Influence of Leader Interpersonal Attributes on Cohesiveness of the Dairy Goat Farmers' Groups in Central and Eastern Provinces of Kenya

Abstract

The Dairy goat Project introduced in the Central and Eastern Kenya highlands in 1992 by GTZ in collaboration with the Kenya government is a success story of a poverty reduction project. The Dairy Goat Farmers' Association in Central and Eastern Provinces of Kenya has been very successful in sustaining the project outputs, capacity growth and stability of the member groups. These dimensions of organisational growth have been attributed partly to effectiveness of group leadership. Although factors that contribute to effectiveness of leadership as an interaction process and outcome are generally known, not all factors may be generalised to specific circumstances due to the situational nature of leadership.  This study examined influence of leader interpersonal attributes on group cohesiveness in member groups of the Dairy Goat Association of Kenya. Out of 106 farmers' groups and 2199 members, 47 group leaders and 251 followers selected through stratified random sampling, were interviewed. All the Leader interpersonal attributes (problem solving, team work, decision making and conflict resolution) were significantly related to group cohesiveness at p ≤ 0.05.  The study concluded that leaders' interpersonal factors were important determinants of leadership effectiveness. There is therefore, need to design leadership training programs that equip group leaders with interpersonal skills for enhancement and sustainability of the dairy goat project.