Influences of Independent Variables on the Adoption of Recommended Coffee Production Practices in Siha District, Kilimanjaro Region

Farmer Field Schools for Improving Farming Practices and Farmer Outcomes: A Systematic Review

This study investigated factors influencing the adoption of multiple sustainable agricultural practices by smallholder farmers in the Eastern Cape Province. The study made use of a cross-sectional research design and a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data were collected from 168 smallholder farmers using a semi-structured questionnaire and the validity of the collected data was confirmed. Descriptive statistics and a multivariate probit regression model were used to analyze data. The results indicated that farming is practiced mostly by females (70%) with an average of 45 years and 6 people in the households, which act as family labour. The study reported that 54% of farmers adopted an improved variety of crops, use organic manure, integrated pest management, irrigation, and intercropping. Smallholder farmers faced identical constraints which limited their adoption of SAPs. The use of an improved variety of crops was influenced positively by age, years spent in school, household labour, and member of farm organizations. While income level had a negative influence, the use of organic manure was influenced positively by age, years spent in school, farm size, and members of farm organizations. Integrated pest management was positively influenced by years spent in school, income level, farm size, household labour, and member of farm organizations while age had a negative influence. Lastly, irrigation was positively influenced by years spent in school, income level, farm size, members of farm organizations, and household labour. The study concluded that the combination of multiple SAPs adoption had a positive impact on farming in the study area and their adoption was influenced by socioeconomic, institutional, and cultural factors. Therefore, the study recommended that government should provide resources and infrastructure to improve the quality and outreach of extension services through field demonstration trials and training. To fast-track the adoption of SAPs by smallholder farmers, policymakers and NGOs should focus on improving farmers' access to financial institutes to address the credit constraints by farmers so that they can purchase these SAPs. This information will assist policymakers and extension agents in developing and promoting a package of SAPs that will be user-friendly to farmers. Key words: Adoption, Eastern Cape, Farmers, Food Security, Productivity, Sustainable agricultural practices

Agricultural water management refers to the planning, development, distribution, and efficient use of water resources for agricultural purposes. Effective agricultural water management is vital for sustainable farming, especially in the face of climate change and increasing demand for food. It requires a combination of technological, ecological, and policy solutions tailored to specific regions and farming systems. Agricultural water management practices include rainwater harvesting, irrigation, soil moisture conservation, and use of drop resistant crops. Adoption of these practices can be affected by factors such as socio economic, institutional, environmental and cultural factors. This study examined the level of adoption of agricultural water management practices among smallholder farmers in Rongai Sub-county Kenya. Cross-sectional survey design was adopted, while proportionate and simple random sampling techniques were used to obtain the respondents. The accessible population was 6,230 smallholder farmers from the target population of 26,804 smallholder farmers in Rongai sub county Kenya. The study was done in August 2023 to November 2023 and included 120 smallholder farmers in Rongai Sub County. A questionnaire was used to collect data, while descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings of this study indicates that adoption of agricultural water management practices is low, being at 35.8% since 64.2% of the farmers did not adopt the practices. This low adoption may be associated with low income and lack of access to extension services in Rongai sub-county. The findings may help in improving adoption of agricultural water management by creating awareness about the practices, training smallholder farmers and advocating for supportive policies through collaborative engagement between local government and agricultural organizations.

This study was aimed to identify the factors that influence smallholder farmers’ decisions to adopt four different sustainable agricultural practices (i.e. improved variety, manure, soil and water conservation practices and herbicide) and the impact on income of smallholder farmers in Somodo watershed, Jimma zone. Multistage sampling procedure that involves a combination of purposive and random sampling procedures was employed. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 118 smallholder farmers in the watershed where integrated watershed management interventions were implemented by Jimma Agricultural Research Center from 2011-2018. A questionnaire was administered to the 118 selected smallholder farmers and quantitative data type were collected and used in this study. Descriptive statistics, a multivariate probit and Endogenous switching regression model were used to analyze the data. The study result shows that 25.51% of farmers apply manure on their farm plots in the watershed. Improved variety, soil and water management practices and herbicide are adopted by 35.63%, 42.91% and 12.15% of farmers, respectively. The finding of the study revealed that adoption of sustainable agricultural practices were determined by sex, age, cultivated land size, technical advice, tropical livestock unit, distance to main market, distance to agricultural extension agent office, plot distance, medium soil fertility, medium slope of land and red color of soil. The study concluded that the adoption of different sustainable agricultural practices in combination had a positive impact on income of smallholder farmers and their adoption was influenced by socioeconomic, institutional, and soil characteristics. Therefore, it is recommended that all stakeholders should pay due attention to empowering farmers to use different sustainable agricultural practices; improve soil health, increase crop productivity and income. The positive effect of technical advice on sustainable agricultural practice’s adoption suggests the need for increased accessibility of practical training mainly on preparing manure and compost, soil and water conservation practices and use of improved crops varieties.

