effect of production and market innovation on the competitiveness of sorghum
agriprenuers, using primary data collected in 2019 from a total of 384 randomly
selected small scale agrienterprises. A multivalued treatment effect model was applied
to determine the role of innovation on the competitiveness of sorghum
enterprises. Farm productivity and gross margin analysis were used to measure
the competitiveness of the agrientreprises. The results indicated that gross
margin and farm productivity of sorghum agrienterprises increase with an
increase in the number of innovations used. These innovations include the uses
of improved sorghum seeds, conservation agriculture, and group marketing. But
also, there was a decrease in both gross margin and productivity for the
agrienterprises with the highest number of innovations in the farm at
saturation level. The results implied that the kind and the number of
innovations employed in agrienterprises development are critical in its
profitability and productivity. Therefore, interventions targeting usage of
innovations in sorghum agrienterprises should be sensitized to integrate
different innovations on product, process, and market in enhancing
competitiveness.