| dc.description.abstract | RFID has been used in the livestock sector to track the location and identify farm animals. The
RFID technology is first rated in identifying and tracking livestock inventory. Essential health
data is recorded for each animal, managing animal diseases and combating livestock theft.
Despite RFID technology's importance in livestock farm management, many small-scale
farmers are unaware of its benefits. Financial consequences, operational management of RFID
items, environmental concerns, and database administration issues have also hindered livestock
management's widespread adoption of RFID technology. The study explored the adoption and
impact of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in the context of livestock
management in Nyeri, Kenya. The specific objectives were to; evaluate the Radio Frequency
Identification Technology’s benefits in the management of livestock among small-scale
farmers in Nyeri County, identify the factors that influence the adoption of a Radio Frequency
Identification Technology for livestock management among small-scale farmers in Nyeri
County, and develop a Radio Frequency Identification framework for the management of
livestock in Nyeri County Kenya. Innovation Diffusion Theory and Technology Acceptance
Model guided the investigation. The researcher collected quantitative data via questionnaires
and interviews. Questionnaires were used to collect data from livestock questionnaires and
interviews with industry experts in agriculture and the use of RFID.
The target population was 147,374 livestock farmers in Nyeri County. Data analysis involved
descriptive and inferential statistics. Most of the livestock farmers agreed that the use of RFID
technology had brought significant benefits. The benefits enabled them to improve livestock
production and reduce the cost, enhance the livestock’s security and traceability, generate
timely, accurate, and granular data helpful in livestock management, and enhance the livestock
feeding schedule and rationing monitoring. Other benefits included improved automated
livestock monitoring resulting in few labourers, and enhanced ability to correctly trace and
identify the livestock and adequately manage the cattle feeding programme. Factors such as
technology, cost, environment, facilities, and data management were sufficient explanations
for 51.2% of the use of RFID technology for livestock management among small-scale farmers
in Nyeri County. The development of the RFID model for livestock management in Nyeri
County, Kenya, is based on the benefits of RFID in livestock management and factors that
influence the adoption of RFID for livestock management. The study concluded that the
development of RFID for livestock management should base on the benefits and challenges of
RFID in livestock management and factors that influence the adoption of RFID for livestock
management. Since the cost of implementing RFID technology is generally high for an
individual, livestock farmers in Nyeri County should consider rolling out the program from a
cooperative perspective. The farmers can form groups, and because they have community land,
they can start by pulling resources together, which will help alleviate financial challenges and
ease negotiations with technology providers.
Given that technology may be complicated for some, Nyeri County, through the county
government, should collaborate with institutions that provide training to farmers to offer free
training on the benefits and use of RFID technology for farmers. Kenya Agriculture and
livestock research organization’s primary mandates are to develop disease control technologies
and an effective traceability system; RFID is one technology that can solve disease control
through identification and tracking. Therefore, the Organisation should ensure they take
primary responsibility for managing the data. | en_US |
