Promotion and Uptake of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Practices among Kenyan MSMEs: Key Learnings

Abstract

This article analyses and assesses the integration of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) practices in the horticultural production of Kenyan micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) within the framework of the EU Switch Africa Green project ‘Green Horticulture at Lake Naivasha’ (GOALAN) in the Lake Naivasha basin, Kenya. The aim of the study is to understand what facilitates and hinders the uptake of SCP practices. Using qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, this article is based on a case study approach. The study looked into (1) 158 MSMEs (project beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries) regarding their adoption and implementation of SCP practices, as well as their encountered challenges, opportunities, and evidenced outcomes; and (2) five ‘best practice’ case studies from the project beneficiary group. Findings indicate some key factors influencing the decision of MSMEs to adopt and implement SCP practices. These factors encompass access to SCP know-how, the identification of potential benefits, access to specialized and reliable markets, access to finance, and access to infrastructure. Based on the findings, the study suggests that to promote the uptake and long-term implementation of SCP practices by horticultural MSMEs, it is key to build the capacity of MSMEs, improve financial capacity to invest in SCP measures, enhance access to markets through establishing new linkages with buyers and customers, and enable infrastructure.

1. Introduction

Horticultural crops refer to fruits, vegetables, spices, and ornamental and medicinal plants [1,2]. Horticulture is an important sub-sector of Kenya’s vibrant agriculture sector that contributes to 26% of the gross domestic product (GDP) [3]. Hence, the horticultural micro-, small-, and medium-sized (MSMEs) play an important role in Kenya’s economy. The MSMEs also form the backbone of the agriculture sector in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries [4,5] as they constitute the majority of the farming population, particularly in the rural areas. However, Kenya’s traditional horticultural production is generally characterized by limited access to improved inputs and modern production tools and systems such as high-quality seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, machinery, and irrigation systems. As a result, farmers lean towards practices that ensure the intensive utilization of resources, mainly land and water and farm chemicals [6]. These practices lead to serious environmental and health-related impacts, such as soil erosion, water contamination, and chemical overexposure. Moreover, Kenya’s traditional horticultural practices are characterized by overreliance on rain-based irrigation. However, rainfall has become unpredictable, interspersed with periods of drought and excessive rainfall [7]. The changes in rainfall patterns directly impact plant growth and contribute to pests and disease outbreaks [7], which affects crop productivity.

The adoption of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) practices is proven to increase agricultural resilience and contribute to rural development [8]. The term SCP refers to “the use of services and related products, which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life while minimizing the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as the emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle of the service or product so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations” [9]. The integration of SCP practices by Kenya’s horticultural MSMEs is paramount in shifting the country’s economic development, mitigating the effect of climate change, and creating resilient agricultural systems. Nonetheless, the implementation of SCP practices in Kenya is still low. Introducing new sustainable production practices is challenged due to the fact that the majority of the country’s farming systems are small scale with limited access to capital for agricultural inputs, machinery and technological innovation [10]. Thus, integrating SCP practices requires significant effort on the part of the farmers, as well as concrete incentives and support from various public and private stakeholder counterparts.

This study looks into the case of horticultural MSMEs at the Lake Naivasha Basin, Kenya, in the framework of the EU-funded GOALAN project to learn and gain insights about the challenges and opportunities surrounding the integration of SCP practices. In doing so, the study aims to identify key factors affecting the decisions and capacities of MSMEs to adopt SCP practices and assess the impacts that the adoption of SCP practices has on farmers in the horticulture sector.

1.1. The Lake Naivasha Basin in Kenya

Lake Naivasha, the second-largest freshwater lake in Kenya, plays a very important role in the country’s economy due to the floriculture and horticulture production in the riparian area. Lake Naivasha is also a major tourist attraction. The area surrounding the lake has high biodiversity, and in 1995, it was named a Ramsar site, a wetland site of international importance. The Lake Naivasha Basin (LNB) contributes almost 1.3% of Kenya’s gross domestic product (GDP) and is the origin of 70% of Kenya’s cut-flower exports, generating an estimated 9% of the total foreign exchange revenue [11,12]. LNB contributes significantly to food security in Kenya—20% of Kenya’s vegetable exports and 37% of the vegetable consumed locally are from the basin [13,14].

Due to various anthropogenic activities, the lake faces huge challenges. Populations in the urban, peri-urban, and rural areas have placed immense pressure on the lake’s ecosystem and resources, i.e., water, fish, wildlife, and forest, due to agricultural and consumption patterns [9,10,11,12,13]. Various farming activities at the basin resulted in pollution from agrochemicals, poor soil management, and conservation, and decreased water quality and quantity [15,16,17,18,19], undermining the resilience of the basin [20]. Previous studies estimate that about 80% of the reduction in the lake levels is largely due to horticultural activities by large commercial farms and partly by MSMEs [21,22,23,24,25]. Furthermore, the basin was also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted agricultural value chains as a result of restrictions on movement and the resultant loss in incomes.

Horticultural MSMEs play a pivotal role in horticulture at the LNB. They grow and rely on different types of vegetables, including tomatoes, Irish potatoes, cabbage, kale (sukuma wiki), spring onions, capsicum, snow peas, and garden peas [26]. Fruits grown in the basin, albeit in small quantities, include tree tomatoes, plums, and watermelon [26]. Some existing markets for fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV) within the LNB include hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, high-end green grocers, open-air markets, brokers, and roadside kiosks. LNB also serves regional and international markets [26,27]. The various actors in the horticulture value chain in LNB include input suppliers, local traders, processors and assemblers, wholesalers, retailers, exporters, supermarkets, individual buyers, hotels, and public institutions, as well as horticultural companies, county governments, local NGOs, and, in general, all actors relying on the basin and its products in the wider national economy. The unique blend of biodiversity and anthropogenic activities in LNB requires sound ecological approaches. Particularly for the horticultural MSMEs in the basin, this calls for efforts to promote their uptake of SCP practices to enhance their resilience and contribution towards the achievement of higher incomes in agriculture, increased employment opportunities, sustainable management of natural resources, environmental conservation, green economy, and poverty alleviation in the basin.

