Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Farmer Perceptions and Knowledge During Early Stages of Practicing Mbili-Mbili and Doubled-Up Legume Technologies in Babati, Tanzania PDF Download

Author: Michael Kinyua
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Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Sustainable intensification (SI) of smallholder farms is a major pathway towards attaining food security in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the rate at which farmers acquire knowledge impacts the adoption and scaling of newly introduced SI technologies. Understanding the underlying factors that influence farmer knowledge and their perceptions of newly introduced SI technologies can ensure more climate resilient agronomic innovations are adopted by smallholder farmers. During this study, farmer knowledge, and perceptions of two intercropping innovations: Mbili-Mbili and Doubled-up legume were examined. A group of 150 farmers were selected, trained, and engaged in participatory implementation of Mbili-Mbili and Doubled-up legumes in three researching villages of Babati District of Tanzania. Three years after exposure, a Likert scale rating score was conducted to examine famers' knowledge on Mbili-Mbili and Doubled-up legume technologies and associated perceptions. Multivariate analysis revealed four independent factors, i.e., technical, functional, application, and soil fertility, with a positive association explaining 71% of the variation in farmer knowledge on Mbili-Mbili and 76.5% for Doubled-up legume. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) showed farmers were more knowledgeable on functional and application knowledge themes i.e., use of certified seeds, timely planting, control of pest and diseases and proper spacing than technical aspects involving design of Mbili-Mbili and Doubled-up legume, use of inorganic fertilizers and manure and enactment of soil and water conservation structures. General linear regression models further revealed that age, gender, household size, the distance of plot from the homestead, type of farmer engagement, and years of farming experience were the most significant socio-demographical drivers of farmer knowledge. Farmer knowledge structures were disaggregated to inform on knowledge components with positive associations. The diversity and associations observed during acquisition of agronomic knowledge by farmers during this study can guide rolling out of innovations and development of resources such as practical field guides for smallholder farmers.