Factors affecting adoption of technical, organisational and institutional dairy innovations in selected milksheds in Kenya

Technical dairy innovations (TDI), such as improved cow feeding, health management and genetic improvement, could boost milk production. At the same time, organisational and institutional dairy innovations (OIDI), including group milk sales, feed and credit access, could boost dairy supply chain efficiency. This study examined the TDI adoption determinants and the OIDI adoption intensity. Data were collected from 1146 farmers (410, 382 and 354 in the milksheds of Mukurweini Wakulima Dairy Limited [MWDL], Happy Cow Limited [HCL] and New Kenya Co-operative Creameries [NKCC], respectively) and analysed using a double hurdle model. Access to credit positively influenced the TDI adoption in the three milksheds. Adoption of TDI was influenced by hired employees, dairy records, total dairy cows and household head education. The empirical evidence from the study supports the observation that OIDI adoption intensity is influenced by income, farm size, dairy records, and dairy information access. To boost TDI adoption, the dairy development partners should link cooperative society members with agricultural credit lenders. Additionally, the dissemination of dairy information to farmers by the dairy stakeholders could spur TDI adoption, while providing dairy information and training farmers on dairy record keeping should be promoted to boost TDI and OIDI adoption.