Abstract:
In many third world countries today, Kenya included, adoption of agricultural technologies plays a big role in
agricultural production especially due to the need to increase production for food security and income. North
Rift is one of the regions in Kenya where the dairy sub-sector is the second largest income contributor. This
sector employs 50% of agricultural labour force and provides substantial amount of raw materials for local
meat and milk processing industries. Though the region is one of the high potential agricultural areas in Kenya,
the total annual milk output lately does not match the region’s potential. North Rift region is endowed with a lot
of livestock and thus is expected that dairy output in the region should be high yet this is not so. Despite the
government’s plans to develop the livestock sector through the introduction of various technologies such as
breeding the local farmers hardly implement this technology. This has resulted in low milk production in the
region. This study therefore, sought to determine and analyze the socio-economic factors that affect the
adoption of breeding technologies among the dairy farmers in the region. The study was undertaken in Nandi,
Uasin-Gishu and Trans-Nzoia counties of the North Rift region. A survey research design was used. The target
population was all dairy farmers in the three counties of the region. Purposive, multistage, simple random and
systematic sampling techniques were used to get 360 respondents for the study. Data was collected by use of
structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Dairy farming households
were used as units for analysis. Descriptive analysis and the Logit model were used to analyze data in order to
answer the study objectives. The results showed that the age, gender and education level of the farmer, size of
dairy land, cost of AI and frequency of visits by the extension personnel significantly influenced the adoption of
breeding technologies by the farmers. There is need for the government to revive and expand adult literacy
classes to enhance level of education of farmers and hence adoption of technology. The results also showed that
the cost of the selected technology was the biggest predictor of changes in odds ratios and also had high
marginal effects. The government should therefore introduce cost sharing programmes on AI services; employ
more extension personnel and improve their mobility through provision of means of transport so as to enhance
access to information by farmers. It is also recommended that land fragmentation be discouraged. Policies
geared at improving education system, empowering women, strengthening extension services, appropriate land
policy reforms and providing financial support to farmers will help a lot in promoting adoption of breeding
dairy technologies in the North Rift region .