Browsing by Author "Karanja, D."
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Item Consumer Intentions to Buy Nutrient-Rich Precooked Bean Snacks: Does Sensory Evaluation Matter?(African Scholarly Science Communications Trust, 2021-06-25) Lutomia, C.K.; Karanja, D.; Nchanji, E.B.; Induli, I.; Mutuku, R.; Gichangi, A.; Gichangi, A.; Birachi, E.; Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Institute ; International Center for Tropical Agriculture ; Bioversity International ; Sayari foods-Smart Logistics SolutionPrecooked bean products have the potential of bridging the common bean demand and consumption gap in Kenya. However, sensory evaluation of novel precooked processed products has been inadequate in determining acceptability. This study assessed the sensory evaluation of precooked bean snacks by 269 rural consumers in Machakos County of Kenya. Descriptive results indicated that less than one-quarter (22%) of the consumers were aware of the precooked bean products. The low awareness is a disconnect from the expectations that farming households were probably going to be aware of processed bean products because of their participation in bean value chain. Sensory evaluation showed that 75% of the consumers evaluated the freshness of the bean snacks positively, with about 90% and 63% of them positively assessing the taste of the precooked bean snacks branded Keroma Delicious and Keroma Fruity, respectively. The taste evaluation of Keroma Fruity brand significantly differed depending on age and level of education of the consumer. Similarly, the taste of Keroma Delicious brand also significantly differed by age and educational attainment of consumers. Furthermore, while consumers liked the taste parameters of the products, less than half of them liked the beany flavour of the two products. Results from the binary logit regression model indicated that freshness, sourness, and flavour positively and significantly predicted the probability of future purchases of Keroma Fruity bean snack brands. Consumer intentions to buy Keroma Delicious brand were positively predicted by flavour and marginally by sweetness. To accelerate the consumption of precooked bean products, product development and marketing strategies should recognise the role of sensory attributes in driving acceptability of the bean snacks, deploy processing technologies that retain and enhance sensory attributes, create awareness of the products, and segment the market from a gender lens in order to satisfy the diverse consumer needs and preferences.Item Deconstructing Leisure Time and Workload: Case of Women Bean Producers in Kenya(Agriculture & Food Security, 2021-05-07) Nchanji, E.B.; Mutua, M.; Odhiambo, C.; Nchanji, Y.K.; Karanja, D.; International Center for Tropical Agriculture ; International Center for Tropical Agriculture ; University of Eastern Finland ; Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research OrganisationBackground. The notion of leisure became pronounced more than 20 years ago when women who worked on or out of the farm came home to a “second shift,” which entailed domestic work and childcare. This gap continues today not only between men and women but also among women and men. Women's challenges in terms of their leisure arise out of or are shaped by social norms and different life contexts. Method. The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) was conducted to understand women's empowerment and disempowerment status in agricultural activities in five counties in Kenya in 2017. In 2019, focus group discussions were carried out in two of the five counties to understand how men and women farmers define leisure and assess the leisure gap and its effect on women's farm and household activities. We were also interested in understanding how men's and women's workload affects leisure and other productive economic activities, resulting in empowerment and how women’s unpaid work contributes to income poverty. Result. The WEAI showed that 28% of disempowerment (5DE) in women farmers is due to lack of time for leisure activities and 18% from being overworked. This means that the time indicator accounts for 46% of disempowerment in Kenyan women bean farmers. Men in Bomet and Narok spent more time than women in raising large livestock and leisure. Women in Bomet spent more time than men in cooking and domestic work (fetching water and collecting fuelwood), while men in Bomet spent more time than women in managing their businesses. Conclusion. Work overload is a constraining factor to women's empowerment in bean production and agricultural productivity. What is considered leisure for men and women is embedded in society’s social fabrics, and it is contextual. This paper highlights instances where leisure provides a way for women to embody and/or resist the discourses of gender roles in the bean value chain and households to enhance food security and health.Item Gender-Responsive Participatory Variety Selection in Kenya: Implications for Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Breeding in Kenya(MDPI, 2021-11-27) Nchanji, E.B.; Lutomia, C.K.; Ageyo, O.C.; Karanja, D.; Kamau, E.Participatory variety selection (PVS) is the selection of new varieties among fixed lines by farmers under different target environments. It is increasingly being used to select and promote new crop breeding materials in most African countries. A gender-responsive PVS tool was piloted in Embu and Nakuru in the first and second cropping seasons of 2019 to understand similarities and differences between men’s and women’s varietal and trait preferences for biofortified released varieties and local bean varieties (landraces). Pooled results indicate that varietal and trait preferences between men and women farmers were slightly different but followed gendered roles and division of labor. Women farmers have a higher preference for landraces compared to men due to their availability, affordability and accessibility. Preferences for bean varieties differed between men and women across the two counties. High yielding was the most prioritized trait by both men and women for Mwitemania, Nyota, and Angaza. The findings support the long-held assumption that men prefer market-oriented traits, but women have a greater range of concerns thus less market oriented than men. For Nyota, men’s preferences were shaped by market traits, while women’s preferences were based on the variety being early maturing, resistant to pests and diseases, marketable, and fast cooking. For other varieties, men preferred Mwitemania because it is high yielding, early maturing, resistant to pests and diseases, and marketable. In contrast, women preferred Mwitemania because of seed availability, fast cooking, and early maturing. However, men’s and women’s varietal preferences for Angaza were similar, with them reporting early maturing, resistance to pests and diseases, and marketability as attractive traits. Sociodemographic characteristics such as education, age, marital status, and land ownership underlined the differences in trait preferences. Despite having attractive traits for both men and women, Nyota increased drudgery, displaced women from their usual activities, and required additional inputs by women, signaling possible adoption tradeoffs. However, Nyota, Angaza, and Mwitemania can provide the opportunity to increase employment for women. This study calls for gender integration at the design stage of any breeding system to ensure men and women farmers have access to varieties they prefer for food and income generation.Item Response of Common Beans (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.) to Seed Treatment in Central Kenya(African Journal of Agricultural Research, 2022-02) Waswa, B.S.; Kamau, E.; Karanja, D.; Mairura, F.; Pan Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) ; Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO)Seed treatment presents an opportunity to boost bean productivity; however, the technology has not been widely tested in Kenya and the sub Saharan Africa region. An experiment was carried out at Kandara, Central Kenya to compare the effects of seed treatment applications on bean performance. The split-plot design experiment with three replicates included four seed treatment products: Apron Star, Seed Plus, Gro Plus and TriCoat applied at recommended and half recommended rates with two bean varieties as test crop. Split-plot ANOVA was implemented using Genstat and agricolae R procedures to compare the effects of seed treatment applications on aphid pest severity and bean performance parameters. Varietal performance differences to the seed treatment were observed with Nyota variety performing better than KATB1. Generally, Apron Star at recommended rates reported lowest pest incidences and consistent bean performance over the two cropping seasons. Consistent treatment effects were observed for recommended rates compared to half rate applications. Under favorable environmental conditions, use of the seed treatment products alone produced yields comparable to the fertilizer treatment. The benefits observed from use of seed treatment technology makes it a potentially sustainable strategy for improving productivity for cash strapped small-scale producers in the region.
