RESOURCE PROCUREMENT AND CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE IN LAIKIPIA COUNTY, KENYA

Objective: The objective of this study is to determine how resource procurement influences climate-smart agriculture projects in Laikipia County, Kenya.    Theoretical Framework: This study is anchored on Transaction Cost Economics Theory, which states that a project will attract transaction costs all through the procurement process. This study anchors on this theory as small-scale farmers need to be innovative to reduce procurement costs and have bargaining power over exploitive stockists.   Method: A concurrent mixed method approach that adopted the descriptive cross-sectional survey and correlational design was employed to study two World Bank-sponsored Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture projects. Stratified and Simple random sampling were employed to get a sample of 225 small-scale farmers and purposeful sampling identified four key informants. Data was collected using questionnaires and an interview guide and analyzed using descriptive, inferential, and content data analysis techniques.   Results and Discussion: The composite mean and standard deviation of 3.25 and 1.163 respectively. The relationship between resource procurement and the performance of climate-smart agriculture projects had a fairly strong linear coefficient of correlation (r= 0.524) and p-value of (p=0.000<0.05) indicating a fairly strong and significant relationship. Therefore, effective procurement of inputs, machinery, and other resources is critical in sustainable agriculture.   Research Implications: Consequently, it is critical to have policies that promote effective procurement and safeguard small-scale farmers from exploitive stockists.   Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by providing reliable and triangulated empirical data through authentic methodology enhancing suitability for data generalisability and replicability. The relevance and value of this research is evidenced by the need to promote food security in a healthy ecology