Analysis Of Determinants To Profitability Of Sugarcane Production By Smallscale Farmers In Mumias West Subcounty

Abstract

There has been a lot of research carried out on sugar production. However, there has been little done on the profitableness of small scale sugar production and that made a research gap that formed the basis of my research. The study focused on analysis of profitableness gained of small-scale sugarcane production in Mumias west Sub-county. The Sub-county is dominated by many small-scale farmers and yet the living standards of the farmers have not improved in any way as a result of persistent production of sugarcane on small-scale. The study is important as global sugar consumption has increased and extra production is expected to come from developing countries according to FAO (2008). Therefore, to assess profitableness of sugarcane as an enterprise is crucial in giving policy recommendations to the government and to advise the farmers. The study hypothesizes that small-scale sugarcane production in Mumias west Sub-county is not profitable and that cost of inputs and the price of outputs have impact on sugarcane farming in the area. Mumias west Sub-county has 4 wards; Mumias central, Mumias north, Etenje and Musanda in which purposive sampling was used to select 2 of the wards, purposive sampling was used to select 3 locations from the 2 wards and data collected from farmers who had harvested sugar cane thrice. Each stratum contains a total of 10 farmers. Primary data was mainly used and will be collected using structured questionnaires from the small scale sugarcane farmers. A regression model was used to analyze data collected. Descriptive data analysis will be used to describe qualitative data while quantitative data will be analyzed using inferential statistics using statistical packages for social scientists (SPSS) program. This study is significant because it is hoped that findings of the study are expected to help the researcher in making conclusions and making recommendations which will assist small-scale sugarcane farmer in planning and making appropriate decisions