The interactions among the different actors in LNB directly affect the uptake of SCP practices, the market dynamic, and value-adding activities. Given the significance of the LNB, lessons learnt from the basin on the promotion and uptake of SCP practices among MSMEs will also be useful for other regions beyond the basin, in Kenya and beyond.

1.2. Sustainability in the Horticulture Sector in LNB

The rhetoric and initiatives for improving environmental sustainability have been increasing in the Naivasha Basin area since the 1990s, with many cases of awareness campaigns for using organic fertilizer agroforestry [22,28]. However, they highlight that this is not sufficient to significantly address the problem of widespread environmental stress in the basin [29]. Solar water pumps are commonly sold and promoted to farmers, with many microfinance organizations offering loans. Integrated pest management (IPM) has been in use in the floriculture sector and in largescale horticulture for several years [30]. Bymolt and Delnoye [22] noted that there is a significant number of commercial growers within the basin that are investing seriously in conservation measures on their farms, such as efficient water usage, recycling, and moving towards production on substrate instead of soil.

Non-profit and institutional actors also applied innovations to contribute towards the sustainability of the horticulture sector in LNB. For instance, WWF-Kenya, in collaboration with other partners, piloted the programme Payment for Environmental Services project that applied the principle of sustainable land management by applying conservational farming to improve productivity while sustaining the delivery of environmental services [22]. The Lake Naivasha stakeholder organization (Imarisha) mobilizes and coordinates multistakeholder efforts on a range of sustainability issues within the basin [22].

Despite the various efforts and interventions, the uptake of SCP practices, particularly by horticultural MSMEs in LNB, is still very low and faced a number of social, economic, and environmental challenges. Social challenges include limited SCP know-how, skills and awareness of the horticultural MSMEs [29], weak relations among key stakeholders in the FFV supply chain [4,31,32], and rapid population growth that exerts pressure on land and other natural resources [22,29]. Limited access to reliable markets and access to finance are the most persistent economic challenges [26], as well as low demand for high-quality, sustainable products, limited access to market information [29], inadequate knowledge on and access to processing techniques, limited access to equipment, machinery, and infrastructure due to the costly investments, and the fragmented structure of markets, including formal and informal [33]. Environmental challenges include a high increase in demand for the hitherto scarce environmental resources and services (particularly Lake Naivasha), water and soil pollution [34], rain shortages and unpredictability, and increasingly mild highland temperatures that increase the spread of agricultural pests [29]. Other challenges include overreliance on rainfed agriculture, poor road conditions, inadequate cooling facilities [28] and inadequate policies and regulations that foster a more sustainable horticulture sector.

Research about SCP practices by MSMEs in the horticultural sector in developing countries is still scarce. One of the few research papers addressing the general topic of SCP and developing countries is that of Wang et al. [35], who conducted a comparative analysis of SCP practices in developed and developing countries based on a vast literature review [35]. They pointed out that MSMEs are less favoured and have received little attention on the subject of SCP implementation compared to large enterprises in both developing and developed countries [35]. In the study, Makate et al. [36] indicate that multiple uses of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) strategies by farmers in SSA is mainly explained by the availability of key resources such as credit, income, and information, as well as farmers’ education level and land ownership size. Oyetunde-Usman et al. [37] identified demographic factors such as age, gender, and education as factors and drivers influencing the adoption of multiple sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs). The need to support especially smallholder farmers who typically have the least resources to cope with great shocks to adapt agriculture to climate change is also highlighted [29].

1.3. The Green Horticulture at Lake Naivasha (GOALAN) Project

The four-year GOALAN project was launched in 2018 and implemented as part of the EU-funded Switch Africa Green programme. The project set out to mitigate the ecological challenges in LNB through the adoption of the SCP framework for sustainably harnessing the socio-economic potentials of LNB while protecting its ecological system. The overall objective of the project was to equip farmers and MSMEs in horticultural production, including the youth and women, with adequate knowledge and skills to realize sustainable horticulture while also improving their access to markets and finance. The GOALAN project promoted the uptake of SCP practices (including environmental, social and economic aspects) among 190 horticultural MSMEs through capacity building and training and infrastructural support, and created awareness regarding SCP among consumers, public institutions, retailers, and hotels in the LNB, thereby contributing to the national government’s goal that is to realize an inclusive green economy in Kenya [38]. The project addressed the negative impacts of horticulture-related anthropogenic activities on climate, water, and land and the general sustainability of the lake’s ecosystem as a common-pool resource. In addition, the project furthers Kenya‘s Vision 2030 and its Green Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan (GESIP), supporting the government in achieving its sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The next section (Section 2) offers a brief literature review of approaches to sustainable agriculture. The following section (Section 3) presents the methodological approach used for the study, as well as the main sources of data collection. In the fourth section, the study offers a brief assessment of traditional horticulture practices in relation to SCP practices; the fifth section explores the economic impact of the integration of SCP by MSMEs, and section six continues with the identification of challenges and opportunities in the integration of SCP practices in the horticulture sector. Section seven offers a brief discussion about the findings, and the article closes with the conclusion in section eight.

2. Literature Review

Agricultural activities are known to have caused considerable environmental impacts. Soil damage and water resources, which are overused or polluted by fertilizers and pesticides, contribute to biodiversity loss as farming has become industrialized. These negative effects of agriculture attract global attention to the fact that agriculture has impacts on the climate, human health, and global ecosystems [39]. There are various aspects to sustainable agriculture that need to be considered, including the emphasis on methods used to improve soil productivity while minimizing detrimental effects on the soil, water, air, biodiversity, and human health; minimizing the use of farm inputs from non-renewable sources; and a focus on local communities and their needs, knowledge, skills, and socio-cultural values.

This study explored the implementation of sustainable agriculture, particularly in the framework of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) in the horticulture sector as a subsector of agriculture. Although SCP literature on sustainable horticulture practices by smallholder farmers in developing countries was not readily available, the study identified relevant literature of existing concepts and approaches that could provide a foundation for SCP practices in the horticulture sector. These approaches include good agricultural practices (GAP), climate-smart agriculture (CSA), and sustainable value chain (SVC). The following section offers a brief literature review of these approaches to explore the state of knowledge regarding the implementation of sustainability practices in the agricultural sector.

