Adoption of rainwater harvesting technologies by farmers in Tanzania with particular reference to the Western, Pare Lowlands

Abstract

Adoption of technology is an important factor in economic development. Successful introduction of technologies in the developing countries requires an understanding of the priorities and concerns of the smallholder farmers at the grassroots. This paper presents experiences of adoption studies in the Western Pare Lowlands, identifying the factors affecting adoption, constraints to adoption and methodological problems in studying adoption of RWH technologies. A survey approach was the main method used to collect the data from a sample of 86 farmers. The data collected were  analysed using descriptive statistics and estimation of empirical model to determine the factors affecting adoption of RWH technologies. The empirical model used was logit regression. Important factors affecting the adoption of RWH were identified as number of plots owned by farmers and the sex of the head of household. Constraints in the adoption of RWH technologies were noted including constraints facing those who are already using the RWH technologies. Problems facing the users include difficulties with water distribution. Two important recommendations are made: First because adoption of technologies by farmers takes time, there is a need for collecting a series of data (separated in time) about adoption rather than depending on single season static data. The models used in evaluating adoption should also consider the time element. Secondly, since the main constraints to adoption is lack of technical knowledge, it is  recommended that training of extension workers in RWH techniques and including RWH in the district extension package will reduce the problem of availability of technical knowledge to farmers.

Keywords: Adoption, probit, logit regression, technology characteristics, rainwater harvesting

Tanzania J. Agric. Sc. (1999) Vol. 2 No 2, 205- 218