Determinants of modern agricultural technology adoption: Evidence from Western Ethiopia

Abstract

This study explores the factors influencing agricultural technology adoption among settlers and native farmers in selected districts of Benishangul Gumuz regional state, Ethiopia. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to gather data from 380 randomly chosen participants. The major data collection methods involved interview schedule, focus group discussion, key informant interview, and field observations. The analysis combined both descriptive and econometric models. Finding reveals that about 1.6% of sampled respondents were high-level adopters, while 77.9% were low-level adopters, and only 20.5% fell into the moderate adoption category. The econometric analysis identified key determinants of technology adoption including farmers’ education, livestock ownership, extension contact, farm income, settlement nature, training exposure, credit availability, and irrigation access. Notably, farmers’ nature of settlement (whether native or settler) had a statistically significant impact on adoption rate. The result suggests that previous efforts to enhance agricultural productivity have fallen short of expectation, with adoption level remaining low in the study area. To improve the outcomes, the study recommends a participatory, bottom-up extension approach incorporating demonstration-based training, tailored to socio-cultural context of both native and settler farmers.