Abstract:
Kenya has continued to experience food shortage despite various interventionist strategies put in
place by the government leading to importation as a means of offsetting the deficit. It is against this backdrop
that the study evaluated the influence of government extension services on maize production. The study was
augured on social protection theory by United Nation Institute of Research and Social Development (UNIRSD)
and adopted descriptive research design. The sample size was 396 respondents both small and large-scale
farmers within UasinGishu County purposively sampled from a population of 40,000 active maize farmers
registered by county agricultural office. The sample size was further distributed among the three Sub counties
namely; Eldoret West, Wareng and Eldoret East based on their proportionate population of farmers. The data
was collected by use of questionnaires. Pretest of the research instrument to test its reliability was done in
Eldoret East Sub-County among the wheat farmers, while viability of the collection instrument was subjected to
expert opinion test to check its suitability for the study. The researcher collected quantitative data by use of
questionnaires. The data was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics and the relationships between the
independent variables and dependent variable was established by use of regression analysis by both multi and
bivariate regression statistic techniques. Statistical package for social science (SPSS) Version 24 software was
used to analyze quantitative data and outcome presented inform of graphs, pie charts and tables. The study
established that there was significant positive relationship between government extension services (R2=27.5%,
F= 135.390 and P-Value= 0.000)and maize production. The study recommended that the government should
encourage farmers to seek the services of extension officers. Agriculture extension officers should hold field
days regularly, properly publicize them and should be relevant to farmer’s needs.