The economy of Bangladesh largely depends on agriculture. Agroforestry is one of the modern agricultural practices which ensure maximum utilization of resources and offer sustainable environmental and economic development. The present study was carried out to find out farmers’ perceptions and problems towards the adoption of agroforestry practices in the coastal area of Bangladesh. In total, 400 farmers were selected from five upazila of the Noakhali district following a proportionate random sampling technique. Face-to-face interviews, case studies, and focus group discussions (FGD) were used to obtain the data. Statics such as range, mean, standard deviation, Chi-square, and correlation analysis were applied. Most of the respondents were middle-aged (45%) with a low literacy rate and large family size (55%). The majority of them (50%) had small-sized land, and they had limited access to agricultural training. A greater part of the respondents (61%) had a very low level of knowledge of agroforestry practice. Silvopasture and homestead agroforestry system was practiced by most of the farmers (77%) without proper concept. Only 11% of the respondents know and practice multistrata agroforestry, which is one of the best agroforestry practice. The perception of the respondents towards the adoption of agroforestry was found low in most of the cases. They expressed a low level of acuity towards agroforestry, and they were not so interested towards the adoption of these practices. “Agroforestry adoption may be hampered by a lack of institutions and policies to support it” and “Lack of knowledge and awareness on agroforestry practice” was identified most significant problems with a chi-square value of 41.6 and 39.2 at 5% level of significance. Respondents’ knowledge of agroforestry, exposure to training, and farm size were positively and significantly correlated with their adoption of the practice (r = 0.437∗∗, 0.572∗∗, and 0.64∗∗, respectively). Demonstrations, awareness campaigns, financial incentives, and collaborations between government organizations and NGOs may increase the adoption of agroforestry practices in the coastal region of Bangladesh.

Sustainable dairy management (SDM) practices aim to minimize environmental impact, promote animal welfare, ensure economic viability, and support social responsibility throughout the dairy production chain. The SDM practices that could improve sustainability of dairy farming systems in Uganda include milk management, animal health, feeding and breeding practices. Despite the numerous advantages that scientific literature reports for these dairy management practices, they are not always adopted by farmers because of various factors. The objectives of this study were to examine farmers’ adoption decisions towards Sustainable Diary Management (SDM) practices, as well as the economic impact of this adoption among dairy farmers in Rubaya Subcounty. The cross-sectional research design was applied to collect both quantitative and qualitative data using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data were collected using a household survey of 160 randomly selected respondents, from different villages within the study area. R Software Version 4.4.0 was used for data analysis. The results reveal that most of the SDM practices were adopted by over 50% of the dairy farmers. Only Artificial insemination, drying off animals, conservation fodder and concentrate feeding practices were adopted by less than 50% of the dairy farmers. The Multivariate logistic regression model results show that the adoption of SDM practices is significantly associated with varied demographic (Gender, age, household size); socio-economic (land size and household income); and institutional factors (access to agricultural credit, access to extension services, and membership to a farmer association). The study found out that adoption of SDM practices increased their farm income by UGX. 2,930,429/=, highly significant at 5% (p=0.02). The study recognizes two main pathways to increase the adoption of SDM practices: i) utilizing farmers’ knowledge and information sharing platforms; and addressing broader market and institutional failures

Adoption of multiple sustainable land management practices and its effects on productivity of smallholder maize farmers in Nigeria

Water is a resource that cannot be replaced and can only be renewed if it is well managed. It is basic for all forms of life, for every aspects of socio-economic development, and for the maintenance of a healthy ecosystem. Agriculture is the biggest water user globally, accounting for 70 percent of total water withdrawals on average. There are different practices that can aid in managing water used for agriculture. Some of these agricultural water management practices are; rainwater harvesting, irrigation, organic farming, and use of drought resistant crops. Farmer’s decision to either adopt or reject these practices can be affected by several factors, some of which are socio-economic. Some of the socio-economic factors that may influence adoption of these practices include farmer’s educational level, income level and farm size. This study examined the influence of farmer’s income level on adoption of agricultural water management practices (Rainwater harvesting, Irrigation Drought resistant crops). Cross-sectional survey design was adopted, while proportionate and simple random sampling technique was used to obtain the respondents. The accessible population was 6,230 smallholder farmers from the target population of 26,804 smallholder farmers in Rongai sub county Kenya. The study was done in August 2023 to November 2023.The study included 120 smallholder farmers in Rongai Sub County. The study used questionnaire to collect data while binary logistic regression was used to analyze the data. The results indicated that adoption of agricultural water management practices is low, only 36% of smallholder farmers had adopted agricultural water management practices. The P value calculated for the 120 smallholder farmers was P=.033 which is < than .05 and therefore the null hypothesis was rejected concluding that in this study income level had statistically significant influence on adoption of agricultural water management practices among smallholder farmers in Rongai sub-county in Nakuru ,Kenya. The findings may help in emphasizing the necessity of assisting farmers in removing financial obstacles that may hinder adoption of agricultural water management practices.

