*PhD Candidate, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya. P.O. Box 62000–00200, Nairobi, Kenya
**Principal, College of Human Resource Development, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya. P.O. Box, 62000–00200, Nairobi, Kenya
***Senior Lecturer, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya, P.O. Box 62000–00200, Nairobi, Kenya
Online published on 25 May, 2016.
The study examined the influence of networking on the performance of agri-based export oriented SMEs in Kenya. A survey was conduct on 96 agri-based export oriented SMES using a questionnaire. Descriptive statistic results confirmed that business links abroad, international trade fairs, membership to trade organizations with mean scores of 4.38, 4.2, and 4.12 respectively were important to networking. Further, local business links and local trade fairs with mean scores of 3.82 and 3.66 respectively, influenced networking to a great extent. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) ona sample of 96 SMEs revealed a positive relationship between SME Networks and Export performance of agri-based SMEs. The findings confirmedthat networksinfluence the performance of SME in agri-based export in Kenya. Itcouldalso be deduced that networking through domestic and foreign links as well membership to export organizations has a great influence on the performance of agri-based export oriented SMEs.
