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THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND VETERINARY SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONMICS

ADOPTION OF SUN-DRYING AS MUSHROOM PRESERVATION METHOD IN KIAMBU COUNTY

AMING’A SAMSON

A87/3545/2010

A RESEARCH REPORT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELORS OF SCIENCE IN

AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT.

SUBMITTED TO: Mr. Pambo Kennedy

APRIL 2014

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Acknowledgement I thank the Almighty God, without whose grace this work would have been impossible. I praise

Him through this humble piece of work.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Mr. Kennedy Pambo for his

guidance, support and patience throughout the study.

I am grateful to the University of Nairobi and the Department of Agricultural Economics for

providing me this wonderful opportunity to pursue my Bachelors degree and the learning

resources provided to enhance this study.

I have no words to express my heartfelt gratitude to my dear mum, my sisters and brothers for

their constant moral support, encouragement and love.

I would also like to thank my co-graduate students of the Agribusiness management class of

2014 and other friends who have made my stay in the University a memorable experience.

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Table of Contents Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................................................ i

Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................ ii

List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................................... iii

List of Acronyms ................................................................................................................................................. iv

1.0 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background information ........................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Statement of the Problem ......................................................................................................................... 4

1.3 The purpose of the study .......................................................................................................................... 5

1.4 Objectives of the study ............................................................................................................................. 5

1.5 Hypothesis testing ..................................................................................................................................... 5

1.6 Justification of the study ........................................................................................................................... 6

1.7 Study area .................................................................................................................................................. 7

1.8 Organization of the project report ............................................................................................................ 7

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................. 8

3.0 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................................ 9

3.1 Data collection procedure and sampling design...................................................................................... 9

3.2 Model used ................................................................................................................................................ 9

3.3 Variables included in the model............................................................................................................. 10

4.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................ 12

4.1 knowledge of sun-drying mushroom preservation by small-scale farmers. ........................................ 12

4.2 Factors affecting adoption of sun-drying preservation of mushrooms. ............................................... 13

5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ........................................................................................ 15

References .......................................................................................................................................................... 16

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List of Tables Table 1 Variables used in the model

Table 2 Descriptive statistics for frequencies and continuous variables.

Table 3 Regression table

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List of Acronyms UNICEF: United Nations International Children Emergency Fund

FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization

WHO: World Health Organization

NFNSP: National Food Nutrition and Security Policy

GoK: Government of Kenya

DASH: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension

ICMBMP: International Conference on Mushroom Biology and Mushroom Products

ICAR: Indian Council of Agricultural

CFTRI: Center for Food Technological Research Institute

USDA: United States Department of Agriculture

UN: United Nations

JKUAT: Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.

SPSS: Statistical Package for Social Sciences

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background information There has been increased pressure on food demanded arising from population growth,

urbanization and climate change. Consequently, prices of most food commodities have been in a

rise except those of primary Agricultural produce (FAO, 2013). Food Nutrition and security

refers to the circumstances where every individual in a population has easy physical and

economical access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food to meet minimum dietary requirements

for a healthy living (GoK, 2011). Good nutrition entails having regular meals constituting a

balanced diet that contains all the essential nutritive components required for the normal

functioning of the body.

Elements of a proper balanced nutrition comprise of both micro and macro nutrients. Macro

nutrients needed by the body in large amounts include Carbohydrates, Fiber, Fats, Proteins and

Water while the micro nutrients comprise of Vitamins and Minerals. All macro nutrients except

water and fiber make up the building blocks of the body and sometimes generate internal energy

(Berg j et al. 2002). Proteins are broken in digestion to release amino acids that are used in tissue

building where as fats are broken down to release fatty acids and glycerol. Fiber as a third class

dietary material is good for mechanical and biochemical processes during digestion.

Carbohydrates are broken down to give simple sugars in form of glucose that is utilized by the

body in form of energy to facilitate all the physiological, mechanical and chemical processes of

human system (Baker et al. 2002).

In macro nutrients, mineral elements are required by the body in small quantities but are very

essential for the normal functioning of a healthy body. Calcium and phosphorus are electrolytes

and also components in bone and muscle development. Sodium and Potassium are known to

reduce blood pressure and maintain the body osmotic pressure (water balance) while Magnesium

is associated with balancing the body ph. Other trace elements like cobalt, copper, iron etc act as

enzyme catalysts to speed up reactions within the body while iodine has been proved to prevent

goiter in humans (He FJ et al. 2004 and DASH, 2009).

