A study of the relationship between road transport system and agricultural resource development in Kinangop Division, Nyandarua District

Abstract

This study set out to establish the extent to which the government's endeavour to improve and develop the productivity of agricultural resources is either assisted or even hampered by the existence of suitable road transportation system in Kinangop Division, Nyandarua District, bearing in mind the fact that road transport sector is the key to unleashing the potential for increased productivity and income levels in the rural areas. There are telling examples throughout the study area where transport bottlenecks have put brakes .on agricultural production, marketing of produce and reduced farm-gate prices, hence Roads are in extremely poor state making accessibility to farms during the wet seasons almost impossible by motorised transport. The state of the roads in Kinangop might help explain the important role that non-rnotorised transport modes such as cycling, walking, animaldrawn carts among others. This study established that the existing conditions of the roads is the leading constraining factor to agricultural resource development in Kinangop Division. The road conditions compels the few transport operators to hike their transportation charges of both passengers and farm produce, which in respect to the latter, affects their competitiveness in the markets if at all they reach them, and reduces potential income accruable to the farmers. In effect it was found that 89.3 % of the farmers complained of being offered extremely low prices for their produce. Other problems affecting the development of agricultural resource in Kinangop include; high incidence of perishability of farm produce particularly milk and cut-flowers (81.1 % of the farmers stated that they experience loses of milk in varying quantities in a given month(wet) due to transport related problems; high costs of agricul!ural inputs; weak cooperative societies; lack of cooperatives to deal with .the major food crops grown in the Division such as potatoes, cabbages, carrots and pulses among others; frost attack on some crops; poor extension services;