Adoption of Multiple Agricultural Technologies among Smallholder Farmers in Major Tef Growing Areas of Central Ethiopia

Abstract

The adoption of agricultural technologies has become an important issue in the development agenda for Ethiopia, especially as a way to tackle poverty and low agricultural productivity. Using the household survey data from 240 sample respondents from Minjar Shenkora and Ada’a woredas, this study analyzes the factors that facilitate or hinder the probability and level of adoption of technologies, and intensity of technology adoption. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and econometric model namely, multivariate probit model, ordered probit model, and Tobit model. The model results showed that both the probability and the level of adoption of agricultural technologies are significantly affected by education level, household size, extension contacts, access to credit, farmers’ confidence, farmers’ membership in cooperative, farmers’ perception on economic return, farmers’ perception on participation in extension service provision, and the average distance to output market and extension office. The estimated result of Tobit model also indicated that education level, household size, extension contacts, access to credit, farmers’ membership, and farmers’ perception on economic return significantly influence the adoption and intensity of use of improved technologies. Therefore, it is crucial to engage all actors in the R&D at the various levels and promote the multiple combinations of agricultural technologies through devising possible interventions for those factors that impede the uptake of the technologies.