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Adoption and diffusion of conservation agriculture technology in Zambia: the role of social and institutional networks

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Abstract

This study utilizes recall data from smallholder farmers in selected provinces in Zambia to examine the role of social and institutional networks, as well as other farm and household factors in the adoption and diffusion of conservation agriculture (CA) technology. We employed a dynamic discrete-time hazard model to capture the time path to adoption. The empirical results show that conditional on several potentially confounding factors, conservation agriculture technology adoption and diffusion are positively and significantly influenced by farmers’ access to information from social networks and institutional networks like extension services. Adoption decisions are also found to be significantly influenced by age, education, market distance, as well as location fixed effects.

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Notes

  1. Conventional farming refers to the seasonal perpetual and intensive tilling of farmland (by hoe, disc or plough), mono cropping and slash-and-burn of crop residue.

  2. Zambia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Namibia and Swaziland.

  3. This study is part of the PhD thesis by Abdulai (2016) submitted to the Institute of Food Economics and Consumption Studies, University of Kiel, Germany.

  4. There was no disadoption among the farmers in our sample.

  5. Agricultural camp in Zambia is a management unit of agricultural camp officer comprising a catchment area of up to eight different zones of different villages.

  6. Adopters and non-adopters are considered as uncensored and censored observations, respectively.

  7. Left truncation occurs when a subject enters (comes at risk) late. Spell duration for such a subject is adjusted to start from the date of observation (Cleves et al. 2004).

  8. We thank the reviewer for this suggestion.

  9. Social network refers to members of a social structure and the links among them through which information as well as goods and services flow.

  10. Homophily measures the extend to which individuals who interact are similar in terms of certain characteristics, such as education, beliefs, social status, and the like (Rogers 2003).

  11. We tested this against the logistic specification using Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC) to ascertain the appropriate model and the complementary log-logistic model was confirmed to be appropriate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Frannan International/Global Affairs Canada, Labone, 36 Church Crescent, Accra, Ghana

    Abdul Nafeo Abdulai

  2. Department of Agricultural Management and Policy, University for Development Studies, Nyankpala campus, P. O. Box, 1882, Tamale, Ghana

    Awal Abdul-Rahaman

  3. Department of Food Security and Climate Change, University for Development Studies, Nyankpala campus, P. O. Box, 1882, Tamale, Ghana

    Gazali Issahaku

Authors
  1. Abdul Nafeo Abdulai
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  2. Awal Abdul-Rahaman
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  3. Gazali Issahaku
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Correspondence to Awal Abdul-Rahaman.

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The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent any official Frannan International/Global Affairs Canada or Canadian Government determination or policy. This research was conducted largely prior to Dr. Abdul Nafeo Abdulai’s employment with Frannan International/Global Affairs Canada. All errors and omissions are the responsibility of the authors.

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Abdulai, A.N., Abdul-Rahaman, A. & Issahaku, G. Adoption and diffusion of conservation agriculture technology in Zambia: the role of social and institutional networks. Environ Econ Policy Stud 23, 761–780 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10018-020-00298-z

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