Adoption and Factors Affecting on Adoption of Integrated Pest Management among Vegetable Farmers in Sri Lanka

Description of the conditionAgriculture has wide-ranging global impacts which extend to economic growth, poverty reduction, food security, livelihoods, rural development and the environment (Green et al., 2005).Agriculture is the main source of income for around 2.5 billion people in the developing world (FAO, 2003, p. 1).In addition, around 70 percent of the global extreme poor -or over one billion people -lives in rural areas in low and middle income countries (IFAD, 2010, p.233), most of whom rely directly or indirectly on agriculture for their livelihoods.Investment in agriculture has been shown to have beneficial impacts on agricultural growth and poverty reduction (Fan & Rao, 2003).Moreover, the poorest population quintiles benefit significantly more from agricultural growth than growth in other sectors of the economy (United Nations, 2008; World Bank, 2007).The modernisation of farming practices in the 1960s and 70s during the 'Green Revolution' improved agricultural yields substantially in those areas it reached and raised national production and food security (IFAD, 2001).However, two key challenges emerged (van den Berg & Jiggins, 2007).The first problem was that poor farmers were being left behind, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where many were not reached by modernisation approaches.In addition, those technologies promoted were not appropriate to the challenges facing smallholders in the African context, particularly women farmers (Inter-Academy Council, 2004).Second, modernisation was also associated with adverse environmental and health consequences, relating to water pollution, declining soil quality, soil erosion, pest resistance and loss of biodiversity.A particular problem emerged around environmental and health consequences of chemical pesticides use.Chemical pesticides have been heavily promoted and publicly subsidised under the modernisation agenda to such an extent that their overuse led to insect pests becoming resistant and causing major outbreaks of insect pests in rice crops in Asia in the 1970s and 80s.In addition, prolonged exposure to pesticides was associated with chronic and acute health problems among rural residents (Pingali & Roger, 1995).Use of broadspectrum insecticides in agriculture has even been linked to mosquito vectors of malaria developing resistance to insecticides used in malaria control programs (Diabate et al.,

ABSTRACTClimate‐smart agriculture (CSA) is a set of economically and environmentally friendly practices that can address the issues of food security under the new realities of climate change. However, the adoption of these practices among smallholder farmers is still low, especially in developing countries like Ethiopia. Thus, the main objective of this study was to assess the factors determining rural farm households' adoption of CSA practices and their impact on food security in the Sidama region, Ethiopia. Primary data for this study were obtained from a randomly selected sample of 523 households using a pre‐tested, structured questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, multivariate probit, and an endogenous switching regression model. The study found that, in the study area, conservation of agriculture is the most popular CSA practice, which is adopted by 96.2% of the adopters, followed by soil fertility management (82.2%), crop diversification (62.3%), small‐scale irrigation (47.9%), and crop–livestock integration (40.7%). The multivariate probit model revealed that the sex of the household head, age of the household head, educational level of the household head, extension contact, information on climate change, and distance to the market were identified as determinants for the adoption of CSA practices. Furthermore, the endogenous switching regression model analysis revealed that adoption of CSA practices increased rural farm household food security status. Therefore, this paper suggests that smallholder farmers should incorporate CSA practices to improve their food security.

