A cost/revenue evaluation of the rural estate management practice in Kenya with special reference to coffee estates/farms in Kiambu, and Murang'a Districts

Abstract

The study has been devoted to the assessment of the rural estate Management practice in Kenya with special reference to coffee estates/farms in Kiambu and Murang'a Districts. This was done from the three perspectives of a financier (the Agricultural Finance Corporation), a financier cum Estate Manager(Standard Chartered Estate Management Ltd) and a farm management entity (Coffee farmers Co-operative Societies) with a view to establishing which system is the most beneficial to farmers. Various aspects of rural estate management, that is farm management were examined. These included production, capital acquisition and management and personnel management. In addition, maintenance management, which is an important aspect of estate management, was also discussed. Data was collected through the use of questionnaires and personal interviews. The respondents in the study were the estate managers and clients of Standard Chartered "Estate Management Ltd., Loan Officers and clients of Agricultural Finance Corporation and the Management Committee of the coffee farmer cooperative Societies. The main findings of the study supported the view that a package deal comprising financing and estate management is not beneficial to the client farmers. This is because of excessive costs of the package deal which are paid for by the farmers. The success of estate management is measured not only by the extent to which it achieves its aims but also by the economy of effort,money and materials which these aims are secured.