article · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
This study examines the factors influencing how smallholder farmers in Tanzania adopt climate-smart agriculture practices. Researchers analysed survey data from 821 farming households using a multivariate probit model to understand the uptake of five specific interventions: crop diversification, livestock diversification, irrigation, chemical fertiliser application, and agroforestry. Findings show that chemical fertilisers were the most widely used practice at 34 percent adoption, whereas irrigation had the lowest uptake at 26 percent. The analysis identified notable synergies between specific interventions, showing that crop diversification complemented irrigation, and fertiliser use complemented agroforestry. In contrast, trade-offs emerged between livestock diversification and irrigation. Key drivers governing technology uptake included household resource levels, farm location, and female control over farm resources. Consequently, enhancing household resources is highlighted as a critical pathway to foster the uptake of new farming practices.
Widespread adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices is vital for enhancing food production, building resilience, and mitigating climate change among smallholders. Understanding why farmers adopt or reject specific techniques helps development programmes and policymakers design interventions that address real socio-economic barriers, such as gender-based resource control and household wealth constraints.
The findings can inform agricultural input providers, irrigation equipment distributors, and rural extension services seeking to market solutions to smallholders. While the underlying agricultural technologies are already commercially available and deployed in the field, successful market penetration requires bundling complementary solutions and tailoring commercialisation strategies to household purchasing power and female resource managers.
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Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is agriculture that increases productivity, improves resilience, and mitigates climate change. Smallholder adoption of farming technology is necessary to speed the transition to CSA. Here, we assessed the determinants of adoption of five technologies that can help achieve some of the CSA outcomes in smallholder farms in Tanzania. They included: crop and livestock diversification, irrigation, application of chemical fertilizers, and agroforestry. Using data collected from 821 farming households, a multivariate probit model was employed to evaluate the determinants of adoption, allowing for examination of synergies and trade-offs between the technologies. Application of chemical fertilizers was fairly well adopted (34% of farmers), while irrigation was least adopted (26%). Some technologies, including crop diversification and irrigation, as well as application of chemical fertilizer and agro-forestry, complemented each other. Trade-offs were observed between livestock diversification and irrigation. Female control of farm resources, farm location, and household resources were major determinants of adoption. We therefore, recommend strategies that seeks to enhance building household resource as pathway for improved adoption of new technologies.
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DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2020.00055
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