Climate change poses significant challenges to agriculture, with serious impacts on smallholder farmers’ food security and livelihoods. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is being promoted to facilitate climate change adaptation and mitigation. While there is evidence that CSA supports smallholders’ adaption to climate change, the rate of CSA adoption remains low, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Previous studies have explained the low adoption based on generic factors such as farm, farmer, institutional and location characteristics, yet little is known about the role of farmers’ cognitive traits. This study investigates the influence of farmer entrepreneurial orientation, a cognitive trait reflecting a farmer’s innovativeness, proactiveness and propensity to take risks. We use data from smallholder potato farmers in Kenya and estimate a set of multivariate probit models to analyse the adoption decisions. Results show that risk-taking positively influences the adoption of irrigation, changing cultivation calendar, use of certified seed, crop rotation and soil testing. Proactiveness is positively related to the use of irrigation, changing the cultivation calendar and use of certified seed, while it is negatively related to intercropping. Contrary to our hypothesis that innovative farmers are more likely to adopt CSA practices, we find a negative relation between innovativeness and the use of certified seed. After categorizing CSA practices based on the main resources required, we find that risk-taking is positively associated with the adoption of practices that require high intensity of skilled labour and financial resources. Innovativeness is negatively associated with practices that require high intensity of financial resources. Lastly, we find proactiveness to be positively associated with the adoption of finance-intensive practices but negatively associated with unskilled-labour-intensive practices. These findings imply, first, that development practitioners should consider the interrelations among CSA practices and farmer entrepreneurial orientation in designing development interventions. Second, policy-makers need to create an environment conducive to farmer entrepreneurship as an indirect way to support the adoption of appropriate CSA practices.

Tomato, an important staple in many Ghanaian homes, provides livelihood for many farming households. Despite its importance, farmers within major growing tomato districts are either unaware or have not adopted productivity enhancing tomato production practices. This paper examined the relationship between socioeconomic and institutional factors and the adoption of pre-emergence, post-emergence and filed management practices in the Ada West and Central Tongu districts. The study employed descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means, and chi-square test to describe the respondents and test of independence between farmer characteristics and adoption. The results revealed that the adoption rates of preemergence, post-emergence and field management practices were 48%, 50% and 64%, respectively. Factors such as farm size, education, farming experience, land tenure arrangements, access to extension services, access to credit and point of sale were found to be significantly associated with adoption of these practices. The main constraints to double season production were reported as unavailability of water and fluctuations in market demand. It is recommended that extension officers and researchers focus their dissemination messages on improved tomato production practices through appropriate channels and build farmers' capacity on the improved practices for enhanced food security and incomes of smallholder tomato farmers in Ghana.

Due to the important role that the agricultural sector plays in sustaining growth and reducing poverty in developing countries, the adoption of practices that have the potential to simultaneously improve agricultural productivity while minimizing environmental impacts is essential. This paper examines the determinants of farmers’ perceptions of climate change and subsequent adoption of sustainable land management practices in the Niger basin of Benin. Binary and multivariate probit models are applied in a two‐stage regression procedure to cross‐sectional data collected through a survey of 545 randomly selected farm households in 28 villages. The findings indicate that there are substitutabilities among three pairs of sustainable land management practices being used by the farmers. Climate change perception is positively related to land tenure, experience in farming, number of relatives, tractor use, and membership in farmers’ organizations, and negatively related to household size, remoteness, and plough use. Moreover, the findings reveal that the uptake of land management practices is related to assets, land tenure, education level of the household head, remoteness, social network, non‐irrigated land size, having a farm located near a river/lake/stream, tractor and plough use, being a subsistence farmer or not, and memberships in farmers’ organizations. The adoption of sustainable land management practices could be encouraged through improving access to markets, adequate roads, and technologies, as well as by promoting membership in farmers’ organizations.

Climate change has severely impacted the rain-fed agricultural production system which is dominant in Nepal. This situation demands implementable strategies like supplemental irrigation for mitigating adverse impacts. In spite of the importance of supplemental irrigation, it is not adopted on a wider scale. Hence, this paper aims to assess perceptions of climate change and identify factors that influence the adoption of supplemental irrigation practices. Climate change impact survey data for Province No. 1 (one of the seven provinces in Nepal) with a sample of 800 households were analyzed by using the probit regression model. The results showed that the majority of the farmers perceived increasing temperature and decreasing precipitation, resulting in climate-induced disasters such as drought. Similarly, only about 27% of the households have adopted supplemental irrigation practices. The significant factors influencing the adoption of supplemental irrigation practices were the household head’s number of years of farming experience and education level, distance to motorable roads, operational size of landholding, membership in community-based organizations, and the perception of changes in summer temperature. Considering the empirical results, it is necessary to undertake research on sustainable practices and develop support measures for scaling up this practice as the adoption of this practice is very low in Province No. 1. The policy and strategy should also emphasize enhancing the capacity of farmers in technical and managerial aspects of supplemental irrigation practices, raising awareness about climate change and its impact, and strengthening community-based organizations for sharing and exchanging knowledge and skills. In addition, creating additional employment opportunities to enhance the income of the farmers for mitigating the capital constraint and increasing investment in infrastructures like roads for improving physical access thereby promoting adoption.