Analysis of socioeconomic characteristics on coffee yield gap among smallholder farmers in Nyeri Central sub-county, Kenya

Kenya’s coffee production has been declining over the years leading to decreased yields and making it hard for farmers to benefit from the sector. This has resulted in a considerable yield difference, with actual farmer yields far below the potential yields of station trials. This large yield gap reveals an enormous potential for yield improvement in coffee production. However, the large yield gap may be attributed to several factors, yet there is limited quantitative information on site-specific factors and the yield gap attributed to the factors. This study informs the knowledge gap by analysing the effect of socioeconomic characteristics on the coffee yield gap of smallholder farmers in Nyeri Central sub-county, Nyeri County. A cross-sectional research design was used, and a sample of 175 smallholder coffee farmers was drawn using the systematic random sampling technique. Data on socioeconomic characteristics was analysed using SPSS version 29, and their effect on the coffee yield gap was determined using a fractional logit regression model in STATA version 17. The findings noted that the yield gap index per variety was 88.54% for Ruiru 11, 93.78% for Batian, and 95.68% for SL 28. The model parameters indicated that the gender of the household head, schooling years, household size, and labour were negative but significant at p<0.05. This study concluded that smallholder coffee farmers were producing below their potential, as depicted by the large yield gap estimate. Therefore, feasible actions are required to close the existing yield gap, increase coffee yields, and enhance household food security.