Promoting the Adoption of Tissue Culture Banana through Increased Market Participation by Small Holder farmers in Kenya.

The objective of the study was to evaluate the commercial drivers of tissue culture banana adoption by farmers in Kenya. While farmers adopt new technologies due to their inherent benefits, the adoption of the new Tissue Culture Banana which was high in the 1990s is no longer increasing and banana production has stagnated. This pattern has necessitated carrying out this study with a view to unravel the contribution of market participation of tissue culture banana farmers in Kenya. We adopted a descriptive document review on tissue culture banana with the aim of identifying potential policy options for improved uptake of tissue culture banana in Kenya. The results revealed that matching farmers perception towards TCB technology, its attributes and access to markets enhanced adoption. Most farmers adopting tissue culture bananas have small pieces of land, didi not earn much from the TCB produce yet the technology had a short payback period with higher returns. The study also found that farmer age contributed to yield stagnation, low market participation and hence low returns relative to the opportunity cost of other competing enterprises. The study concluded that improved adoption of bananas would be promoted through improved market participation for food access, use of credit and engaging the younger tech-savvy generation on the benefits of the technology for better incomes and improved livelihoods.