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Vitamins are very important elements to our bodies since they act as ant oxidants and in

repairing worn out body tissues. Lack of vitamins or insufficient supply vitamins causes

deficiency diseases that affect normal human functionality (Shilset al. 2005).

Poor nutrition has been noted as considerably a big problem in relation to poverty, knowledge of

good nutrition and practices and also food security. Poor feeding of school going children is the

cause for poor class performance leading to high number of less successful individuals thus a

less productive and competitive economy.(UNICEF, 2006 and WHO, 2013). It is evident that

there is under nutrition of the population that entirely depends on cereal staples and starchy foods

for survival in which Kenya is not excluded.

Animal products are very good sources of proteins, vitamin B12 and D, calcium and other

micronutrients required for a healthy living(Nelson et al. 2005). Most people have resorted to be

vegetarians because they fear ingesting the large amounts of cholesterol and unsaturated fats

found in animal products that are a threat to health. Others don’t use animal products because of

cultural and religious issues. According to Kashrut (1999), some religious followers do not use

pork products since they consider them to be abominable animals. Animal products also acidify

the body making a calcium deficit in the bone and at the same time they decrease oxygen content

in the blood. Animal products are also expensive to purchase especially to the low income

households.

Nutrients derived from plants are considered the best for a healthy life when a variety of all sorts

of nutritious plants are included in the diet. Plants are best known for their richness in

carbohydrate and fibre hence most people don’t consider them as a potential source of other

micro and macro nutrients. Leguminous plant products like beans and lentils provide a wide base

of proteins and iron whereas Calcium and Vitamins are found in leafy green vegetables and soy

products in plenty (WHO, 2013).

Plants products are considered to be food for the lower class people and the poor in the society.

In high density urban areas, there is a tendency to consume one or a few types of plant products

due to unavailability and also low income of the population (FAO 2013).

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Mushrooms are fungi fruiting bodies. Since they are neither plants nor animals, they are

considered acceptable by most populations worldwide. They have been known to be multi

nutrient sources of food for years since their discovery. Mushrooms are a good source of good

quality protein especially rich in lysine and thus supplement well the cereal based Indian diet.

FAO (2012), in reference to ICMBMP7 (2011), recognized mushrooms as the right source of

protein that can fight protein malnutrition in the cereal–dependent developing countries.

Mushrooms are low calorie food that can suite those interested in cutting down the calorie intake,

like obese persons. Being low in fat and devoid of cholesterol, they make an ideal diet for the

heart patients. They are also rich in vitamins and minerals especially Vitamin B- Complex and

iron. Vitamin B-12 and Folic acid, which are normally not found in vegetarian items are present

in mushrooms and along with availability of iron and protein, are reported to maintain

hemoglobin level as single source of diet. With very high fibre and alkaline elements,

mushrooms are suited to those suffering from hyperacidity and constipation. Consumption of

fibre is very import in general health maintenance. Many mushrooms possess significant

medicinal attributes like hypocholesterolemic, hypoglycemic and hypotensive properties.

Mushrooms also exhibit strong anti-oxidant and hepatoprotective properties (Food and Nutrition

2013).

It has been realized that merely producing mushroom is of no use unless these are properly

preserved, keeping in view the export objectives and for internal market. Mushroom production

has increased many folds during the recent past. Mushrooms have found a definite place in the

food consumption habits of common masses of Kenyans and there is a constant demand for it

throughout the year.

Fresh mushroom market is largely catered by the seasonal growers who do not have cool- chain

storage and transport facilities and sell the produce in highly localized markets; needless to

mention that such seasonal players at times face the consequences of over-saturated market and

understandably resort to distress sales at un-remunerative prices (ICAR 2008).

Mushrooms exhibit a very short shelf life that may vary from 1 day to 2 weeks at 1-40C. Freshly

harvested mushrooms are highly perishable because of high moisture content, metabolism and

susceptibility to enzymatic browning. Its quality starts declining soon after harvesting, rendering

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the produce unsellable. Hence there is need for the development of appropriate storage and

processing technologies in order to extend their marketability and availability to the consumers

in fresh or processed form throughout the year round. Drying, chemical preservation, canning

and freezing are initially accepted methods of mushroom preservation.