The FAO [40] defines good agricultural practices (GAPs) as a “collection of principles to apply for on-farm production and post-production processes, resulting in safe and healthy food and non-food agricultural products, while taking into account economic, social, and environmental sustainability”. Teck et al. [41] reported a positive relationship between implementing GAPs and a better growth rate, yield, and economic profitability in choy sum cultivation in northern Cambodia. The research put more focus on the controlled use of organic and chemical inputs to limit overdose of chemical inputs, as compared to organic farming methods where growers used solely biological inputs without pesticides. On the other hand, GIZ [42] investigated an adaptation of “good practices” in African farming contexts and identified six categories of potential practices for scaling up, which included the use of improved seeds, soil and water management, the timing of farming practice, changing crop/livestock distribution and densities, tillage and associated practices, and farm crop and livestock diversification. Clearly, good agricultural practices include many different farming methods. GAPs are voluntary for farmers but mandatory for those who want to obtain the GAP certification. Obtaining the certification proves to be challenging, especially to smallholder farmers and small agri-businesses, since the audit costs money and time [43]. The cost of complying with the standards imposes an important challenge that affects the implementation of these sustainability practices by farmers and smallholders in developing countries. Amekawa [44] offers information about the financial impact of GAP standard compliance for the entry of the upstream supply chain from sub-Saharan Africa. According to his estimations, an initial investment cost amounts to about GBP 400 per small-scale farmer. Even though the actual costs vary per farm, overall, the initial cost is a high financial burden for many small-scale farmers in relation to local standards. This is an important obstacle for the adoption of GAP by farmers.

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) represents an approach to developing the technical, policy and investment conditions to achieve sustainable agricultural development for food security under climate change [45]. It integrates the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social, and environmental) and aims to increase soil fertility and carbon sequestration, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, enhance resilience to climate change, and promote the use of natural ecosystem services. Practices of CSA include mulching, the application of organic materials, intercropping, conservation tillage, crop rotation, integrated nutrient management, water harvesting, and agroforestry [46,47]. However, despite its potential benefits and contributions, there are still various challenges hindering the adoption of CSA by smallholders [47,48]. Zeressa et al. [47] suggest the main challenges are related to land tenure, information and knowledge, and economic investment and benefits.

Shrinking cropland and land tenure issues are barriers to the integration of CSA by farmers. As a result of growing population pressure and the continuous expansion of the agricultural frontier, the size of cropland per capita in many countries is decreasing. However, the size of available land for agriculture plays an important role for farmers. Having larger land allows farmers to implement CSA practices on one part of the farm while maintaining traditional farming systems of the other part. Farmers with smaller land tend to be more hesitant. Land tenure often becomes another barrier for the implementation of CSA practices in cases where farmers can use and manage land without necessarily being the owners of the land. The uncertainty over access to the land discourages investment. An additional challenge in the adoption of CSA practices is the lack of knowledge and information transfer. CSA practices have to be designed specifically for each case according to geographical characteristics, such as temperature, humidity, and soil conditions. Thus, case-specific knowledge is needed to implement CSA. Finally, there is the challenge of the slow return of benefits and lack of financial support. This is one of the major challenges affecting the integration of CSA practices in agriculture. Many CSA practices require a high initial investment and take time to generate tangible benefits to the farmers. Westermann et al. [48] suggest that initial capital investment needs to cover the cost of conversion and loss of productivity during the transition stage, as well as increased labor demand. Farmers need to recover their investment fast due to weak economic stability and lack of financial support.

The food and agricultural value chain consists of all the stakeholders who participate in the coordinated production and value-adding activities that are needed to make food products. According to FAO [49], the concept of the sustainable value chain (SVC) in agriculture consists of three main pillars, which are economic, social, and environmental. In economic terms, a value chain is considered sustainable if the activities carried out by each stakeholder are commercially viable. In societal terms, a sustainable value chain considers “socially and culturally acceptable outcomes in terms of the distribution of benefits and costs associated with the increased value creation” [49]. In environmental terms, a sustainable value chain requires value chain actors generating positive or neutral impacts on the natural environment from their activities. The roles of value chain actors such as wholesalers, food processors, and logistic companies are essential to smallholder farmers and agri-businesses because “they are the farmers’ proximate interface with the market, through which farmers sell their products, receive logistics, and intermediation services and buy farm inputs” [50].

Clearly, SVC development in agriculture requires the orchestration of many different actors. It needs to consider the involvement of private-sector entities (primary traders, processors, wholesalers, or retailers such as supermarkets), facilitation of farmers into producer groups, creation of enabling policy environments, and consumer preferences [51,52]. However, in many parts of the world, the process of SVC development is not so straightforward. In developed countries, the strong dominance of distributors often hampers the orchestration of value chains since a sustainable value chain requires different stakeholders to cooperate and exchange information [52]. In developing countries, smallholder farmers are often the weakest link in the chains as they tend to continue operating in a traditional system [53]. Farmers often have limited resources which lock them in low productivity, inconsistent quality, limited education, and restricted access to market information. These hinder the farmers from meeting the demand of high-value markets. Not only that, those barriers hold back their participation in terms of value chain governance and value addition. A combination of all these factors caused smallholder farmers to have “limited power, dependent relationships, and are marginalized from more profitable markets” [53], creating a form of productive exclusion.

This literature review highlights that there are different challenges in the implementation of sustainable practices in agriculture. These challenges vary from high audit and accreditation costs, shrinking cropland and complex land tenure regimes, slow return and lack of financial support to productive exclusion. However, these challenges are mostly specific to the individual approaches and might not necessarily cover the challenges affecting the integration of SCP practices by agricultural micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

This article aims to further contribute to the knowledge relating to factors that affect the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices by smallholder farmers and MSMEs by gaining insights into the challenges and opportunities surrounding the integration of SCP practices in the horticulture sector. Findings will draw upon the learning of MSMEs at the Lake Naivasha Basin, Kenya, that were beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the GOALAN project. By looking into several showcases, this article expects to identify common hindrances influencing the integration of SCP practices in the horticultural sector and offer practical recommendations for the facilitation and uptake of SCP practices by farmers and MSMEs.

