Farm households in developing countries are faced with various challenges one of which is occurrence of unexpected negative events namely shocks. Shocks could be caused by extreme adverse natural events (droughts, storms, flood, and landslides) and market-related events (fuel, food, input and output price fluctuations, volatilities and price hikes). Most of these shocks affect production systems, food markets and local economies, all of which have direct effects on food security. This study explores the prevalence of shocks among indigenous vegetable farmers in Kenya followed by an assessment of the type of coping strategies in response to these shocks. We find that over two thirds of farmers have coping strategies that are not based on market-related insurance mechanisms; rather they use strategies such as working for more hours and selling assets. We analyze which socioeconomic and institutional factors determine households’ decision and extent of coping with shocks. The results showed that access to high-value markets and market information were the major factors informing their decision and extent of using coping strategies along with access to critical services such as credit, extension, and farmer groups. This has significant policy implications regarding the dissemination of information and promotion of credit markets through mobile phone-based platforms for easy accessibility in remote rural areas. Social capital should be encouraged because it acts as a necessary and sufficient conduit for information dissemination and mutual support to help farmers’ access critical services and resources needed for successful and sustainable implementation of relevant and appropriate coping strategies.
Nagayet, O. (2005) Small Farms: Current Status and Key Trends. In: IFPRI, Ed., The Future of Small Farms: Proceedings of a Research Workshop, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington DC, 355-367.
Alinovi, L., D’Errico, M., Mane, E. and Romano, D. (2010) Livelihoods Strategies and Household Resilience to Food Insecurity: An Empirical Analysis to Kenya. European Report of Development, Dakar.
FAO (2016) Characterization of the Agricultural Drought Prone Areas at a Global Scale. http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5764e.pdf
Herberich, D.H. and List, J.A. (2012) Digging into Background Risk: Experiments with Farmers and Students. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 94, 457-463. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aar070
Dube, O., Garcia Ponce, O. and Thom, K. (2014) From Maize to Haze: Agricultural Shocks and the Growth of the Mexican Drug Sector. Center for Global Development Working Paper (355). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2457186
Dercon, S. (2004) Growth and Shocks: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia. Journal of Development Economics, 74, 309-329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2004.01.001
Elbers, C., Gunning, J. and Kinsey, B. (2007) Growth and Risk. Methodology and Micro Evidence. Wold Bank Economic Review, 21, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhl008
Gloede, O., Menkhoff, L. and Waibel, H. (2013) Shocks, Individual Risk Attitude, and Vulnerability to Poverty among Rural Households in Thailand and Vietnam.
FAO (2008) Climate Change and Food Security: A Framework Document. Rome. http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/k2595e/k2595e00.htm
Salazar-Espinoza, C., Jones, S. and Tarp, F. (2015) Weather Shocks and Cropland Decisions in Rural Mozambique. Food Policy, 53, 9-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.03.003
Ellis, F. (2000) The Determinants of Rural Livelihood Diversification in Developing Countries. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 51, 289-302. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-9552.2000.tb01229.x
Ito, T. and Kurosaki, T. (2009) Weather Risk, Wages in Kind, and the Off-Farm Labor Supply of Agricultural Households in a Developing Country. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 91, 697-710. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8276.2009.01270.x
Bryan, E., Ringler, C., Okoba, B., Roncoli, C., Silvestri, S. and Herrero, M. (2011) Coping with Climate Variability and Adapting to Climate Change in Kenya: Household and Community Strategies and Determinants. Report to the World Bank.
Chege, P.M., Kuria, E.N., Kimiywe, J.O. and Nyambaka, H.N. (2014) Changes in Nutrient Content for β-Carotene, Iron and Zinc in Solar Dried and Stored Amaranthus Cruentus Vegetables. International Journal of Agriculture Innovations and Research, 3, 880-882.
Kebede, S.W. and Bokelmann, W. (2017) African Indigenous Vegetables and Their Production Practices: Evidence from the HORTINLEA Survey in Kenya. Agrotechnology, 6, 170. https://doi.org/10.4172/2168-9881.1000170
Abukutsa-Onyango, M.O. (2003) Unexploited Potential of Indigenous African Vegetables in Western Kenya. Maseno Journal of Education Arts and Science, 4, 103-122.