Low temperature has been effective in short-term preservation because it retards the growth of

microorganisms reduce the rate of post harvest metabolic activities of the mushroom tissues and

minimizes moisture loss. This cannot be done for longer days because the microbial and

metabolic activities are only reduced but are still taking place hence gradual spoilage of the

product. It is a very expensive mode of preservation since it requires setting up of cold chains

and purchasing freezers. It also entails the installation of power together with the need of

expertise to operate and maintain the systems.

Mushroom cunning is expensive due to the facilities to set up a cunning plant involves

blanching, cold treatment sterilizing, chemical preservatives addition and packing in airtight

sealed containers.

Mushroom drying is not very well known in majority of the mushroom growing countries. It is

so far the cheapest and most convenient way of preserving mushrooms for processing and for

value addition. Despite all this, this method is well applicable in tropical countries like Kenya

where solar is abundantly available and reliable.

1.2 Statement of the Problem Developed countries in the world have now directed their resources towards mushroom

cultivation to supplement their diets. Mushroom diet has been identified to successfully control

several micronutrient deficiencies in high population countries like China and India. Mushroom

sun drying has been identified as a cost-effective strategy of mushroom preservation that will

help most economies achieve food self sufficiency by providing most of micro and

macronutrients in supplementing local staples. After knowing its potential, major mushroom

producing countries have started large scale mushroom drying techniques especially in inventing

efficient ways of utilizing solar energy in the process. In Kenya, sun drying preservation has

been known and practiced by poor small scale farmers in which a few people have linked it with

low quality while others have liked it for its natural retention of mushroom characteristics.

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Literatures show that sun drying preservation has been taken positive especially in the US where

the dried product is processed and used to blend other product as a form of value addition. These

studies are seen to only give the conditions of developed large scale mushroom producers as

opposed to the large number of small scale producers in upcoming third world countries (USDA,

2012).

Mushroom is a high value niche product with great potential to contribute to enterprise

diversification, health enhancement and poverty alleviation by utilizing agricultural resources

efficiently, thus providing an environmentally friendly disposal system (Isikhuemhen et al.,

2000). In Kenya, commercial mushroom cultivation is an emerging industry. Mushrooms are

mainly produced by small-scale farmers in rural areas. However, mushroom being an emerging

crop, limited research has been undertaken to provide clear background information about

efficient and cost effective modes of preservation. Actually, minimum research and studies have

been conducted to evaluate the preference of farmers and consumers on sundried mushrooms.

For this reason, there seems to be a deficit in knowledge and hence there is need to bridge it

through carrying out a study. In Kenya, problems of malnutrition due to micronutrient deficiency

can be well addressed if preference for well preserved, sundried mushroom is increased among

the mushroom farmers (Isikhuemhen et al., 2000).

1.3 The purpose of the study The driving purpose for carrying out this study was to evaluate the factors affecting farmers’

knowledge and adoption of sun drying as a method of mushroom preservation.

1.4 Objectives of the study To assess the farmers’ knowledge on sun-drying mushroom preservation.

To assess the factors that influences the adoption of sun-drying of mushrooms in small scale

mushroom preservation

1.5 Hypothesis testing Farmers do not know much about the effectiveness of sun drying as a method of preserving

mushrooms.

There are no factors hindering adoption of sun drying as a mode of mushroom preservation in

small scale mushroom farmers.

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1.6 Justification of the study The current study on mushroom preservation through sun-drying if accepted, intends to provide

mushroom farmers stakeholders with information about the overall effectiveness of the technique

in broadening the field. The findings of this study will help identify strategies for improving

efficiency in preservation along the mushroom value chain and generate benchmarks for impact

assessment.

Some of the benefits that are likely to be enjoyed by the mushroom industry include: farmers

and middlemen will be able to use the information to decide on how to avail their products in a

more stable state to the market at all times of the year despite the season at hand, this information

can also be used by mushroom processing companies in assessing the best mode of preserved

mushrooms to use in their processing purposes and also the study will provide producers with

information for evaluating the most cost effective method of preservation especially through

comparing with other method of preservation thus enhancing their market position and

increasing their competitiveness in the local and international markets.

If the idea is implemented, the society of mushroom consumer is likely to escape the calamity of

malnutrition through deficiency especially that of proteins, vitamins B, C, D, Calcium and iron in

women and children especially if they depend on grains and starchy foods as their staples, the

study will assist the government in achieving the millennium development goals of the UN in

eradication of extreme poverty and hunger and improving maternal health.