3. Methodological Approach

For this research, qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection were applied. The research used a method of complementarity and expansion to optimize the acquisition of the relevant data and gain insights into different aspects of the same phenomenon. Methods of data collection included surveys, semi-structured interviews, and the review of documents and grey literature.

The qualitative data were collected from semi-structured interviews and the review of documents and grey literature. For these data, the study applied analytical methods of data triangulation and interpretative analysis. Gathered data were compiled, compared, and categorized before applying a method of triangulation to gain knowledge about the same phenomenon from multiple sources and seek validation. After the process of triangulation, the data were interpretatively analyzed to identify factors affecting the decisions of horticultural MSMEs (farmers) to take up SCP practices.

The quantitative data were collected from the survey. Several research questions guided the analysis of the survey results. The questions concerned the overarching differences in results between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries, gender, and age groups. Subsequently, to identify relevant differences, subsets based on these independent variables were created to serve as a basis for further analysis. Depending on the question and scaling of the dependent variables, the study applied different methods to obtain an overview of the data, calculate correlations and evaluate the statistical significance of different observations. The applied methods include calculating the mean, medium, standard deviation (sd), and quantiles. Further, for nominal variables, Cramérs V (φV) was used to analyze the strength of correlations while the Chi-squared test was used to investigate the statistical significance. For ordinally scaled variables, the Spearman’s rank correlation was applied

Finally, results of the quantitative and qualitative analysis were consolidated to create a unified, expanded, and complemented body of data and reach an informed conclusion about what facilitates and hinders the uptake of SCP practices.

3.1. Methods of Data Collection

Survey

A survey was used to collect quantitative information from representatives of MSMEs. The survey was based on a questionnaire of closed and multiple-option questions. The survey was rolled out face-to-face in December 2019. Questions of the survey referred to production (cultivation) practices that the MSMEs employ, which include waste management, water management, energy consumption, irrigation systems, post-harvesting methods, and farm inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, seeds). Questions also referred to sources of knowledge about agricultural practices and training the MSMEs had ever received; the knowledge about SCP practices, participation in SCP training programs, and identification of challenges related to the adoption of SCP practices. In addition, questions of the survey covered information on the type of cultivated plants, harvest quantity and the related income, the access to financial instruments, assets of individual households, and insights about the labour force involved in farming activities.

Participants of the survey included beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the GOALAN project. The sample for the surveys encompassed 158 MSMEs. Within this sample, an equal proportion of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the GOALAN project were interviewed. The sample size was defined by a method of probability sampling, which consists of 79 MSME beneficiaries and 79 non-beneficiaries. Random sampling was undertaken in proportion to the number of the GOALAN’s project beneficiaries in the two target counties, which were Nyandarua and Nakuru. The control group consisted of a corresponding 79 MSMEs that were located close to the selected 79 project beneficiaries, allowing for a direct comparison.

Table 1. Geographic characteristics of respondents.

	Name	Frequency (N = 158)	Percentage Share of Respondents (%)
County/Zone	Nakuru (Lower Zone)	28	18.0
	Nyandarua (Upper Zone)	130	82.0
Sub-county	Kinangop	103	65.2
	Kipipiri	27	17.1
	Naivasha	28	17.7
	Total	158	100.0

offers information about the geographic characteristics and

Table 2. Demographic * characteristics of respondents.

All Respondents (Beneficiaries & Non-Beneficiaries) (Age Group in Years Old)	Geographical Location (Sub-County)
	Beneficiaries			Non-Beneficiaries
	Kinangop	Naivasha	Kipipiri	Kinangop	Naivasha	Kipipiri
18–35	17	2	2	16	1	3
36–60	32	6	10	31	9	6
60 and above	3	5	9	6	4	3

* Gender of respondents: total men = 68 (43%), total women = 90 (57%), non-beneficiary men = 30 (19%), non-beneficiary women = 49 (31%), beneficiary men = 38 (24%), beneficiary women = 41 (26%).

information about the demographic characteristics of all respondents (refer to Annex S2 for more information about the sample).

The survey participants from the project non-beneficiary grouping were representatives of MSMEs that did not participate in the GOALAN project or benefit from the project interventions. The survey participants from the project beneficiary grouping were representatives of MSMEs that actively participated in the GOALAN project and benefited from project interventions which include, among others, capacity building programmes on SCP practices, facilitation in access to market, as well as access to finance and infrastructural support (e.g., water tanks, greenhouse). The surveys of both target groups collected information on the two groups’ general agricultural practices, whether they adopted SCP practices and impacts generated by this adoption in terms of economic gains, increased harvest quality and quantity, and sales. A systematic sample approach was used to select the 79 beneficiaries, 65 from Nyandarua county and 14 from Nakuru county, in two different geographic locations, which were the upper and lower zones of LNB, respectively.

3.2. Semi-Structured Interviews

Semi-structured interviews were carried out to expand the range of gathered data and gain in-depth information and key insights on factors influencing the decisions that MSMEs made when adopting SCP practices, the positive impacts of adopting SCP practices (in terms of economic gains as well as quality and quantity of harvests), and the challenges and opportunities that emerged throughout the transition.

To gather in-depth, qualitative data, the interviews used a small sample size of five respondents from the beneficiary group. The samples were selected based on the performance relating to the adoption of SCP practices. A performance assessment enabled the identification of the five best-performing MSMEs. The criteria to assess the performance of the five best-performing MSMEs included (a) high commitment to participate and engage in the project activities and to implement SCP practices; (b) an increased harvest production in relation to the previous harvest using traditional agricultural practices; and (c) increased sales of products in relation to previous sales using traditional agricultural practices.

The semi-structured interviews were conducted face to face. The prepared questions for the interview included socio-economic and environmental challenges perceived when implementing SCP practices and advantages reaped (such as increased harvest quality and quantity and increased horticultural income). The interviews were conducted partly in English and partly in Swahili, as not all of the respondents could understand and speak English.

Table 3. Geographic and demographic characteristics of five interviewees (best performing MSMEs).

Five Interviewees (Age Group in Years Old)	Geographical Location
	Nakuru County (Lower Zone)		Nyandarua County (Upper Zone)
	Female	Male	Female	Male
18–35		1		1
36–60	1		1	1

offer details about the geographical location of the selected MSMEs. Interviewees were between the ages of 25 and 41. Two of the respondents were women from the location of Nyandarua County and Nakuru County. The other three male respondents were from Nyandarua and Nakuru.

