The national maize production levels in Kenya have been declining from an all time high of
over 34 million bags to about 25 million bags over the years. The situation is made worse by
agricultural reforms which have affected small scale farmers in Western Province, which is
one of Kenya's food baskets. This paper therefore addresses the challenges facing the small
scale maize farmers in Western Province of Kenya in the agricultural reform era. Two
hundred small scale farmers were selected through systematic sampling from Lugari,
Bungoma, Mt. Elgon and Busia districts which were purposively selected. In addition one
hundred extension staff was selected through systematic sampling. The small scale farmers
were interviewed with the help of an interview schedule containing open and closed ended
questions. While the extension staff filled a self administered questionnaire containing open
and closed ended questions. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics with the help of
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results revealed that small scale
farmers in Western Province lack awareness of improved agricultural practices and technical
knowhow because the extension staff to farmer ratio is high. They also lacked finance,
experienced high interest rates on credit facilities and uncertainty of the right seed to use
due to flooding of the market by many seed companies.