The government can as well implement this decision in order to help combat the issue of food

insecurity since mushrooms will provide a wider range of nutrients required in a human diet,

hospital management and medical practitioners can also use the information in decision making

over the kind of preserved mushroom products to advice their heart, diabetic and obese patients

without affecting their health and financial status.

Mushrooms are also very seasonal and above all, they have a very short shelf life of about 24

hours from harvest time. This makes it hard to find mushrooms during off seasons. There is need

to make mushrooms available in the market in their normal form at a relatively constant price

during all seasons. This situation has triggered researchers to work out ways of preserving

mushrooms for longer in a more original form than in processed form (ICAR, 2008).

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1.7 Study area This study was conducted in rural Kenya focusing on the areas within Kiambu County (Juja

constituency). This area was selected for the study because there is evidence that mushroom

cultivation is being undertaken by the local communities in the area and moreover, the area has

favorable agro climate for the production. It is also near the Capital Nairobi which has people

from diverse cultural backgrounds who are likely to pose different challenges in terms of market

penetration and acceptability of the product. In addition, there is great potential for up-scaling

project findings because of the likely strong local stakeholder interest in the area for the

technologies to be developed due to the proximity of a learning and research institution that has

embraced mushroom production (Obura 2010).

1.8 Organization of the project report

In this project, the first chapter deals with introduction which comprises; background

information, problem statement, objectives, hypothesis to be tested, justification of the study and

study area; the second chapter covers literature review; Methodology is covered in the third

chapter; chapter four presents the results and discussion; the fifth chapter is conclusion; and then

the list of references.

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2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW It is evident that there is high mushroom production in Kenya especially by small scale farmers.

A recent study carried out in Mumias Division by Andrew Nyakundi (2012) indicates that

mushroom cultivation is a fast growing industry. He carried out the study to analyze constraints

facing mushroom farmers. The research study was carried out using a descriptive research design

where 30 samples were selected using cluster design; he collected data through questionnaire and

observations and analyzed it using descriptive statistics with the help of SPSS. He found out in

the research study that production of mushrooms was swift and cheap throughout the value chain

except in post-harvest handling majorly in preservation and quality maintenance while awaiting

the favorable market.

Considering the challenges he identified, he concluded that there were knowledge gaps on

appropriate management practices, quality of spawn, marketing strategies, record keeping and

methods of preservation. Therefore the following recommendations have been proposed so as to

vibrant mushroom farming: Trainings of farmers on mushroom production skills, good

management practices, use of available of credit facilities and appropriate preservation

techniques that are cost effective.

Isikhuemhen and others (2000) came up after a study that men played a bigger role in initiating

mushroom cultivation while women concentrated on harvesting and post-harvest activities. Their

study also revealed that about 20% of mushroom growers processed mushrooms and the major

products were cakes (38%) and flour (31%). Marketing of mushrooms was dominated by the

producers themselves. The key challenges in the mushroom industry were lack of capital,

inefficient marketing system and inadequate knowledge on production and preservation

techniques. In order for a stimulated mushroom industry, there is need for concerted efforts to

train farmers on production, provision of affordable credit to farmers and improving marketing

systems.

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3.0 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Data collection procedure and sampling design The semi structured questionnaires were used to gather respondents’ opinions about the

mushroom farming. Primary data was collected through face to face interviews from different

small scale mushroom farmers in Juja constituency. Qualitative and quantitative data sets were

collected in the study to give different views on attributes that are likely to affect the knowledge

and adoption of mushroom sun-drying. The data collected covered attributes such as age of the

farmer; income levels, intended use of the produce, scale of production and technology use

among other different variables were collected.

A random sampling technique was employed in choosing respondents for the study. This was

based on the Central Limit Theorem (CLT) which states that as the number of occurrences

increase, the expected results gives a closer estimate to the actual results. Therefore any sample

size that is greater than 30 is justified to represent population characteristics from the samples

selected. Thirty mushroom farmers were selected as respondents and interviewed over factors

related to mushroom preservation centering on sun-drying method. The precedent data was

analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0.

3.2 Model used The Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression model was used in the analysis of the relationship

between knowledge of sun-drying mushroom preservation and the socio-economic variables

attributed to the farmers. The model usually indicates a linear relationship between the dependent

variable and the independent variables and it stated as;

Y= αi + βXi + ui

Where:

Y= the knowledge sun-drying mushroom preservation (dependent variable).

