Adoption and Utilization of Nyota Biofortified Bean Variety among Smallholder Farmers in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya: Determinants and Influencing Factors

Abstract

Climate change continues to threaten agricultural productivity, food security, and nutritional outcomes among smallholder farming households in sub-Saharan Africa, necessitating the adoption of climate-smart and nutrient-dense crop varieties. Biofortified bean varieties, particularly the Nyota variety, have emerged as an important intervention for addressing micronutrient deficiencies while enhancing resilience to climate variability through improved productivity and drought tolerance. Despite their potential, adoption rates remain uneven due to a combination of socioeconomic, institutional, technological, and farm-level factors. This study investigated the determinants influencing the adoption and utilisation of the Nyota biofortified bean variety among smallholder farmers in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya. A cross-sectional survey design was employed involving 210 smallholder farmers selected using probability sampling techniques. Primary data were collected through structured questionnaires and analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, Pearson correlation analysis, and binary logistic regression to determine the factors influencing adoption. The findings revealed that 63.8% of the respondents had adopted the Nyota biofortified bean variety, indicating a relatively high level of acceptance within the study area. Socioeconomic characteristics significantly associated with adoption included gender (χ² = 5.42, p = 0.020), education level (χ² = 18.63, p < 0.001), household income (χ² = 14.27, p = 0.001), and age (χ² = 8.71, p = 0.013). Institutional factors also played a significant role, with access to extension services (χ² = 29.82, p < 0.001), agricultural training (χ² = 17.74, p < 0.001), farmer group membership (χ² = 15.31, p < 0.001), and access to agricultural credit (χ² = 8.93, p = 0.003) positively influencing adoption decisions. Technological attributes strongly shaped farmers' preferences, with drought tolerance (85.2%), high yield potential (81.4%), early maturity (80.0%), and improved grain quality identified as the most desirable characteristics. Among these, drought tolerance emerged as the strongest predictor of adoption (OR = 3.19), underscoring the importance of climate-resilient traits in farmers' varietal choices. The study further established that the majority of respondents were smallholder farmers cultivating relatively small land holdings under rain-fed production systems, making them particularly vulnerable to climate variability and production risks. The binary logistic regression model was statistically significant (Model χ² = 98.64, p < 0.001), explained 56% of the variation in adoption (Nagelkerke R² = 0.56), demonstrated good model fit (Hosmer–Lemeshow test, p = 0.61), and achieved an overall prediction accuracy of 82.4%. The study concludes that improving access to extension services, strengthening farmer training programmes, expanding agricultural credit facilities, promoting farmer organisations, and enhancing the dissemination of climate-resilient biofortified bean technologies would substantially increase adoption and utilisation of the Nyota variety. Scaling up these interventions has significant potential to improve household food and nutrition security, increase farm productivity and incomes, strengthen resilience to climate change, and contribute to sustainable agricultural development among smallholder farming communities in Kenya.