The contribution of the RIPAT approach in the adoption of agricultural technologies in the uluguru mountains
| dc.contributor.author | Nyanda, Suzana S. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Martin, Respikius | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mwaseba, Dismas L. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-07-09T14:04:22Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-07-09T14:04:22Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023 | |
| dc.description | Journal article | |
| dc.description.abstract | Extension services play pivotal roles in linking farmers to knowledge, information and technologies that are central to attaining agricultural productivity. The limited number of extension agents coupled with the use of inappropriate approaches in the delivery of extension services has been regarded as one of the causes of low adoption of agricultural technologies. To overcome this, innovative and cost-effective agricultural extension approaches have been developed and promoted. One of such approaches is the Rural Initiatives for Participatory Agricultural Transformation (RIPAT) which forms the focus of this chapter. Specifically, the chapter presents: (i) the role of the RIPAT approach in the adoption of agricultural technologies, (ii) technologies promoted by the RIPAT-SUA project and their adoption by farmers, and (iii) factors affecting the adoption of the promoted technologies. The findings presented are drawn from an exploratory cross-sectional research done in six randomly selected villages surrounding the Uluguru Mountains where the RIPAT-SUA project has been implemented. A total of 238 households (120 RIPAT participating farmers and 118 non-group farmers) were randomly selected from the project villages for the farmers' survey. Additionally, a total of 15 key informants were involved in in-depth interviews. Desk review of project documents was also conducted. Descriptive statistics and content analyses were used for the quantitative and qualitative data analysis respectively. The study found that a basket of options that gave farmers the opportunity to choose the technologies they can implement was the key to adoption of technologies. In this respect, 92.5% of the group members adopted more than two technologies whereas 69% of non-group members adopted at least two technologies from the basket of options. The RIPAT approach has great potential to reach many farmers through its scaling-up tactic involving the RIPAT start and RIPAT spreading groups using lead farmers. This approach can facilitate the dissemination of new agricultural technologies in situations with limited professional extension workers. The study therefore recommends that the Ministry of Agriculture should integrate the RIPAT approach in the public agricultural extension framework. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/6795 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Mkuki na Nyota Publishers Ltd | |
| dc.subject | Extension approaches | |
| dc.subject | Farmer groups | |
| dc.subject | Basket of options | |
| dc.subject | RECODA | |
| dc.title | The contribution of the RIPAT approach in the adoption of agricultural technologies in the uluguru mountains | |
| dc.type | Article |