αi = Constant (other factors which were not include in the model but affect the dependent

variable)

β = Co-efficient (to be determined by the variable)

Xi = Variable (independent variable)

ui = Error term.

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3.3 Variables included in the model. In order to answer the study objectives, the following variables were included in the model.

Table 1: Variables used in the model

Variable Description of the Variable Expected sign

AGE Age of the farmer (years) +

ED.LEVEL Level of education (1=higher education, 0=below secondary) +

INCOME Income levels (1=above 50000, 0=below 50000) -

TECH Technology level employed (0=low, 1=advanced) -

MACCEPT Market acceptability of produce (0=yes, 1= no) +

YUSE Intended use of produce (0=subsistence, 1=market) ±

PSCALE Scale of production (0=small, 1=large) +

PRMODE Mode of preservation (0=sun-dry, 1=other modes) +

FEXPERIENCE Farming experience (0=no experience, 1=experienced) +

OCCUPATION Occupation of the farmer (0=farmer, 1=others) -

An increase in the age of the farmer could give better grounds for adopting the technique of sun-

drying of mushrooms older people are known to cherish natural ways of doing things and they

also prefer to use more economical techniques. The level of adoption of sun-drying was expected

to increase concurrently with increase in the level of education of the farmer. A more informed

farmer tries as much as possible to reduce the level of chemical concentration in the produce

especially during post harvest handling used for preservation purposes. Farmers who earn high

income from whichever source could not easily adopt the technic of sun-drying because they

were likely to use the income earned to invest in more sophisticated technology to preserve the

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mushrooms. Use of high level of production technology could also lower the chances of adopting

the technology in question. High level production leads to mass production hence need for a

more convenient and reliable mode of preserving the produce. Producing mushrooms in large

quantities could trigger the increase in adoption of sun-drying technique since it saves storage

space and gives more room to accommodate increased production.

Market acceptability of sun-dried mushrooms was expected to increase the adoptability of the

technique. This could be possible because sundried mushrooms would have an outlet and hence

increase in use of the technique. Farmers who intended to use the mushrooms for subsistence

were expected to adopt the technique readily since they produced mushrooms in small quantities

and seasonally. This could help in preserving the small quantities of mushrooms for the next

season. It was also expected that there would be no adoption of the technique for the households

who produced mushrooms for home consumption. It was because mushrooms were produced in

small quantities which could be consumed before spoilage. Farmers who produced mushrooms

for commercial markets were not expected to readily adopt sun-drying preservation because of

the fear that their product will not be accepted in the market. On the other hand, it was expected

that farmers producing mushrooms for commercial purposes were likely to adopt the technique

of sun-drying mushroom preservation because the technique was likely to elongate the shelf life

and reduce the bulkiness of fresh market mushrooms.

Experienced farmers who had previously used sun-drying mode of preservation and those that

have some experience in mushroom farming were likely to adopt the technique because they

have a technical know how of the mode of its operation. Farmers who were not into full time

mushroom farming as their occupation could not adopt the technique. This is due to the fact that

farmers in other occupations could not have the time required to implement the technique since it

has to be practiced in daytime.

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4.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 knowledge of sun-drying mushroom preservation by small-scale farmers. Table 2: Descriptive statistics for frequencies and continuous variables.

Variable Descriptive statistics

Level of knowledge on sun-drying (% knowledgeable) 50

Technology level employed (% advanced tech) 46.7

Market acceptability of produce (% yes) 63.3

Intended use of produce (% market) 76.7

Scale of production (% large) 76.7

Mode of preservation (% dry) 43.3

Farming experience (% experienced) 70

Income of the farmer (% above 5000) 50

A good number of farmers were seen to have excellent knowledge on sun-drying preservation of

mushroom while about 43% of the farmers interviewed were already using this technique of sun-

drying preservation. Some of the farmers were forced by circumstances to use the technique

while others cherished it as they have been practicing it out of good will despite the presence of

other methods of preservation. Almost three quarters of the farmers in mushroom production

field are well experienced with their work and they do their production in relatively large

quantities. Over 77 percent of the farmers produce mushrooms for commercial purposes while

about 63 out of 100 units produced are fit and accepted in the market. Only forty seven percent

of the interviewed farmers were found to be using high level modern technology in the value

chain of mushroom production.

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4.2 Factors affecting adoption of sun-drying preservation of mushrooms.

Table 3: Regression results.