Review of Documents and Grey Literature

Undertaking desk research, the study gathered data by reviewing relevant literature from search engines, library catalogues, and websites. Published studies were identified through citation mining (pearl growing), a search on either Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Ecosia, or Pollux using systematic review methods filter, and the authors’ topic knowledge.

The keywords that guided the desk study included MSMEs, sustainability, SDGs, SCP practices, horticulture, fresh fruit and vegetables, SSA countries, and developing countries. Reviewed literature included studies, reports, newspaper articles, as well project documents and reports. The project reports and documents reviewed included GOALAN project Baseline analysis, GOALAN Technical reports, GOALAN project Midterm Evaluation Report 2020, Local and International Market Analysis Report 2019, and Green Public Procurement Guidelines for Kenya.

3.3. Limitations of the Research

The data used is a relatively small sample, and while we are confident that the sample reflects the MSME beneficiaries of the GOALAN project, the project took place in a particular context and geographical location. While certain elements may be comparable with other locations or contexts which share one or more situational factors, we would not expect the results to be representative of the whole country. This notwithstanding, this paper’s concept formation through induction and analysis aims to clarify the nature of some specific situations within the project implementation phases. Since the analysis scrutinizes the dynamic qualities of a situation, rather than elucidating the proportionate relationships among its constituents, the employed sample size does not hinder the analysis’ logic and derives outcomes.

4. Traditional Agricultural Practices vs. SCP Practices

The study gathered data from 158 MSMEs which included 79 beneficiaries of the GOALAN project and 79 non-beneficiaries of the project. All interviewed beneficiaries had the opportunity to participate in training and capacity building workshops on SCP practices offered within the framework of the GOALAN project. In contrast, only 10 of the interviewed 79 non-beneficiaries received training from other organizations on SCP practices. The data gathered shed light on the agricultural practices of MSMEs. These insights allowed for the identification of traditional practices that MSMEs applied without or before the training and capacity building activities on SCP practices as provided by the project in relation to the practices adopted after participating in the training. For the analysis of traditional practices in relation to SCP practices adopted after the training and capacity building, the study looked into the following practices: (1) irrigation and water management; (2) soil conservation; (3) pest management and use of agricultural input; (4) value addition; (5) post-harvesting handling techniques.

4.1. Irrigation and Water Management

Using the traditional agricultural practices of the region, most MSMEs relied on natural precipitation as irrigation for their horticultural production. As a result, many farmers were limited to the rainy seasons for production. During dry periods, most MSMEs used sprinkle irrigation. In some cases, piped water was used for irrigation, which has a particularly high cost. Overall, traditional practices of irrigation were characterized by high and inefficient use of water without adequate planning or timing of irrigation activities.

In contrast, practices adopted after the SCP training were characterized by the use of drip irrigation and timing irrigation. The MSME beneficiaries irrigate their farms in the morning and evening when the sun is less hot in order to reduce water consumption. The MSMEs also implemented rain water harvesting to save water from natural precipitation. This led to all-year-round agricultural production regardless of the season and lower production costs.

4.2. Soil Conservation

In relation to soil conservation, some traditional practices that MSMEs used to apply were characterized by monocrop systems and practices of burning crop residues in the farm to prepare the land for the next harvest. Practices adopted by the MSME beneficiaries after participating in the training program incorporated the covering of soil and mulching as well as intercropping or mixed cropping systems for production that reduces the need for excessive chemicals such as pesticides to combat disease that occurs more often in the monocropping system. MSMEs also incorporated crop residues in the farm as organic fertilizers and implemented agroforestry systems such as growing shrubs around the crops.

4.3. Pest Management and Use of Agricultural Input

Employing traditional practices, MSMEs apply high amounts of pesticides to combat disease and use seeds from the previous harvest, which often result in low quality harvests. The MSMEs were also not aware of the importance of soil testing that may reduce the need for excessive chemicals and keeping pre-harvest interval (PHI). PHI is the minimum amount of time between the last application of a pesticide and when a crop can be harvested. In addition, prior to the SCP training, many MSME beneficiaries did not use personal protective equipment (PPE) when applying pesticides.

Following the SCP training programs, the MSMEs started to incorporate more sustainable means against plant disease, such as the use of insect repellent plants and mechanical pest control measures, which involve scouting and removing worms by hand. Additionally, MSMEs started to use certified seeds which were more resistant to disease, implemented a mixed cropping system, and tested the soil yearly to determine the need for fertilizer.

4.4. Value Addition

Traditional agricultural practices of the MSME beneficiaries did not include value-adding activities. Farmers sold their produce without sorting, grading, or processing. After washing their produce, the MSMEs sold it in the same condition that the produce was harvested.

After taking part in the SCP training, the MSMEs started to add value to their produce by sorting and processing suboptimal produce into paste, chips, or crisps. After learning of the importance to add value to products, a small group of MSMEs pooled their resources together and collectively opened a snack bar, ‘Geta Green,’ to sell potato and carrot chips in their neighborhood.

4.5. Post-Harvest Handling Techniques

The traditional post-harvest handling techniques that the MSMEs implemented resulted in considerable harvest losses. The main practices consisted of washing the vegetables in the river or other natural water streams, putting the vegetables in unwashed and dirty containers, and piling produce without further concerns regarding the maturity of the products and the eventual contamination and expiration dates.

Post-harvest handling techniques adopted by the MSMEs after the training programs included washing the vegetables with clean water as well as the sorting and grading of produces. Additionally, farmers used clean and dust-free containers, made sure crops were sorted according to their maturity levels, and properly piled and packaged produce to avoid damaging soft produce such as tomatoes.

Results of the analysis of traditional agricultural practices of MSMEs versus practices adopted after receiving the SCP training indicate that there is a significant shift of post-harvest handling practices. After gaining knowledge, the MSMEs were able to assess the impact of their handling techniques on the increased amount of harvest they could sell, where they decided to take up more sustainable post-harvest handling practices to avoid harvest loss and to increase the quality of their produce.

Table 4. Beneficiaries more likely to adopt SCP practices than non-beneficiaries.

