Supplements, not entry points: the stratification of agroecological knowledge access among smallholder farmers in western Kenya

Abstract Smallholder agroecological transitions depend on knowledge, yet how farmers assemble that knowledge from competing channels is rarely measured at the level of the individual repertoire. We surveyed 386 smallholders in Busia and Siaya counties, western Kenya (September-October 2024), recording every channel each farmer used, preferred learning modalities, and implemented practices. Farmer-to-farmer exchange reached 69.4% of farmers, government extension officers 54.1% and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) 45.1%, whereas Farmer Field Schools (11.4%) and academic or research institutions (6.2%) reached few. Rather than reading this as a coverage deficit, we analysed the position each channel occupies within farmers' repertoires. Farmers used a median of three channels. No farmer named a Farmer Field School or a research institution as a sole source; users of these channels held repertoires averaging 5.0 channels against a sample mean of 2.88. Latent class analysis recovered two classes differing in breadth rather than in kind (narrow 68.8%, broad 31.2%), indicating stratification rather than segmentation. Repertoire breadth rose with income (IRR 1.13 per band) and digital comfort (IRR 1.19), and each additional channel was associated with more implemented practices (IRR 1.09) but lower odds of judging available sources sufficiently varied (OR 0.77). Access to farmer groups predicted peer sourcing (OR 2.04) yet reduced the odds of reaching a science-based channel (OR 0.60). Although 77.7% preferred hands-on demonstrations, 72.3% of these farmers reached neither Farmer Field Schools nor agricultural fairs. Structured, science-based channels function as supplements to already-broad repertoires, not as entry points into them.