Inclusive agribusiness models aim at benefitting broad layers of the farming population in developing countries, not only farmers in well-structured value chains, but also (remote) subsistence smallholders producing for local markets. Under climate change, inclusive business models also need to be made climate-smart to increase the farmers' resilience. In this paper we provide a brief review of the role of inclusive finance as an inherent as well as synergetic component of inclusive agribusiness models. Financial institutions have difficulty in reaching out to remote smallholders, and community-based organizations often lack capacity to upscale financial services. This limits many farmers in their capability to deal with increasing climate risks. Closing this finance gap requires innovations in delivery models, and in financial products and services. Developing such adapted products requires better insight into the financial lives of smallholders, particularly under climate change, for instance from further research into climatesmart financial diaries.
The Government of Kenya introduced energy sector reforms in the late 1990s aimed at improving efficiency in the supply of energy. After over two decades of reforms, there has been no comprehensive study to estimate the technical efficiency amongst electricity generators in Kenya. This study examined 27 thermal electricity generating plants in Kenya using data sourced from Energy Regulation Commission for the period July 2015 to December 2017. The study applied two methods to estimate efficiency, viz., the Stochastic Frontier Analysis and Data Envelope Analysis. The results indicated that there is inefficiency in thermal power generation. The average efficiency score was 71% meaning the industry was missing its technical potential by about 29%. The plants experienced increasing returns to scale and were improving on efficiency and productivity. Age and public ownership contributed to inefficiency while grid connection had a positive effect on efficiency. The government should encourage private investment in future power generation projects while at the same time increasing connection of the isolated areas to the national grid. The regulator should also revisit the current specific fuel targets used in determining the fuel pass through costs to consumers to encourage efficiency.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.