Conservation Agriculture Adoption Among Maize and Beans Farmers in Maseru, Lesotho: A Look at the Adoption Gradients
Abstract
Despite the widespread promotion and investment in Conservation Agriculture (CA) by development partners and governments in Southern Africa, the biggest challenge is low adoption rates. This study looks at the CA adoption among maize and beans farmers in Lesotho. The study seeks to enhance the appreciation of factors driving CA adoption. They utilized a multi-stage sampling approach to select the study respondents. The study used purposive sampling to select districts and prominent CA farmers. Simple random sampling was the preferred method to select ordinary CA farmers and conventional farmers to include in the research. The study utilized a structured questionnaire to collect data from 136 households, 37 were CA adopters and 99 were non-CA adopters. The study applied the multinomial logistic regression model to analyze the factors influencing the adoption of CA in Maseru. The study findings show that age, gender, income, training, and field size influence farmers' decision to adopt CA at various adoption gradients while farming experience, land ownership, farmer group membership, access to extension services, soil fertility perceptions, education literacy, occupation, and household size do not influence the adoption of CA. The study concludes that age, gender, income, training, and field size influence farmers' decision to adopt CA at various adoption gradients. The study recommends the capacitation of extension services to improve their competencies as they should be at the center of the promotion of the adoption of sustainable farming practices. Targeted interventions for female farmers are important since the study results showed males have more chances of adopting CA compared to female counterparts.
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