Achieving zero hunger in Kenya: logistics management practices for enhancing organizational performance in agriculture and food authority

Abstract

This study sought to determine logistics management practices that may be leveraged to enhance the organizational performance of the Agriculture and Food Authority in Kenya (AFA). The study was motivated by Sustainable Development Goal 2, which advocates for zero hunger in the United Nations member states. The study was grounded in the lean theory that advocates the pull approach. The research design adopted by the study is the explanatory research design that is anchored in the post-positivist research philosophy. The study targeted 623 staff of the AFA, drawn from fifteen silos under its management. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select a sample of 380 employees. Structured questionnaires were developed and used to collect data. The standard multiple regression approach was used to analyze the collected data. The analysis results confirmed that the three components of logistics management, namely; inventory management, transport management, and warehouse management, were positive and significant predictors of operational efficiency of the AFA tested at the 95% level of confidence. The study concluded that inventory management, transport management, and warehouse management are practices that could place the AFA in a good position to realize zero hunger in Kenya. However, the study adopted appropriate measures in both policy and managerial recommendations that the food agencies should embrace in enhancing the implementation of the best and most efficient supply chain management practices at the disposal of organizations’ performance. Future studies endeavor to identify other logistic management practices that can be complementary to the three identified in this study in enhancing the AFA's potential to achieve the zero hunger goal.