Factors Influencing Sustainability Of Small Tea Enterprises In Kenya and Suggested Strategies

Abstract

This study presents findings on factors that influence sustainability of small tea enterprises in Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to assess the influence of enterprise characteristics on sustain ability of small tea enterprises, analyze the influence of the way of doing business on sustainability of the enterprises, explore the relationship between finance and sustainability, examine the relationship between resources and sustainability and analyzed how independent variables (enterprise characteristics, way of doing business, finance, resources, product and services) influence the dependent variable (sustainability) on small tea enterprises in Kenya. The population of the study is an estimated 420,000 small tea entrepreneurs who are members of Kenya Tea Development Agency spread in the seven tea-growing regions in Kenya. The study was a cross-sectional survey, and descriptive in design, carried out in the seven tea-growing regions. The study used a mixed method, which involved both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Self-administered questionnaires were used for primary data collection while journals, books and the Internet were used for secondary data collection. Factor analysis was used to measure the variability among the variables. For test statistics, p-value less than 5% was considered significant. Cronbach's analysis was used to test the equality of means of all independent variables. A regression model was also developed to establish the strength of the relationship between the dependent variable and independent variables. Presentation of information was done using mean scores and percentages and standard deviation. The findings indicated that four out of five hypotheses of the study were supported. These findings, it is hoped, will bridge the gaps in literature, identify and articulate alternative models for assessing sustainability of small tea enterprises for adoption, and will be used in the academia, agribusiness and by policy makers to improve the tea sector in Kenya.