Relationship between Cost of Sugarcane Production and Cost of Maize Production among Farmers in Nyanza Region, Kenya

Abstract

Despite increased demand for sugarcane as an intermediate input in animal feeds production, bioethanol and food stuff, its significance on farmers’ livelihood farmers in Kenya is mixed. There are sections of farmers uprooting this cash crop in favour of maize, a staple food in order to enhance their food security status. Additionally, some policy pronouncement encourages the diversification of sugarcane by intercropping it with other food crops. Through the application of correlation research design, this paper adopted the Structural Equation modelling to analyse primary data collected from rural households in the counties of Homabay, Kisumu and Migori, in Nyanza region to establish the relationship between sugarcane and maize production from their corresponding costs of labour, land and capital. The study concludes that as sugarcane production costs increases, food production cost also increases significantly though inelastic. Hence, ad-hoc increases in cost of sugarcane production must be tamed if maize production is to be achieved.