The Efficacy of Product Food Safety Standards and Quality Management Systems Among Smallholder Farmers in Kenya

The recognition of global product food safety standards and quality management systems has resulted in smallholder farmers in Kenya taking great strides to incorporate change management processes to become competitive and access international markets to improve their net returns and change livelihoods. The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of product food safety standards and quality management systems among smallholder farmers in Kenya. An explanatory sequential mixed method design was adopted to allow a comparative impact study to determine the efficacy prior and post implementation of product food safety standards and quality management systems among smallholder farmers in Kenya. The study combined quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Quantitative data was first collected using primarily closed-ended questionnaires administered to 215 smallholder farmers randomly selected from four purposively chosen sub-counties of Meru county. This was followed by interviews to collect qualitative data from 8 key stakeholders in the agricultural sector of Kenya. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used to obtain study findings that addressed the research objectives. The thematic framework approach was used to analyze the qualitative data. The study results suggest that smallholder farmers have benefited extensively from implementing product food safety standards and quality management systems by accessing new markets. Smallholder farmers estimated annual farm produce sales above Kes 100,000 have increased from 3.3% to 28.4% after adopting good agricultural practices. However, 31.2% of the respondents felt the cost of such programs was a challenge, and another 31.2% felt a challenge getting technical expertise to implement the change management process. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that smallholder farmers undertake initiatives to establish and implement product food safety standards and quality management systems to improve their business processes, gain access to international markets, and improve livelihoods.