Relational Agency, Technology and Technical Efficiency in Kenyan Coffee Farming: A Stochastic Production Frontier Approach

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between technology, technical efficiency, and the population of coffee farmers guided by activity theory, economics, and the acceptability of technology model. It examined the existence of relational agency in coffee farming; compared the rates of technology adoption among young and post-youth coffee farmers; connections between these variables among coffee farmers; and determine the output yield of central Kenyan coffee farmers.
Data was analysed using the log-likelihood linear regression function on the stochastic frontier while being summarised using descriptive statistics. Using simple random and stratified sampling with a structural questionnaire. The sample size was 384 responses selected from a target population of 304,600. A descriptive across-sectional research approach was adopted. The study’s null hypothesis, that agency relationships and technology have a favourable impact on technical efficiency, was put to the test using inferential statistics. The data was determined to be reliable with a KMO rating of 0.642 > 0.5. The Estimation method for the study was the ordinary least squares.
The study found that agency networks significantly affect productivity and improved efficiency on farmers who get visit from extension officer with TE with mean of 0.52, confirming the support of activity theory that coffee research institution should develop modern cultivars which were less reliant to fungicides. It concluded that coffee production can be increased by improving the inputs use and subsequently technical efficiency to increase farmers’ experience.
This informs best practices by government and management corporations in incorporating reforms and agency relationships in coffee farming. It enriches the economics’ production theory by showing synergy in production filling the gap in agency relationships studies. It recommends the government to promote farm investments that enhance access to credit and future research on the technical efficiency of large estate for coffee growers. It also recommends government policies on allocation of financial resources to support coffee producers by providing subsidy programmes for sustainable technology improvements, incentive programmes and creating institutional platforms for farmers to explore both local and international coffee markets. This will allow them to access information on the market and environmental conditions, and bargaining powers on the pricing and product marketing.