Variable Coefficient Standard error Significance

CONSTANT -0.327 0.413 0.437

AGE 0.520 0.007 0.010

ED.LEVEL 0.349 0.215 0.116

FEXPERIENCE -0.193 0.191 0.325

INCOME -0.500 0.200 0.021

TECH 0.005 0.200 0.981

MACCEPT 0.285 0.242 0.236

PSCALE -0.182 0.493 0.467

OCCUPATION -0.031 0.217 0.877

Table 3 indicates that there are two variables that are significant to the adoption of sun-drying

mushroom preservation that is; the age of the farmer and the income level of the farmers. For

every increase in one year of the farmer’s age, there is 52% increase in the level of adoption of

the technique. This concurs with the predicted projection that older people would prefer more

natural ways of handling mushrooms that causes minimum contamination. There is an inverse

relationship between the level of income of the farmer and the rate of adoption of sun-drying

mushroom preservation. For every unit increase in income, there is a 50% decrease in the rate of

adopting the technique. Increase in family income level was found make the farmers shift from

using cheap and less convenient methods of preservation to more sophisticated and advanced

methods of preservation. Increasing the scale of production by one unit would trigger a decrease

in the use of sun-drying to preserve the mushrooms by 18%. This was due to the fact that

increased productivity required a faster and more reliable way to preserve the mushrooms. This

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inverse relationship between increased productivity and adoption of sun-drying preservation

indicated that the farmers could prefer better methods of preserving mushrooms and not

depending on natural solar for the preservation.

Farmers experience in mushroom production had an inverse relationship with the level of

adoption of the technique. For every level of farming experience attained by the farmer attracted

a 19% decrease in the level of adopting sun-drying mushroom preservation technique.

Experienced farmers in the field of mushroom production use more advanced techniques which

are time saving and more convenient. This contradicts the earlier expectation that increase in

farming experience could increase the level of adoptability of the technique. This was thought

that they must have had a technical knowhow of dealing with the technique hence adopting it.

Using advanced technology in mushroom production value chain could trigger the adoption of

sun-drying mushroom preservation by about 1%. This is because advanced technology in

production and preservation would compete the natural and less technical method of sun-drying.

Also, technology is known to enhance and increase productivity which in turn would call for

additional methods of preserving the produce including sun-drying. This contradicts the earlier

prediction that increase in technology use would lead to increase in the use of modern methods

of preservation while inhibiting the use of sun-drying method. Each unit of dried mushroom that

was accepted in the market triggered a 29% increase in the use of sun-drying technique. This

happened because farmers could preserve more of their produce even as the demand for the

produce increased. This goes hand in hand with the prediction that increase in market

acceptability of sun-dried mushrooms could possibly increase the level of adoption of the

technique. Farmers with more education especially the higher education were slightly found to

prefer using the natural sun-drying method of preservation as opposed to their counterparts with

low education levels. Compliant to earlier predictions, farmers increasing their education by one

level would result to a 35% increase in the level of adopting sun drying preservation.

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5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION This study was carried out with the aim of assessing mall-scale farmers’ knowledge on use of

sun-drying to preserve mushrooms and to determine the factors that affect the adoption of the

technique by the farmers. The age of the farmer and the level of income of the farmer were found

to be most significant in determining the level to which one could accept and adopt the use of

sun-drying as a method of mushroom preservation. The study established the fact that most

mushroom stakeholders preferred modern technology to preserve their products to increase shelf

life. Most modern preservation techniques are expensive to acquire and use thus lowering the

small scale producers’ net income from the very product. The age and formal education level of

the farmers was found to significantly increase the chances of adoption of sun-drying

preservation. Since most of the farmers produced mushrooms in small scale, it was found out

that increasing the scale of production would call for sophisticated methods of preservation

hence reducing the chances of adoption level of sun-drying method. High earning farmers and

those who are not fully into mushroom farming were also seen not to welcome the technique of

sun-drying

Farmers should be informed on the importance of using sun-drying as a method of mushroom

preservation to increase the shelf life of their product. It is recommended that mushroom

consumers should be sensitized on the value of sun-dried mushrooms since market acceptance of

the produce contributed to adoption of the technique. Basic education should be offered to

mushroom farmers to encourage new entrants into mushroom farming to adopt the sun-drying

technique of preservation and abandon the notion that sun-drying is meant for the old farmers.

Comment [K P1]: FORM YOUR SLIDES

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