Adoption of SCP Practices among Beneficiaries and Non-Beneficairies		Percentage of Those Applying SCPs (%)
Adoption by Beneficiaries	Cramérs V Correlation Coefficient (0 < 1) 0.80	97.5
Adoption by Non-beneficiaries		19

show a correlation between taking part in the GOALAN project as beneficiaries and the adoption of SCP practices. The analysis of the survey indicates that the Chi contingency coefficient is 0.55, while Cramérs V correlation coefficient is even stronger with 0.80, showing that there is a high correlation between being a project beneficiary and having adopted SCP practices.

Approximately 97% (N = 77) out of the 79 MSMEs that benefited from the SCP training programs adopted SCP practices in their farms, while only 19% (N = 15) out of the 79 non-beneficiaries implemented some SCP practices, most of which had previously received training through other projects. The analysis also indicated that approximately 91% of the MSMEs adopting SCP practices adopted two or more practices, with almost 50% having adopted all five SCP practices (

Table 5. Percentage of project beneficiaries adopting SCP practices in relation to non-beneficiaries.

	General Agricultural Practices	Concrete SCP Practices	Percentage of Project Beneficiaries Adopting SCP Practices	Percentage of Non-Beneficiaries Adopting SCP Practices
1	Irrigation and water management	Implementing water harvesting storage	51% (N = 40)	32% (N = 32)
2	Soil conservation	Implementing crop rotation, cover cropping and mulching	92% (N = 73)	14% (N = 11)
3	Pest management and use of agricultural input	Applying integrated pest management (IPM)	62% (N = 49)	9% (N = 7)
4	Value addition	Processing of “ugly” vegetables into paste or chips	49% (N = 39)	1.2% (N = 1)
5	Post-harvesting techniques	Using clean and adequate containers for products, proper handling during transport, packaging of products	85% (N = 76)	8% (N = 6)

). Clearly, knowledge provision through SCP training programs significantly influenced the decisions of MSMEs to integrate SCP practices into their daily farming activities. Table 5 show the proportion of beneficiary MSMEs and non-beneficiary MSMEs in SCP adoption.

5. Economic Impact of the Integration of SCP Practices

The integration of SCP practices by beneficiary MSMEs generated relevant economic impact for the MSMEs. The impact is tangible when looking into the access to markets, the creation of jobs, the productivity, and the agricultural income of the beneficiary MSMEs compared to the non-beneficiary MSMEs.

5.1. Access to Markets

By adopting and implementing SCP practices, MSMEs were able to access alternative markets requiring sustainable or organic produces, selling to different types of customers and signing supply contracts, which allowed farmers to receive regular income and increase their economic stability. In contrast, non-beneficiary MSMEs that did not participate in the SCP training programs and, therefore, did not implement SCP practices, showing limited access to alternative markets, and fewer had supply contracts. Concretely, 30% (N = 24) of beneficiary MSMEs had supply contracts with processing companies and supermarkets, as compared to 8% (N = 6) of non-beneficiary MSMEs. This confirms a correlation between being a project beneficiary that received SCP training and having a supply contract compared to non-beneficiaries. Having access to training and capacity building programs also increased the access to market information among the beneficiary MSMEs. The analysis showed that 55% of beneficiaries (N = 43) of the GOALAN project, that participated in training and capacity building activities, reported to have access to market information in relation to only 13% (N = 10) of non-beneficiaries.

5.2. Job Creation

The SCP implementation by MSMEs seems to have a positive impact on local job creation. The MSMEs that integrated SCP practices into their farms saw an increase in the number of workers they could employ. During the semi-structured interviews with the five showcased MSMEs, it was found out that the MSMEs now could offer higher wages to their workers. The analysis showed that MSMEs employed an average of four paid workers before 2018, when the GOALAN project was initiated. Halfway through the project, i.e., by the end of 2019, it was found out that the project beneficiaries could employ an average of six persons. According to the GOALAN Project Midterm Review Report [38], the wage rate was almost doubled, from a range of Ksh 150–200 per day before 2018 to Ksh 300 in 2019. In addition, a number of the MSME beneficiaries who used to work as casual labourers outside their farms reported that they were now employers. This is an indication that the adoption of SCP has a positive impact in creating jobs and increasing labour wages.

5.3. Increased Productivity

The adoption of SCP practices also resulted in an increase in productivity in horticultural cultivation. During the semi-structured interviews, the MSMEs reported that their potato yields doubled. The reports indicated an increase of potato yields from 890 kg per hectare of a rainfed farm (where farmers only planted and harvested twice a year during the rainy seasons) to 2225 kg per hectare of a farm with a greenhouse (where MSMEs can cultivate plants all year round including the dry seasons resulting in at least four harvests per year). The MSMEs attributed the increase of productivity to the use of irrigation systems, the use of greenhouses, the use of certified seeds, and soil testing practices that reduce the need for excessive use of chemicals, application of organic fertilizer, as well as the efficient use of water. The MSMEs attributed the increase of productivity to the use of certified seeds and soil testing practices that reduce the need for excessive use of chemicals, application of organic fertilizer, as well as the efficient use of water. The increased productivity is significant as it has a direct impact on the horticultural income of MSMEs.

5.4. Increased Income

MSMEs reported that they experienced an increase in sales and profits after adopting the SCP practices. Due to an improvement in quality and quantity of yields and a reduction in post-harvest losses, MSMEs were able to significantly increase their horticultural income.

Table 6. MSMEs’ adoption of SCP practices and change in income.

Change in Income between 2017 and 2019	Mean	Median	Standard Deviation	0.25 Quantile	0.75 Quantile
All respondents	2165.63	0	157,967.3	−22,250	29,750
Beneficiaries	28,389.47	5000	197,691.7	−20,000	57,500
Non-Beneficiaries	−24,058.2	−3800	98,753.48	−24,000	21,500

show a correlation between being project beneficiaries that integrated SCP practices and the change of income.

