摘要：The paper aims to analyze the snap bean value chain and assess the competitiveness of small farmers and how the value-added benefits are shared by various participants of the value chain in Kirinyaga County, Kenya. We find that farmers had the lowest share of value added among the chain participants. For instance, in channel 1 the value-added share of small scale farmers was 15.6%, brokers 16.3%, processors had the highest share at 37.6% and retailers at 30.5%. Despite this, the small farmers were still competitive and that the entire chain was profitable in all the four channels that were analyzed. Shorter chains where brokers were excluded provided farmers higher benefits than longer chains. The mean value added for the chain actors were significantly different in all the four channels. Multiple comparisons test showed that all means, except between farmers and brokers, were different. The study recommends for policy interventions that seek to reduce the number of market intermediaries if commodity market chains have to be more beneficial to small farmers.