Ngenoh, E., Kebede, S.W., Bett, H.K. and Bokelmann, W. (2016) Role of High-Value Market Participation on Poverty Reduction among African Leafy Vegetable Farmers in Kenya. African Journal of Horticultural Science, 10, 14-20.
Heltberg, R. and Lund, N. (2009) Shocks, Coping, and Outcomes for Pakistan’s Poor: Health Risks Predominate. The Journal of Development Studies, 45, 889-910. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220380902802214
Mabuza, M.L., Ortmann, G.F., Wale, E. and Mutenje, M.J. (2016) The Effect of Major Income Sources on Rural Household Food (in) Security: Evidence from Swaziland and Implications for Policy. Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 55, 209-230. https://doi.org/10.1080/03670244.2015.1121482
Deaton, A. (2005) Franco Modigliani and the Life Cycle Theory of Consumption. Research Program in Development Studies and Center for Health and Wellbeing. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.686475
Frankenberg, E., Smith, J.P. and Thomas, D. (2003) Economic Shocks, Wealth, and Welfare. Journal of Human Resources, 38, 280-321. https://doi.org/10.2307/1558746
Deaton, A. (1991) Saving and Liquidity Constraints. Econometrica: Journal of the Econometric Society, 59, 1121-1142. https://doi.org/10.2307/2938366
Kinsey, B., Burger, K. and Gunning, J.W. (1998) Coping with Drought in Zimbabwe: Survey Evidence on Responses of Rural Households to Risk. World Development, 26, 89-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(97)00124-1
Rosenzweig, M.R. and Wolpin, K.I. (1993) Credit Market Constraints, Consumption Smoothing, and the Accumulation of Durable Production Assets in Low-Income Countries: Investments in Bullocks in India. Journal of Political Economy, 101, 223-244. https://doi.org/10.1086/261874
McPeak, J. (2004) Contrasting Income Shocks with Asset Shocks: Livestock Sales in Northern Kenya. Oxford Economic Papers, 56, 263-284. https://doi.org/10.1093/oep/gpf040
Carter, M.R. and Maluccio, J.A. (2003) Social Capital and Coping with Economic Shocks: An Analysis of Stunting of South African Children. World Development, 31, 1147-1163. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(03)00062-7
Skoufias, E. and Quisumbing, A.R. (2005) Consumption Insurance and Vulnerability to Poverty: A Synthesis of the Evidence from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mali, Mexico and Russia. The European Journal of Development Research, 17, 24-58. https://doi.org/10.1080/09578810500066498
Lay, J., Mahmoud, T.O. and M’Mukaria, G.M. (2008) Few Opportunities, Much Desperation: The Dichotomy of Non-Agricultural Activities and Inequality in Western Kenya. World Development, 36, 2713-2732. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2007.12.003
Mathenge, M.K. and Tschirley, D.L. (2010) Agricultural Shocks and Off-Farm Labor Market Decisions for Rural Households in Kenya. Centre for the Study of African Economies, Oxford. http://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/conferences/2010-edia/papers/260-Mathenge.pdf
Kochar, A. (1999) Smoothing Consumption by Smoothing Income: Hours-of-Work Responses to Idiosyncratic Agricultural Shocks in Rural India. Review of Economics and Statistics, 81, 50-61. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465399767923818
Carter, M.R., Little, P.D., Mogues, T. and Negatu, W. (2007) Poverty Traps and Natural Disasters in Ethiopia and Honduras. World Development, 35, 835-856. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2006.09.010
Eriksen, S.H., Brown, K. and Kelly, P.M. (2005) The Dynamics of Vulnerability: Locating Coping Strategies in Kenya and Tanzania. The Geographical Journal, 171, 287-305. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4959.2005.00174.x
Mullahy, J. (1986) Specification and Testing of Some Modified Count Data Models. Journal of Econometrics, 33, 341-365. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4076(86)90002-3
Deb, P. and Trivedi, P.K. (2002) The Structure of Demand for Health Care: Latent Class versus Two-Part Models. Journal of Health Economics, 21, 601-625. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-6296(02)00008-5
Grogger, J.T. and Carson, R.T. (1991) Models for Truncated Counts. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 6, 225-238. https://doi.org/10.1002/jae.3950060302
Shonkwiler, J.S. and Shaw, W.D. (1996) Hurdle Count-Data Models in Recreation Demand Analysis. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 21, 210-219.
Rahman, S. and Akter, S. (2014) Determinants of Livelihood Choices: An Empirical Analysis from Rural Bangladesh. Journal of South Asian Development, 9, 287-308. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973174114549101
Mutabazi, K.D., Amjath-Babu, T.S. and Sieber, S. (2015) Influence of Livelihood Resources on Adaptive Strategies to Enhance Climatic Resilience of Farm Households in Morogoro, Tanzania: An Indicator-Based Analysis. Regional Environmental Change, 15, 1259-1268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-015-0800-7
Gautam, Y. and Andersen, P. (2016) Rural Livelihood Diversification and Household Well-Being: Insights from Humla, Nepal. Journal of Rural Studies, 44, 239-249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.02.001
Rakotobe, Z.L., Harvey, C.A., Rao, N.S., Dave, R., Rakotondravelo, J.C., Randrianarisoa, J., Ramanahadray, S., Andriambolantsoa, R., Razafimahatratra, H., Rabarijohn, R.H., Rajaofara, H., Ramesona, H. and MacKinnon, J.L. (2016) Strategies of Smallholder Farmers for Coping with the Impacts of Cyclones: A Case Study from Madagascar. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 17, 114-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2016.04.013
Bryan, E., Ringler, C., Okoba, B., Roncoli, C., Silvestri, S. and Herrero, M. (2013) Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change in Kenya: Household Strategies and Determinants. Journal of Environmental Management, 114, 26-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.10.036
Barrett, C.B., Bachke, M.E., Bellemare, M.F., Michelson, H.C., Narayanan, S. and Walker, T.F. (2012) Smallholder Participation in Contract Farming: Comparative Evidence from Five Countries. World Development, 40, 715-730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.09.006
Speranza, C.I., Wiesmann, U. and Rist, S. (2014) An Indicator Framework for Assessing Livelihood Resilience in the Context of Social-Ecological Dynamics. Global Environmental Change, 28, 109-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.06.005
Mugi-Ngenga, E.W., Mucheru-Muna, M.W., Mugwe, J.N., Ngetich, F.K., Mairura, F.S. and Mugendi, D.N. (2016) Household’s Socio-Economic Factors Influencing the Level of Adaptation to Climate Variability in the Dry Zones of Eastern Kenya. Journal of Rural Studies, 43, 49-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2015.11.004
Wang, C. and Maclaren, V. (2012) Evaluation of Economic and Social Impacts of the Sloping Land Conversion Program: A Case Study in Dunhua County, China. Forest Policy and Economics, 14, 50-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2011.06.002
Pretty, J. (2008) Agricultural Sustainability: Concepts, Principles and Evidence. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 363, 447-465. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2163
Burney, J.A. and Naylor, R.L. (2012) Smallholder Irrigation as a Poverty Alleviation Tool in Sub-Saharan Africa. World Development, 40, 110-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.05.007
Simtowe, F. and Zeller, M. (2006) The Impact of Access to Credit on the Adoption of Hybrid Maize in Malawi: An Empirical Test of an Agricultural Household Model under Credit Market Failure. MPRA Paper, 45.
McCord, P.F., Cox, M., Schmitt-Harsh, M. and Evans, T. (2015) Crop Diversification as a Smallholder Livelihood Strategy within Semi-Arid Agricultural Systems near Mount Kenya. Land Use Policy, 42, 738-750. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2014.10.012
Narrod, C., Roy, D., Okello, J., Avendaño, B., Rich, K. and Thorat, A. (2009) Public-Private Partnerships and Collective Action in High Value Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chains. Food Policy, 34, 8-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2008.10.005
Ma, W. and Abdulai, A. (2016) Does Cooperative Membership Improve Household Welfare? Evidence from Apple Farmers in China. Food Policy, 58, 94-102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.12.002
Abukutsa, M.O.O. (2010) African Indigenous Vegetables in Kenya: Strategic Repositioning in the Horticulture Sector. Second Inaugural Lecture of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.