Abstract
Soil nutrient deficiency has hampered increased agricultural production in the savannas of northern Nigeria. It has been observed that inorganic fertilizer (IF) has the potential to reverse the situation. However, low adoption among the farmers has characterized IF in the savannas of northern Nigeria. The application rates have also fallen far lower than the rate recommended by research and extension, resulting in low crop yields. This paper investigates the factors that influence farmers' decision to adopt or not to adopt IF and to evaluate the elasticity of adoption. This information will help to prioritize the factors that affect IF adoption decisions and suggest pathways for effective promotion of IF. About 49% of the survey farmers adopted IF and the application rate ranges from 5.6 to 64.4 kg ha–1 (with a mean of 24.1 kg ha–1). The probability of adoption increases with increased targeting of: farmers from the Guinea savanna agroecological zone, younger farmers, better educated farmers, food secure farmers and net sellers of food grains, farmers who have diversified into many crops, farmers who perceive increase in the fertilizer needs of their crops, and farmers who apply large quantities of organic manure. Among others, the estimates of elasticity of adoption indicate that a 1% increase in the number of farmers who perceive an increase in the fertilizer needs of their crops results in 3.23% increase in the probability of IF adoption. The paper concludes with policy implications for strategies aimed at promoting IF in the savannas of Nigeria and similar ecologies elsewhere.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adesina A.A. 1996. Factors affecting the adoption of fertilizers by rice farmers in Cote d'Ivoire. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst. 46: 29–39.
Adesina A.A., Mbila D., Nkamleu G.B. and Endamana D. 2000. Econometric analysis of the determinants of adoption of alley farming by farmers in the forest zone of southwest Cameroon. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 80: 255–265.
Adesina A.A. and Chianu J. 2002. Determinants of farmers' adop-tion and adaptation of alley farming technology in Nigeria. Agrofor. Syst. 55: 99–112.
Ahmed M.A., Paul V.P. and Ehui S. 2002. Credit policy and inten-sification in mixed, crop-livestock systems: A modeling perspec-tive. Paper presented at the Regional Conference on Policies for Sustainable Land Management in the Highlands of Ethiopia, April 24–26, 2002. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Bezuayehu T., Gezahegn A., Yigezu A., Jabbar M.A. and Paulos D. 2002. Nature and causes of land degradation in the Oromiya Region: A review. Socio-economics and Policy Research Work-ing Paper 36. ILRI International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya, 82 pp.
Diels J., Manyong V.M., Vanlauwe B., Sanginga N., Lyasse O., Aihou K. et al. 1999. Monitoring existing farm management and its results on nutrient balances and economic performance IITA Project 1: Short fallow systems to arrest resource degradation due to land-use intensification. Annual Report 1998. IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria, pp. 12–13.
Dvorak A.K. 1996. Adoption potential of alley cropping. Final project report. Resource and Crop Management Research Monograph, No. 23, International Institute of Tropical Agricul-ture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria.
Enyong L.A., Debrah S.K. and Bationo A. 1999. Farmers' percep-tions and attitudes towards introduced soil-fertility enhancing technologies in western Africa. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst. 53:177–187.
Ervin D.E. 1981. Soil erosion on owned and rented cropland: economic models and evidence. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association, Atlanta, GA, USA.
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) 1995. Fertilizer Yearbook, 1994/95. FAO, Rome, Italy.
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) 1996. Production Yearbook, 1995. Vol. 49. FAO, Rome, Italy.
Feder G., Just R.E. and Zilberman D. 1985. Adoption of agricul-tural innovations in developing countries: A survey. Econ. Dev. Cult. Change 33: 255–297.
Feder G. and Umali D.L. 1993. The adoption of agricultural inno-vations: A review. Technol. Forecasting Social Change 43: 215–239.
Freeman A.H. and Omiti J.M. 2003. Fertilizer use in semi-arid areas of Kenya: analysis of smallholder farmers' adoption behav-ior under liberalized markets. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst. 66: 23–31.
Greene W.H. 2000. Econometric Analysis. Fourth and International Edition. New York University, Prentice Hall International, Inc., New York, USA.
Henao J. and Baanante C.A. 1999. Estimating rates of nutrient depletion in soils of agricultural lands of Africa. International Fertilizer Developing Center, Muscle Shoals, AL, USA.
Kwanashie M., Garba A.G. and Ajilima I. 1997. Policy modeling in agriculture: Testing the response of agriculture to adjustment policies in Nigeria. AERC Research Paper 57. African Economic Consortium, Nairobi, Kenya.
Manyong V.M., Makinde K.O., Sanginga N., Vanlauwe B. and Diels J. 2001. Fertilizer use and definition of farmer domains for impact-oriented research in the northern Guinea savanna of Ni-geria. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst. 592: 129–141.
Mwangi W.W. 1997. Low use of fertilizers and low productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst. 47: 135–147.
Palm C.A., Myers R.J.K. and Nandwa S.M. 1997. Combined use of organic and inorganic nutrient sources for soil fertility main-tenance and replenishment. In: Buresh R.J. et al. (eds), Replen-ishing Soil Fertility in Africa. SSSA and ASA, Madison, WI, USA, pp. 193–217.
Ramji P.N., Sharma K.R. and Thapa G.B. 2002. Adoption of agro-forestry in the hills of Nepal: a logistic regression analysis. Ag-ricult. Syst. 723: 177–196.
Rosenzweig M.R. 1978. Schooling, allocative ability, and the green revolution. Paper presented at the meeting of the Eastern Eco-nomic Association, Washington, DC, USA.
Ruttan V. 1977. The green revolution: seven generalizations. Int. Dev. Rev. 19: 16–23.
Sanders J.H. and Ahmed M. 2001. Developing a fertilizer strategy for sub-Saharan Africa Sustainability of Agricultural Systems in Transition. ASA Special Publication no. 64. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, Madison, WI, USA, pp. 173–181.
SAS (Statistical Analysis System) 1999. The SAS system for Win-dows version 8. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA.
Singh U., Diels J., Henao J. and Breman H. 2001. Decision sup-port systems for improving the application of integrated nutrient management technologies. In: Tian et al. (eds), Sustaining Soil Fertility in West Africa. SSSA Special Publication no. 58. Soil Science Society of America and American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, USA, pp. 305–321.
Smith J., Barau A.D., Goldman A. and Mareck J.H. 1994. The role of technology in agricultural intensification: The evolution of maize production in the northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria. Econ. Dev. Cult. Change 42: 537–554.
Versteeg M.N. and Koudokpon V. 1993. Participatory farmer test-ing of four low external input technologies to address soil fer-tility decline in Mono province (Benin). Agricult. Syst. 42: 265–276.
Vlek P.L.G. 1990. The role of fertilizers in sustaining agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Fert. Res. 26: 327–339.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chianu, J., Tsujii, H. Determinants of farmers' decision to adopt or not adopt inorganic fertilizer in the savannas of northern Nigeria. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 70, 293–301 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-004-0715-z
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-004-0715-z