The Managerial Factors Influencing Sugarcane Production By Contracted Farmers Of Sony Sugar Company, Awendo Sub-County, Migori County

Abstract

Management is the cornerstone of organizational effectiveness. People’s efforts are coordinated and guided towards achievement of organizational objectives through management processes. People are usually motivated to carry out the management processes in order to satisfy needs either inherent or from the external. Sony Sugar Company (SONY) is a large-scale organization and hence is controlled by bureaucratic structures. SONY supplies 40% of the sugar consumed in Kenya, but its survival is uncertain due to the decline in sugarcane productivity on the farms. Reports show that 72% of the sugarcane milled in SONY is supplied by contracted farmers. Over the years, there has been a continuous decline in sugarcane productivity in out growers contracted farms which has declined from a high of 137 tons’ cane per ha (TCH) in 1983 to 58 TCH in 2010. This has adversely affected mill-cane requirement by SONY Sugar Company. It’s in view of this problem that the objectives of the study are to determine the influence of managerial factors of extension services, contract sugarcane production, food security and financial factors on sugarcane production by farmers. The literature review explores the various managerial factors that have influenced crop production in Kenya and other parts of the world. Descriptive study design will be used to investigate into factors influencing sugarcane production by contracted cane farmers. Purposive sampling is to be used to select a sample of 100 farmers from a target population of 1619 contracted cane farmers. The data collection instruments are self-administered semi-structured questionnaire to farmers. Data is to be analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative means. Descriptive analysis will be used to organize, summarize and describe the research data. The data will be computed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS)