Effect of Socio-Economic Characteristics of Farmers on Their Adoption of Organic Farming Practices

Abstract

Organic farming is a form of agriculture which excludes the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and plant growth regulators. The system also seeks to maintain the fertility demands of various crops to avoid excessive depletion of soil nutrients. Organic scientists and farmers in Africa, therefore deliberately integrates the age-long traditional organic system to enable a holistic development of the organic sector that would make use of the locally available resources, drawing from the pragmatic experiential knowledge of the farmers thereby making it highly relevant and acceptable to the majority of Africa. According to Parrot, Ssekyyew, Makunike, and Ntambi (2006), farmers have often resisted “Green revolution” viewing them not only as unsuitable but also risky and inaccessible. The concept of organic farming practices refers to the farm as an organism in which all the component parts (the soil minerals, plants, organic matter, micro-organisms, insects, animals including humans) interact to create a coherent and stable whole. Organic farming combines scientific knowledge of ecology and modern technology with traditional farming practices based on naturally occurring biological processes. Organic farming is based on ecological processes; knowledge of the agro-ecosystem is thus a pre-requisite to any organic farm. To this end, farmers with a traditional knowledge base are potentially better able to develop ecological processes. Traditional knowledge is not just a system for the present, but a source of institutional memory about what practices have worked best over time. Such knowledge has been described as a “reservoir of adaptations”; a whole set of practices that may be used again if the need arises (FAO, 2008). Organic farming provides basis for maintaining environmental goods and services at the farm and landscape level. According to FAO, (2008), organic agriculture provides environmental goods and services. It promotes ecological resilience, improved biodiversity, healthy management of farms and the surrounding environment, and builds on community knowledge and strength. Hence, organic farming has been proved to be effective for enhanced adaptive capacity of farmers’ socio-economic factors which necessitates social