Matumizi ya Lugha za Kiasili Katika Ustawishaji wa Kilimo: Mfano Wa Kinandi Katika Runinga ya Kass Nchini Kenya.

One of the agendas of the current Kenyan government is agricultural development. Agriculture ensures food security which may reduce cost of living. Because of this, a lot of efforts have been directed towards reaching out to farmers who are the main stakeholders in Agriculture so as to educate them on farming. In Kenya, many farmers are found in rural areas where communication is mainy through the use of indigenous languages. The main way of reaching these farmers is through broadcast media that promote the use of indigenous languages. Kass television which broadcasts in Nandi language is among these broadcast media. This study investigated the use of Nandi language in promoting agricultural development through agricultural programs aired by Kass television. The objectives of this research included: to investigate how nandi language is used to educate farmers on techniques of agriculture through agricultural programs aired by Kass television, to determine farmers’ opinions on the importance of the use of Nandi language in presenting agricultural programs on Kass television and to evaluate how Kass television programs contribute to strengthening of Nandi language through its use in its agricultural programs. This research was done in Emgwen Sub county in Nandi county. It was guided by Dell Hymes (1972) Theory of ethnography of communication. It was a case study in nature. Viewers were selected randomly. 264 viewers were involved in data collection. 9 broadcasters of Kass television were also included in data collection. Viewing and listening, Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. Data collection tools used included: Observation schedule, questionnaire and interview guide. Data collected was analyzed using percentages and tables. Thereafter, this data was presented in line with research objectives. Research findings revealed that the use of Nandi language in presenting agricultural programs in Kass television improved viewers farming techniques. Viewers accepted that their faming techniques improved immensely. Technology in farming was the most important program because through this program, farmers were taught how to include technology in farming. These agricultural programs contributed to the strengthening of Nandi language. This because these programs developed new vocabularies which were spread by Kass Television. These research gives a proposal to the national and county governments to emphasize the use of indigenous languages through broadcast media in order to improve economic lives of people. Research findings well benefit the Nandi community since it highlighted the importance of using Nandi language to foster agricultural development through agricultural programs aired by Kass Television.