In this study, the MSMEs surveyed had vegetable production as the main source of income. Their crops included potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, kale, spinach, and capsicum. During the semi-structured interviews, the MSMEs reported an income increase that ranged between 150% to 400%, with the highest increase stated by farmers who had installed greenhouses and water harvesting and storage systems (such as water tanks and water pans) in their farms. The farmers reported that using greenhouses meant that they did not have to rely on the seasonal rains that were becoming more and more unpredictable and that this led to an increase in yields as a result of them being able to cultivate crops all year round. Moreover, the MSMEs that used certified potato seeds reported an increase in sale prices that ranged from Ksh 500–Ksh 1500 per sack to Ksh 2500–3500 per sack due to an increase in the quality of the potatoes. Other MSMEs involved in tomato production reported an increase of price from Ksh 20 per kg to Ksh 80 per kg also as a result of an increase in the quality of the tomatoes that enabled them to access alternative markets that offer higher prices. The improved quality of products allowed farmers to access new markets and customers. Farmers reported they were able to sell to hotels located at the Naivasha Lake, which offer higher prices as well as a stable demand. As mentioned before, farmers were also able to obtain supply contracts with bulk and reliable buyers such as processing companies (Kinangrop Fries and Cremtop Foods) and supermarkets.

In the semi-structured interviews, the MSMEs reported that the increased income resulting from the implementation of SCP practices have positive impacts on their daily lives, which included school enrolment and fees, improved living conditions of their household, increased number of livestock, acquisition of household equipment, employing of additional farm workers, and paying higher salaries. Furthermore, having an increased disposable income led to new business ideas such as adding value to their produce. For example, selling tomato paste and French fries to avoid harvest loss when suboptimal or imperfect vegetables cannot be sold to the markets.

6. Adoption of SCP Practices: Challenges and Opportunities

6.1. Investment and Financial Instruments

The integration of SCP practices by horticultural MSMEs represents an important investment due to the high cost of the agricultural input it requires. The MSMEs will need some financing to invest in sustainable farm inputs (certified seeds, eco-friendly pesticides and fertilizers), efficient water irrigation systems, and infrastructures (water tanks, water dams, greenhouses, sorting and grading facility, value-adding machinery, etc.). Horticultural MSMEs perceive access to finance as a challenge since they generally have limited access to formal credits from banks. This is due to the fact that MSMEs generally lack financial literacy where they do not have business plans or keep financial records, as well as a lack of collateral that banks require. Hence, the MSMEs tend to rely on finding new market channels and improved sale prices to recover their initial investment. However, the experience showed that local consumers do not always differentiate between sustainable, high quality produce and regular produce. Entering alternative markets that demand sustainable produce and pay higher prices is still a challenge for MSMEs. Failing to sell sustainable produce at higher prices would mean the MSMEs would not see a return on investment on their sustainable production. This situation is amplified by the fact that the physical access to markets is challenged by insufficient public infrastructure, such as tarmac roads and means of transportation (e.g., trucks), which makes it difficult to deliver the produce intact and on time to the markets. Alternative and higher-paying markets tend to be located far from the rural areas where the horticultural MSMEs are located and close to towns or cities.

6.2. Climate Change

The adverse effects of climate change were mentioned and highly ranked as a key environmental challenge for farmers. Many MSMEs cited severe weather phenomena such as frost, sudden heavy rain, hail stones, and prolonged dry or hot seasons that damaged their plants or affected the quality and quantity of their produce as issues they have to struggle with more frequently. Furthermore, changing rain patterns or rain shortages tend to result in water shortages, which affects irrigation and farming activities. During prolonged dry seasons, MSMEs often have to rely on tap water for irrigation, which is expensive and not reliable due to sudden breakdowns.

6.3. Infrastructure

For MSMEs, the lack of infrastructure is a serious challenge hindering the adoption of SCP practices. For example, horticultural MSMEs often do not have access to grading and sorting facilities or cold storage facilities. Sorting is a separation based on individual physical properties of raw materials such as weight, size, shape, density, photometric property, etc., while grading is classification on the basis of quality incorporating commercial value, end-use, and official standards. The latter is needed to store fresh produce before transporting it to the market or during seasons when there is an oversupply of produce in the market. The limited access to infrastructure also includes roads and access to nearby markets. There are limited modes of transportation in the rural areas around the LNB, with dirt or gravel roads connecting villages with the main tarmac roads. Alternative markets as well as higher-paying customers are located far away from rural areas and closer to urban belts. Thus, MSMEs constantly face the challenge of transporting the produce in a fresh condition to the markets and customers.

7. Discussion

The study shows that the integration of SCP practices by MSMEs in the horticulture sector is affected by many factors. Some of which are key to influencing the decisions of MSMEs and facilitating the adoption of SCP practices. These factors encompass access to SCP capacity building and training activities, stable and reliable markets, financial capital, tools, and infrastructure, and increased economic benefits. This section discusses these key factors.

Acquiring knowledge and developing technical expertise is essential to know what to decide and implement. This study shows that by offering training and strengthening the capacity of MSMEs on SCP practices, MSMEs were more prone to integrating SCP practices in their horticulture production. However, increasing farmers’ and MSMEs’ capacity in sustainable horticultural production will require support from the local authorities (i.e., county governments). Policy makers can familiarize themselves with specific target groups in order to tailor training programs according to local needs and challenges. Such interventions also call for a close collaboration between the (local) government and development organizations, farmer or producer groups, and non-profit organizations that are at the forefront in offering capacity building.

The probability of encouraging MSMEs to adopt and continue implementing SCP practices depends additionally on whether they can get access to stable and reliable markets that offer good prices, which allows them to cover their initial investments to integrate SCP practices. There is a need for the creation of strategic partnerships with key value-chain actors such as local hotels, supermarkets, or processing companies through arrangements such as contract farming or supply contracts to enhance MSMEs’ access to the market. Such partnerships would provide MSMEs with stable demand and serve as an incentive for them to continue producing sustainably. In order for the MSMEs to be able to access reliable and stable markets, it is likewise important that they are trained in marketing skills.

