Journal Articles (BE)
http://repository.mut.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/46
2024-03-29T11:14:25ZThe nature and extent of adoption of climate-smart agriculture technologies in Murang’a County, Kenya: A case of Kiharu Constituency
http://repository.mut.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/6415
The nature and extent of adoption of climate-smart agriculture technologies in Murang’a County, Kenya: A case of Kiharu Constituency
Bitok, Eliud K.; Nyariki, Dickson M.; Amwata, Dorothy A.
Climate-smart farming, regenerative farming techniques and carbon farming are gaining popularity worldwide due to their potential to improve food and nutrition security. Kenya’s agriculture is largely rain-fed and characterized by unreliable rainfall and high temperatures affecting production, quality and pricing. While there is evidence of opportunities presented by CSA supporting smallholders’ adaptation to climate change, the rate of adoption remains low. The study, therefore, assessed the nature and extent of adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies and innovations taking Kiharu Constituency as a case. About 50 households were sampled and data were collected using questionnaires, interviews, observations and secondary sources. The descriptive analysis on collected data revealed that on average 63.55% of the farmers were aware of the CSA technologies while only 55.10% of farmers adopted them. The most adopted and utilized practices by more than 50% of the farmers include crop rotation, intercropping, terracing, ridging/furrowing, resilient crop varieties, irrigation, agroforestry, building gabions, forage conservation, and drought-tolerant animal breeds. The CSA technologies least adopted with less than 50% of the farmers utilising them include minimum tillage, mulching and planting pits. Further research on methods of enhancing the scalability of CSA technologies and innovations is vital for increasing awareness and uptake.
2023-09-01T00:00:00ZInfluence of Supplier Debarment on Service Delivery of Water Companies in Murang’a County
http://repository.mut.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/6406
Influence of Supplier Debarment on Service Delivery of Water Companies in Murang’a County
Nungari, Naom; Oteki, Evans B.; Otieno, Richard J.
The aim of the study was to analyze the influence of supplier debarment on service delivery of water companies in Murang’a County. The agency theory served as the foundation for this study. The employed a descriptive research design. The target population for the study included 240 employees from the five water companies in Murang’a County. Purposive sampling was used as the study focused on the procurement department, heads of user departments, and customers. A sample size of 150 respondents were selected for the study. Questionnaires were used by the researcher to collect primary data. By use of SPSS software version 21, quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and reported as percentages, means, standard deviations, and frequencies. Findings indicate R Square of 0.825 which implies that 82.5% of water companies' service delivery can be attributed to the debarment of suppliers. It was concluded that debarment of suppliers’ boosts service delivery of water companies. The study recommends that organizations should enact debarment policies to provide a potentially significant mechanism in the fight against corruption by barring bidders who have committed "corporate integrity offences" from procurement contracts. It is further recommended that organizations that experience nonperforming suppliers should institute debarment by PPRA instead secretly debarring suppliers which results to the same non-performing suppliers being awarded contracts by others firms whereby such firms fails to perform again.
2023-09-01T00:00:00ZRole of Public Procurement Preference Scheme on the Growth of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Nyamira County, Kenya
http://repository.mut.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/6405
Role of Public Procurement Preference Scheme on the Growth of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Nyamira County, Kenya
Rosasi, Thomas O.; Oteki, Evans B.; Mwangi, Grace W.; Muriithi, Ruth W.
The focus of the study is to investigate the role of public procurement preference schemes in enhancing the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises. The general objective of the study was: To investigate the role of public procurement preference schemes in enhancing the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in Nyamira County, Kenya. The specific objectives included; establishing the role of 30% preference on the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, to investigate the role of waiver of bid bond on the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, to establish the role of local firm preference on the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises and to assess the role of easy access to procurement opportunities registration on the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises. The study was guided by agency theory. A descriptive research design was applied to the study. The study population included 35700 registered and licensed SMEs, from where a sample of 391 was arrived at by Yamane’s formula. Data collection involved the use of self-administered questionnaires. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to perform data analysis. The results of the model summary indicate that R2 equals 0.498 at a 0.05 significance level, thus revealing that 49.8 % of the SME growth can be accounted for by the public procurement preference scheme. The study concluded that there was a positive influence of public procurement preference schemes on the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises. The study recommended that SMEs may team up with one another under joint bidding in order to get higher chances of preference and also compete with large-sized firms for public procurement opportunities.
2023-08-01T00:00:00ZElectronic Tendering and Organizational Performance of Parastatals in Nakuru County
http://repository.mut.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/6404
Electronic Tendering and Organizational Performance of Parastatals in Nakuru County
Wanjiku, Ruth N.; Oteki, Evans B.; Njogu, Grace W.
E-tendering plays a key role in ensuring that the best suppliers are selected for a continuous supply of better-quality products and services. The study focused on the role of e-tendering through online registration of suppliers, virtual screening, automatic evaluation and automated supplier selection criteria-through the use of an electronic Decision Support System (e-DSS). The study adopted the null hypothesis that e-tendering had no statistically significant influence on parastatals in Nakuru County. The study population included five (5) selected state-owned organisations in Nakuru municipality with a total population of 236 employees in selected departments where a sample size of 91 employees was drawn by application of Daniel’s (1999) sample size formula. Structured questionnaires were used as the main instrument to collect data, out of which 80 respondents gave their responses, an 87.9% response rate. The regression analysis showed a 4.6% change in organisational performance was described by e-tendering. The study confirmed there was a statistical significance (p=.000) between e-tendering and organisation performance, where e-tendering, as a supplier management tool, was able to account for a positive marginal significant increase (B=.133) in organisational performance. There was a moderate positive correlation between organisational performance and e-tendering at .519. The study recommends that parastatals enhance system integration for compatibility and easy access and flow of information, leverage technology, and facilitate training and educating their suppliers on how to use the organisation’s systems and other ICT-related functions.
2023-01-01T00:00:00Z