10th U6+ Consortium of African Universities International Conference

Farm input distribution companies in Kenya play a vital role in supporting agricultural productivity and food security, yet many continue to experience declining competitiveness characterized by stagnant market share, weak customer retention, and limited product innovation. Product development strategy has increasingly emerged as a critical growth strategy for enhancing competitive advantage in dynamic and highly competitive markets. This study sought to establish the effect of product development strategy on the competitive advantage of farm input distribution companies in Nakuru County, Kenya. The study was anchored on Dynamic Capabilities Theory and adopted a correlational research design. The target population comprised all 238 registered farm input distribution companies in Nakuru County; a census approach was used, with the 24 firms located in Naivasha Sub-County reserved for the pilot study, leaving 214 firms in the main study. The firm was the unit of analysis, while one senior manager responsible for strategic planning, marketing, or operations served as the unit of observation, and 160 valid questionnaires were returned, representing a response rate of 74.8%. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires, and data analysis involved descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and simple linear regression analysis using SPSS Version 27. The findings revealed that product development strategy had a strong positive and statistically significant relationship with competitive advantage (r = 0.831, p = 0.000). Regression analysis indicated that product development strategy explained 69.1% of the variation in competitive advantage (R² = 0.691). The ANOVA results further confirmed that the regression model was statistically significant (F = 353.188, p = 0.000). The regression coefficients revealed that product development strategy had a positive and statistically significant effect on competitive advantage (β = 0.828, t = 18.793, p = 0.000). The study concluded that investment in research and development, product innovation, and process innovation significantly enhance the competitive advantage of farm input distribution companies. The study recommends that farm input distribution companies prioritize investment in research and development, institutionalize customer-driven innovation, and strengthen product differentiation and continuous process improvement in order to enhance market share, customer loyalty, and brand awareness.