Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture

Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture No. 4/11


Determinants of Agricultural Technology Adoption:
The Case of Improved Pigeonpea Varieties in Tanzania

Franklin Simtowe
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Nairobi, Kenya

Menale Kassie
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Nairobi, Kenya

Aliou Diagne
The Africa Rice Centre, Cotonou, Benin

Solomon Asfaw
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy

Bekele Shiferaw
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Nairobi, Kenya

Said Silim and Elijah Muange
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Nairobi, Kenya


Abstract

If dryland legumes are to meet the expectations of reducing poverty and hunger in the semi-arid tropics, there will be need for a full understanding of their potential for diffusion and the barriers to adoption. We apply a program evaluation technique to data obtained from Tanzania to derive estimates of the actual and potential adoption rates of improved pigeonpea varieties and their determinants. The study reveals that only 33% of the sampled farmers were aware of the improved pigeonpea varieties which consequently restricted the sample adoption rate of improved varieties to only 19%. The potential adoption rate of improved pigeonpea if all farmers had been exposed to improved varieties is estimated at 62% and the adoption gap resulting from the incomplete exposure of the population to the improved pigeonpea is 43%. We further find that the awareness of improved varieties is mainly influenced by attendance of Participatory Variety Selection activities. The adoption of improved varieties is more pronounced among farmers with smaller landholdings suggesting that farmers facing land pressure intensify pigeonpea production through the adoption of improved high yielding varieties. The findings are indicative of the relatively large demand for improved pigeonpea varieties suggesting that there is scope for increasing their adoption rate in Tanzania once the farmers are made aware of the existence of the technologies.

Keywords: pigeonpea, adoption, average treatment effect, Tanzania

JEL: C8, O3, Q12, Q16

Vol. 50 (2011), No. 4: 325-345