MSMEs’ ability to adopt SCP practices is additionally linked to their financial and asset capabilities. Improving access to capital and financial tools could enable MSMEs to overcome barriers that make the SCP adoption unattractive, such as large up-front investment, high cost of sustainable farm inputs, and lack of production equipment and machinery. Moreover, offering MSMEs support to access finance from financial institutions or other incentives can be one of the most effective ways of impacting MSMEs’ sustainability. As lack of collateral is the main challenge faced by MSMEs in accessing credit, there is a need for the establishment of a guarantee fund to de-risk MSMEs and make them attractive to financial providers. In addition, the formation of cooperatives can enable MSMEs to pool resources and enhance their access to formal credit. The cooperatives can also serve as a support in enhancing access to the market for their members, for example, by reducing transport costs as members can share a mode of transport so that they can serve new markets. Governments could support horticultural MSMEs by establishing targeted policies to address their challenges, offering affordable financing through local financial institutions (FIs), and creating an enabling environment that reduces the risk of FIs lending to MSMEs, thereby allowing them to offer affordable loans to MSMEs.

To enhance the adoption of SCP practices, MSMEs that are more vulnerable to adverse climate conditions such as droughts and unpredictable and unreliable rain patterns may need to be provided with infrastructural support. Such infrastructure can enable the MSMEs to continue production all-year-round, even during extreme weather conditions. Important infrastructure may vary but could include water dams for rainwater harvesting, greenhouses, solar pumps, and water tanks and drip irrigation systems. Moreover, governments could also consider investing in building and maintaining public infrastructures such as a network of sorting and grading facilities, cool storages with solar PVs, and tarmac roads; establishing aggregation hubs located near to the MSMEs to enhance their markets access. The establishment of these hubs would also support efforts to enhance consumer awareness of SCP practices in the regions where the sustainable MSMEs can be prominently featured.

Direct economic benefits, increased productivity, or profitability seems to be essential conditions for the adoption of SCP practices by MSMEs in the short term. Where economic benefits (in terms of productivity or profitability) can be perceived, MSMEs seem to be more motivated and eager to engage in and adopt the SCP practices. For example, the use of certified seeds was highly adopted among beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries as this was associated with an increase in yields and produce quality, hence higher profits. Concern about changes in climate patterns that resulted in unreliable rain patterns was a motivation, particularly for the MSMEs in the lower zone of the Lake Naivasha Basin, to adopt soil and water conservation measures.

8. Conclusions and Recommendations

Horticultural MSMEs can play a critical role in transitions towards sustainable food and agricultural systems in Kenya. To this end, it is vital for the MSMEs to start adopting sustainable production and consumption (SCP) practices. Yet, the integration of SCP practices by MSMEs is still stagnating low and would require significant efforts on their part as well as concrete incentives and support from various public and private stakeholder counterparts.

This study was a mixed-method approach for the analysis, and data was collected from 158 MSME in Kenya through a survey, semi-structured interviews with showcased MSMEs, and literature review. Different methods were applied to obtain an overview of the data, calculate correlations, and evaluate the statistical significance of different observations.

This study assessed traditional horticulture practices in relation to SCP practices, explored the economic benefits deriving from the integration of SCP practices and identified existing challenges and potential opportunities for the adoption of SCP practices in the horticulture sector. The results allowed us to identify key factors that facilitate the uptake of SCP practices by MSME. The study showed that decisions of MSMEs to adopt more sustainable practices were highly influenced by their access to SCP training and capacity building, to stable and reliable markets, to financial capital and financial instruments, and to infrastructure and increased economic benefits. Thus, for the study, these are essential factors to create an enabling setting and facilitate the adoption of SCP practices in the horticulture sector. To scale up the integration of SCP practices in the horticulture sector and create more sustainable and resilient agricultural systems, it is fundamental to tackle these factors to provide access to information and technical expertise, to offer training and capacity building, to enable links to alternative markets and thereby improve profitability, to enable financial instruments and access to capital to invest in improved inputs, machinery, and irrigation systems, and create adequate infrastructure.

9. Recommendations

Tackling the key factors mentioned above is fundamental in promoting the uptake of SCP practices in the horticulture sector. However, the study offers additional recommendations to enhance to the adoption of sustainable practices. These recommendations include the promotion of green public procurement, supporting MSMEs to get certifications, increasing the consumer’s awareness of SCP, and aligning SCP efforts with national goals.

Connecting horticultural MSMEs to public institutions (public hospitals, schools, etc.) can also facilitate a stable demand for sustainable produces and reduce harvest loss. It is therefore important that the public sector considers GPP to foster the consumption of sustainable and locally produced fruits and vegetables. GPP can provide the MSMEs with much-needed access to the domestic market and thus offer an alternative to the highly competitive yet volatile export markets. In July 2021, the government of Kenya launched a consultation for its new green public procurement framework (GPPF). At present, this consultation process is still ongoing. However, it can be hoped that once the framework is approved, the public sector will start prioritizing the procurement of sustainably produced goods and services. Then, the project beneficiaries will stand to gain since they have a competitive advantage, having already adopted SCP practices in the horticultural production.

Global consumers are becoming more and more environmentally conscious and are keen on knowing and being able to trace the origin of the products they are consuming. Hence, there is a growing trend in the adoption of sustainability standards and ecolabels globally. Horticultural MSMEs would need to be enabled to implement aspects of the sustainability standards. This will not only help MSMEs to access local organic or green markets but also export markets where demands for sustainable products are increasing, for example, in Europe. The national government may consider providing technical and financial support for farmers and MSMEs to obtain certification such as KS 1758 on sustainable horticulture. Obtaining certificates from existing standards, such as KS 1758, has proven to be a rigorous and unaffordable process for the project’s beneficiary MSMEs. Such sustainable standards require considerable investments (e.g., high-quality farm inputs, equipment, administrative costs) by MSMEs who are already struggling to access credit. The certification can help local consumers differentiate sustainable products from non-sustainable ones and make informed decisions when buying fresh produce.

Horticultural MSMEs seem to be more willing to switch to sustainable production if a stable local demand can be guaranteed. Therefore there is the need for awareness-raising campaigns on sustainable consumption targeting consumers in public and private spheres, to make them aware of the benefits of consuming products that are sustainably and locally produced (e.g., higher quality and nutrition, supporting local producers and local economy).

Promoting the adoption and implementation of SCP practices by horticultural MSMEs need to be aligned with Kenya’s national goals. As the backbone of the economy, MSMEs can play a strategic role towards the achievement of Kenya’s Green Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan (GESIP) 2016–2030 on SCP, equity and social inclusion, as well as resource efficiency.