Factors affecting the adoption of drip irrigation among smallholder farmers in Zambia; A case studybof Kafue and Kabwe Districts
| dc.contributor.author | Mulenga, Chishimba | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-05-02T12:43:37Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2017-05-02T12:43:37Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2011 | |
| dc.description.abstract | ABSTRACT Factors affecting the adoption of Drip irrigation technology among small holder farmers In Kabwe and Kafue Districts Chishimba Mulenga Supervisor: University of Zambia, 2011 Ms. P. Hamukwala Irrigation has long been seen as an option to improve and sustain rural livelihoods by increasing crop production. It also enables farmers to switch from subsistence production to market-oriented production; with higher yielding and higher-value crops however most of the irrigation equipments available on the market are too expensive for an average small scale farmer to afford. The low cost drip irrigation system was promoted as an alternative irrigation method to the traditional flooding method by International Development Enterprise in Kafue and Kabwe districts of Zambia. The aim was to ensure the efficient use of water and inputs as well as save on labour but despite the promotion the adoption rate was below the targeted. This paper used the Tobit model to analyze the socioeconomic and institutional factors that affect the adoption of the drip system among farmers in Kabwe and Kafue districts. Farm and household level data were obtained from 103 farmers consisting of 58 adopters and 45 non-adopters. Adoption in this study was considered as those farmers who were irrigating there field with at least a 200m2 drip systems on there fields The study showed that the most important factors that affect farmers adoption decision is the household's level of assets, attending primary school, house hold size, age of house hold head, receiving training in irrigation farming and technology as these were found to be significant (at p-value> 0.01). The total land under irrigation and the ownership of treadle pump were found to be significant (at p-value>0.05) in explaining adoption of drip irrigation. The age and household size were negatively related to adoption implying that the older the farmer is and the larger the house hold size is, the lower the proportion of irrigated land allocated under the drip system. The ownership of treadle pumps and the increase in the year of primary school attendance increased the farmer's proportion of irrigated land under drip system. The larger the area under irrigation and the more assets ownership was also associated with increased adoption. Farmers who received training in irrigation farming and technology also showed a higher proportion of there irrigated land being under drip system. The study results emphasizes the importance of formal education as well as training in drip irrigation adoption hence, it is important to place adoption-enhancing interventions to promote education for (not only the household head but) the entire household. This can be inform of encouraging farmers to attend formal education inform of night school. There is also need to intensify the training and technical support that farmer receive on irrigation farming and technology. This may encourage farmers expand there irrigation farming and propel them into acquiring water saving technologies, as land under irrigation proved to be significant in the study. | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://dspace.unza.zm/handle/123456789/4498 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | The University of Zambia | en |
| dc.subject | Irrigation--Zambia | en |
| dc.subject | Irrigation farming | en |
| dc.title | Factors affecting the adoption of drip irrigation among smallholder farmers in Zambia; A case studybof Kafue and Kabwe Districts | en |
| dc.type | Other | en |