Abstract:
Globally, agricultural infrastructure plays a vital role in economic growth. Developing
agricultural infrastructure improves livelihoods and sustainable, environmentally
friendly agriculture. Despite its importance for livelihood, growth, and development,
smallholder farming competitiveness and agricultural infrastructure adoption in Africa
remain limited. Inadequate infrastructure can be a significant constraint to growth and
productivity. This study examined agricultural infrastructure and its implication on
sustainability of smallholder mango farming in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya. The
specific objectives were to: examine the agricultural infrastructure strategies adopted,
evaluate the nature of stakeholder involvement in agricultural support, assess the effects
of agricultural infrastructure on sustainable smallholding and establish the challenges
on the use of agricultural infrastructure. The scope of this study was restricted to the
mango growing areas of Elgeyo Marakwet County. The research focused on
agricultural infrastructure and its impact on the ability to improve livelihoods. The
study was anchored on Sustainable Livelihood theory by the Department for
International Development (DFID). The study adopted mixed methods approach
utilizing cross- sectional survey design. Simple random sampling was applied to select
a sample size of 370 small holder mango farmers from a total population of 9200;
purposely selected 10 key informants and carried out 3 FGDs. Data collection
instruments included questionnaires, interview schedules, observation, document
reviews and focus group discussions. Descriptive statistics were analyzed through
frequencies, percentages and means. Inferential statistics employed, Chi-square test,
and regression analysis .Qualitative data was analyzed thematically, where labels
were assigned to various categories and themes. The findings indicate that the small
holder farmers are using agricultural infrastructure which include use of dominant seeds
apple (74.3%), spraying of mangoes (55.4%), training (80%), access of information
from extension officers 53.4%, and the main source of financing was savings
(68.9%.).The role of various stakeholders in agricultural support was low on provision
of subsidized inputs for farmers, water and electricity, roads infrastructure, prices and
marketing of the mangoes and streamlining of mango price
(Mean=1.40,SD=0.79,Skewness= 2.62, Kurtosis=7.5). Further, Chi-Square values were
statistically significant for the items tested F (3,350) = 10 .43, P< 0.05) indicating
that agricultural infrastructure which consist of physical infrastructure, input based
infrastructure, resource based infrastructure and institutional based infrastructure
significantly affected the output enhancing agricultural sustainability .Several
challenges were associated with use of agricultural infrastructure include the lack of
certified seeds, availability of quality planting seeds, high price and lack of timely
availability of fertilizers. The Principal Component Analysis indicates that the two
components accounted for about 57.98% of the variance. It was concluded
that stakeholder’s involvement in agricultural support is low; use of agricultural
infrastructure is associated with several benefits and challenges. The study proposes
creating a business-friendly environment for smallholder mango growers and making
small-scale farming appealing to younger generations, as well as improving and
harmonizing stakeholders' roles in inputs, infrastructure, price regulation, marketing,
and community collaboration. Integrating proper policies and agricultural infrastructure
practices will increase their utilization and sustainability