Adoption of dairy technologies in smallholder dairy farms in Ethiopia

Abstract

The adoption of modern agricultural technologies in Ethiopia’s dairy production system remains underutilized and under-researched yet it is a promising sector to aid in reducing poverty, improving the food security situation and the welfare of rural households, and in ensuring environmental sustainability. This paper uses the Negative Binomial regression model to examine determinants of multiple agricultural technology adoption in the Addis Ababa and Oromia regions of Ethiopia. Data was collected from 159 smallholder dairy farms in Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa and Oromia regions exploring 19 technologies used by the farmers during the study period. The findings show that farm location and herd size impact adoption decisions. Increasing herd size is associated with increased uptake of multiple technologies. Further, as farmer education level increases the more likely farmers are to adopt multiple technologies. The increase in the number of female workers is positively associated with the adoption of multiple dairy technologies. In terms of farmers’/workers’ years of experience, those with no years of work experience are less likely to have adopted multiple technologies than those with more than 5 years of experience. However, this could be due to a number of factors where experience stands as a proxy value. Trust in information from government agencies was associated with a higher propensity to adopt multiple dairy technology as was farmer perception of fellow farmers as peers compared to those who perceive them as competitors. This is an important finding as it may help policymakers or institutions explore knowledge exchange and diffusion of innovation strategies tailored to specific farming and community situations. Studies have shown that farmers within a social group learn from each other more fully about the benefits and usage of new technology. These findings are of value in future technology adoption studies, particularly which factors influence the intensity of adoption of multiple technologies by smallscale producers.