Abstract:
Butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata) is an emerging
economic crop in Kenya with ready market and high nutritional
value. Despite this, its adoption as a major cash crop in Suba
District has remained low. The aim of the study was to
investigate the determinants of adoption and extent of adoption
of butternut squash. The study area was chosen due to
persistence of poverty despite the fact that the area has
conditions that are favourable for the production of high value
crops like butternut squash. Cross-sectional data were collected
from a sample of 120 farmers selected through multi-stage
sampling. The data were subjected to the Heckman two-step
regression analysis to obtain the determinants of adoption and
the extent of adoption. Data obtained revealed that the adopters
of butternut squash were mostly the male married farmers.
Results further showed that household size, land tenure, access
to credit, membership to a group, market information and access
to extension services significantly and positively affected the
likelihood of adopting butternut squash; while age, participation
in off-farm activities and distance to the market were significant
with negative effect. Education, access to market information,
man hours and years of experience were significantly related
to adoption of the crop with positive effects, while land size
was statistically significant with a negative effect. This study
therefore, recommends that government and other stakeholders
should formulate and implement policies related to promotion
of adoption and production of butternut squash.
