Abstract:
The study aimed to investigate the various market outlets used by smallholder vanilla farmers, their profitability, and factors influencing market channel choice. The sample size was picked using simple random sampling. 100 respondents were selected, and the population of the farmers revealed the average age of farmers was 47 years. The study revealed most cultivate on an average of 1 acre with low formal education however most of these farmers had experience in vanilla production with a mean of 11.8 years. There were two primary market outlets got from the field which were middlemen and cooperative. In terms of price, middlemen offered an average of 13,000shs while cooperatives offered an average of 27,700shs per kilogram of vanilla. Results from a multivariate probit showed that 5 out of 10 variables were significant, including farmers' experience, education, proximity to market, price sold, plus family size. Results for profitability by channels show that cooperatives were more profitable with a 76% gross margin while middlemen as a channel resulted into 63%.
Recommendations were drawn from the study advising farmers to keep away from selling to middlemen since they take advantage of them. Farmers are also advised to join cooperatives since they provide significantly better profitability and other financial benefits like seminars, workshops and extension support.
