Adoption of rainwater harvesting technologies 'by farmers in Tanzania. with particular reference to the western pare lowlands
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Date
1999
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Abstract
Adoption of technology is an important factor in economic development. Successful introduction of
technologies in the developing countries requires an understanding of the priorities and concerns
of the smallholder farmers at the grassroots. This paper presents experiences of adoption studies
in the Western Pare Lowlands, identifying the factors affecting adoption, constraints to adoption
and methodological problems in studying adoption of RWH technologies. A survey approach was
the main method used to collect the data from a sample of 86 farmers. The data collected were
analysed using descriptive statistics and estimation of empirical model to determine the factors
affecting adoption of RWH technologies. The empirical model used was logit regression, Important
factors affecting the adoption of RWH were identified as number of plots owned by farmers
and the sex of the head of household. Constraints in the adoption of RWH technologies were noted
including constraints facing those who are already using the RWH technologies. Problems facing
the users include difficulties with water distribution. Two important recommendations are made:
First because adoption of technologies by farmers takes time, there is a need for collecting a series
of data (separated in time) about adoption rather than depending on single season static data.
The models used in evaluating adoption should also consider the time element, Secondly, since the
main constraints to adoption is lack of technical knowledge, it is recommended that training of
extension workers in RWH techniques and including RWH in the district extension package will
reduce the problem of availability of technical knowledge to farmers .
Description
Tanzania Journal of Agricultural Sciences 1999, Vol. 2(2) : 205- 218
Keywords
Adoption, Probit, Logit regression, Technology characteristics, Rainwater harvesting