Abstract:

The initiative to promoie?1?: ?? hannni; in Kcny? was ?
?
"e.. two decades
/-y a^veral Research and
Development (R&D) agent!? f decades v , ,?…? ? ?g the income and
welfare of smallhold-;
?n ":
improving production anti
are marketing their pu;??•?:<
are vital in spurring ?,.:c??
2 ;. * ?/
> :nes. While -'.(•?
:"z,.rs? ibcwsc:.\ -j - <;:• •¦..
.i; -:dcquaie S?¦"
major factor constrairn^r • ^ribusk;. :/, . _?! -urcs. A, : W
mechanisms and their e¦ - n banana businesses with \
of 205 banana traders ? t randomly sampled iroj)i
.!:k)ns focused on
,
.
:' ccl production and
n; ef It?' :..l markets, whicl.
:¦? constantcited as a
ed to assess financing
; -April 2012. A total
:. L?:; X Kirinyaga, Meru, Kisii
and Nairobi Counties. A Ae;n5-slruclured questionnaire was usc<. to coHcet data from the sampled
traders. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize banan:? traders and enterprises. The
study revealed that the majority of traders (82.4%) financed banana business activities through
their savings while 17.6% accessed credit. However, the commercial level of operation of those
who accessed credit was significantly higher than that of those who used their own savings. Thus,
credit is important in supporting expansion of banana businesses and mobilizing banana trader
associations for savings and credit access by members is likely to complement commercialization
efforts.