Awareness and attitudes of retailers toward various baobab products in Kenya: Rural townships versus urban markets

In the wake of climate change, failing of conventional food systems, and low agricultural productivity, baobab tree is central to the livelihoods of many individuals in ASALs. In Kenya, the baobab is a high-priority tree with high economic value than use value. However, products derived from the tree remain rare and only a few are traded. This paper sought to establish the determinants of awareness and attitudes of retailers toward baobab products. Descriptive statistics, Zero-truncated Poisson model, and Exploratory factor analysis were employed to assess awareness levels, attitudes, and their underlying determinants. Data was collected from 352 retailers in rural and urban markets. Descriptive indicated a low product awareness across markets. Further, attitudes of retailers towards baobab were positive and relatively homogeneous. Out of the 13 statements, 10 scored positively on the Likert scale. The model revealed that gender, age, education, years in retailing, and group membership positively influenced awareness, while distance to the market and income from other sources had a negative influence. Exploratory factor analysis generated five factors that explained 57.93% of the total variance. Source of employment, livelihood and survival, and nutritive value and freshness, had the highest factor loadings respectively. The study, therefore, recommends the need to develop strategies that could promote awareness of baobab products. This includes; designing appropriate educational and training programs that focus on gender disparity, youth, and nutritional value. Likewise, governments and the private sector should invest in baobab value chain and infrastructure to enhance market employability, access and availability of products.

Automated summary

This paper examines the determinants of retailers' awareness and attitudes towards baobab products. The findings indicate a low level of awareness but positive attitudes among retailers. The study recommends the development of educational and training programs to enhance awareness, as well as investment in the baobab value chain and infrastructure by governments and the private sector.