Extension Services and Sustainability of Smallholders Farming in Kilifi County, Kenya

The research examined the effects of extension services on the sustainability of smallholder farming in Kilifi County, Kenya, in the context of the implementation of Agricultural Policy 2021. Smallholder farming in Kenya is predominantly subsistence-based, characterized by limited access to modern agricultural knowledge, inadequate support services, and persistent poverty. Kilifi County, with a poverty rate of 78.9% compared with a national average of 46%, epitomizes the challenges facing smallholder farmers in coastal Kenya. Employing a descriptive research design anchored in the Advocacy Coalition Framework, the study targeted 149,334 smallholder crop farming households. Using Yamane's formula, 374 household heads were sampled through stratified random sampling across nine sub-counties, complemented by purposive sampling of county administrators, achieving a response rate of 95.72% (358 respondents). Diagnostic tests, including Shapiro-Wilk, Breusch-Pagan, and VIF, confirmed the suitability of the data for linear regression. Findings reveal that 89.7% of farmers accessed extension services, with farm visits (92.8%) and farmer group meetings (86.0%) as dominant delivery methods. However, the insufficient number of extension officers (39.7%) remained the principal constraint. The Likert scale assessment yielded an overall satisfaction mean of 3.64/5.0, indicating moderate-to-good perceptions. Regression analysis confirmed that extension services significantly influenced smallholder farming sustainability (β = 0.268, t = 3.568, p = 0.000, F = 12.731, R² = 0.065), explaining 6.5% of the variance in sustainability outcomes. The null hypothesis was rejected. The study concludes that extension services have a positive and significant effect on sustainability and recommends recruiting additional extension officers, adopting farmer-centered participatory approaches, and integrating digital communication technologies to enhance service reach and quality.