Article: Knowledge, attitude and practices relevant to food loss reduction along the bean supply chain of the home-grown school meal program in Kajiado and Kitui counties, Kenya Journal: International Journal of Postharvest Technology and Innovation (IJPTI) 2025 Vol.10 No.6 pp.1 - 24 Abstract: Adoption of food loss-reduction measures greatly depends on the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAPs) of the actors. This paper analyses KAPs relevance to food loss reduction among supply chain actors. Focusing on Kajiado and Kitui counties and supply chains to the Kenya home grown school meals programme (HGSMP), face-to-face interviews using structured questionnaires gathered insights from a total of 108 farmers and 90 traders. Descriptive analysis, factor analysis and multivariate regressions were conducted. The results reveal that farmers in both counties have very different KAPs due to their different socio-cultural and agro-ecological conditions. Further analysis revealed that actors' knowledge, positive attitudes and practices are specific, distinct and crucial to reducing postharvest losses. Therefore, tailored capacity-development efforts and incentives that encourage behavioural shifts and adoption of appropriate postharvest practices and technologies are recommended to addressing food loss effectively. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Knowledge, attitude and practices relevant to food loss reduction along the bean supply chain of the home-grown school meal program in Kajiado and Kitui counties, Kenya

Authors: Carren A. Okumu; John Mburu; Esther Mujuka; Jane Ambuko; Israel Leoname Frohlich Klug

Addresses: Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 29053, Nairobi, Kenya ' Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 29053, Nairobi, Kenya ' Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 29053, Nairobi, Kenya ' Department of Plant Science and Crop Protection, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 29053, Nairobi ' Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 – Rome, Italy

Abstract: Adoption of food loss-reduction measures greatly depends on the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAPs) of the actors. This paper analyses KAPs relevance to food loss reduction among supply chain actors. Focusing on Kajiado and Kitui counties and supply chains to the Kenya home grown school meals programme (HGSMP), face-to-face interviews using structured questionnaires gathered insights from a total of 108 farmers and 90 traders. Descriptive analysis, factor analysis and multivariate regressions were conducted. The results reveal that farmers in both counties have very different KAPs due to their different socio-cultural and agro-ecological conditions. Further analysis revealed that actors' knowledge, positive attitudes and practices are specific, distinct and crucial to reducing postharvest losses. Therefore, tailored capacity-development efforts and incentives that encourage behavioural shifts and adoption of appropriate postharvest practices and technologies are recommended to addressing food loss effectively.

Keywords: food loss; HGSMP; home-grown school meals program; multi-variate regression; KAPs; knowledge attitude practices; Kenya.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPTI.2025.147514

International Journal of Postharvest Technology and Innovation, 2025 Vol.10 No.6, pp.1 - 24

Received: 06 Feb 2024
Accepted: 24 Nov 2024
Published online: 18 Jul 2025 *

Title: Knowledge, attitude and practices relevant to food loss reduction along the bean supply chain of the home-grown school meal program in Kajiado and Kitui counties, Kenya

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