Early-Stage Adoption of Improved Banana “Matooke” Hybrids in Uganda: A Count Data Analysis Based on Farmers’ Perceptions

Abstract

This paper analyzes farmers’ perceptions regarding the consumption and production attributes of new banana hybrids in Uganda. The data were collected from a sample of 454 farmers. Following descriptive statistics and a factor analysis, a zero-inflated poisson (ZIP) regression model was estimated to understand the effect of farmers’ perceptions and other factors on the likelihood of adopting the new hybrids. The results show that, compared to a local variety (Mbwazirume), four of the hybrids are preferred in terms of production attributes but regarded as inferior with respect to consumption characteristics. Resistance to nematodes, tolerance to weevils and high performance in good seasons in terms of bunch size mainly explain early-stage adoption of the hybrid banana varieties. Hybrid M9 is regarded as having a relatively good performance with respect to most of the production and consumption characteristics. In collaboration with extension agents, variety M9 could be disseminated to a wider farming community that targets larger households, younger farmers and farmers with relatively large sizes of land.