Fertilizer use in semi-arid areas of Kenya: analysis of smallholder farmers' adoption behavior under liberalized markets

This paper analyzes the factors influencing farm level fertilizer adoption decisions under an era of liberalized markets in Kenya using a Tobit regression model. The level of education of the household head, experience using fertilizer, growing a cash crop, availability of fertilizer in rural retail outlets, availability in small packages, and land pressure positively influenced fertilizer use, while the size of family labor and location in the drier semi-arid zone were negatively associated with fertilizer use. The paper concludes with policy and research implications for strategies aimed at achieving greater fertilizer use on smallholder farms.