ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND PERFORMANCE OF SMALLSCALE AGRIBUSINESS GRAIN FARMERS IN NORTH RIFT, KENYA
| dc.contributor.author | MICHAEL KIBET KEBENEI | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-03-31T18:34:17Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-03-31T18:34:17Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-09 | |
| dc.description | Dissertation | |
| dc.description.abstract | In North Rift Kenya, small-scale farmers are struggling to make ends meet despite contributing the largest percentage of maize production in the country. Many of these farmers still live in poverty within the region, facing challenges in meeting their basic needs and achieving financial stability. A question that arises then is what may be the challenges affecting the performance of small-scale agribusiness grain farmers in the region? Can Entrepreneurial orientation be the solution to their Agribusiness performance? Therefore, this study sought to determine the influence of entrepreneurial orientation and performance of small-scale agribusiness grain farmers in North Rift, Kenya. Further the study sought to determine the influence of entrepreneurial innovation, pro-activeness, risk-taking, competitive aggressiveness and autonomy on the performance of small-scale agribusiness grain farmers in North Rift, Kenya. The study further sought to establish the moderating effect of entrepreneur characteristic on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance of small-scale agribusiness grain farmers in North Rift, Kenya. The study was guided by the Economic Theory, Psychological Theory, Innovation theory, Opportunity-based theory and Uncertainty bearing theory. The study adopted the positivist research philosophy and descriptive survey research design was utilized. Target population included 497,737 small-scale agribusiness grain farmers in North Rift, Kenya. Yamane’s Formula of sample size determination was applied to derive a sample size of 400 respondents. Questionnaire was used for data collection. A Pilot test was conducted in Kakamega County to check the validity and reliability of the instruments of data collection. SPSS version 25 was applied in analyzing the data collected. Moreover, diagnostic tests such as normality test, multicollinearity test and Heteroscedasticity test were done. Quantitative techniques were utilized to analyze data. The quantitative data comprised of the descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics were summarized into percentages, mean and the standard deviation which was presented using figures, frequency tables and pie-charts. Inferential statistics were applied to test the hypothesis for the study. The findings showed that Innovation and performance of small-scale agribusiness grain farmers has a positive and significant relationship. Moreover, it was also established that pro-activeness, risk taking, competitive aggressiveness, and entrepreneurial autonomy significantly predicted the performance of small-scale agribusiness grain farmers in North Rift, Kenya. Entrepreneurial characteristics had a statistically significant moderating effect on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance of small-scale agribusiness grain farmers in North Rift, Kenya. The study conclusion was that there is statistically significant relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance of small-scale agribusiness grain farmers in North Rift, Kenya. The study recommended , small-scale grain farmers to embrace entrepreneurial orientation, research institutions to contact regular market research, government institution to enact policies that support entrepreneurial orientation and training institutions to contact educational training, there is a need for educational institutions to integrate entrepreneurial innovativeness, risk management, pro-activeness, competitiveness, business autonomy and entrepreneurial characteristic into agricultural curricula to equip future farmers with the necessary skills. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://repository.cuea.edu/handle/123456789/667 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN AFRICA | |
| dc.subject | Strategic human resource management | |
| dc.subject | employee performance | |
| dc.subject | human resource practices | |
| dc.subject | organizational performance | |
| dc.subject | staff development. | |
| dc.title | ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND PERFORMANCE OF SMALLSCALE AGRIBUSINESS GRAIN FARMERS IN NORTH RIFT, KENYA | |
| dc.type | Thesis |