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Despite the efforts to enhance adoption of innovative technologies (IT) by the Tunisian Government through national and/or international development projects, the potential rate of adoption of these technologies has remained low among farmers. This study aims at shedding some light on the potential factors that influence IT adoption in the Tunisian arid areas. Technological, economic, institutional factors and human specific factors (social) are selected to be the determinants of agricultural technology adoption. A quantitative approach employing a cross-sectional design was used to gather data. Stratified random sampling was employed and a total of 200 small-scale farmers (100 adopters and 100 non-adopters) were sampled. Data analysis and assessment was done through descriptive and statistical inferential analysis, and econometric modeling using the binary logistic regression model. Empirical findings show that economic and socio-demographic factors such as farmer education, size of cattle flocks and off-farm income were statistically significant and had positive influence on technology adoption while age and farmer experience had significant and negative effects on IT adoption. The findings confirm the important role of institutional factors (being a member of an association, benefiting from extension services and source of technology knowledge) in the adoption decision of IT, particularly when such variables were found to be significant and positives. In contrast, labor and credit services do not significantly influence adoption of IT. Based on these results, Government should focus on educating young farmers with large cattle flock size and off-farm income to enhance the adoption of IT for livestock holders. It should also intensify training programs for farmers and for extension agents with the collaboration of the project managers and the involvement of the profession and the private sector. Finally, the open innovation strategy including all stakeholders during idea generation could be considered as a better way to decrease technology development costs and improve IT adoption.

The objective of this research study was to assess the sources of information on two improved agricultural and livestock technologies (barley variety and feed blocks) as well as the efficacy of numerous agricultural technology diffusion means introduced in the livestock–barley system in semi-arid Tunisia. The research used primary data collected from 671 smallholder farmers. A descriptive statistical analysis was conducted, and Kendall’s W-test and the chi-squared distribution test were deployed to categorize and evaluate the efficacy of the different methods of technology diffusion used by the Tunisian extension system. To address farmers’ perceived opinions and classify the changes from the use of the improved technologies, a qualitative approach based on the Stapel scale was used. Farmer training, demonstration, and farmer-to-farmer interactions were perceived as the most effective agricultural extension methods. The access to technology, know-how, adoption cost of that technology, and labor intensity for adoption influenced its adoption level. Farmers’ opinions about the changes resulting from the adoption of both technologies revealed that yield and resistance to drought were the most important impacts of the two technologies. The study recommends empowering the national extension system through both conventional and non-conventional technologies (ICT, video, mobile phones, etc.), given the cost-effectiveness and their impact on the farmers’ adoption decisions.

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This paper investigates farm level technical efficiency of production and its determinants in a sample of 178 olive producing farms in Tunisia using a stochastic frontier production function approach applied to cross-section data. Results indicate that technical efficiency of production in the sample of olive producing farms investigated ranges from a minimum of 58.5 per cent to a maximum of 95.5 per cent with an average technical efficiency estimate of 82 per cent. This suggests that olive producers may increase their production by as much as 18 per cent through more efficient use of production inputs. Further, the estimated coefficients in the technical inefficiency model indicate the positive effect on technical efficiency of the share of productive trees, the share of skilled labour and agricultural training. However, a negative relationship between technical efficiency and fruit trees is found.Re´sume´: Ce travail examine l'efficacite´technique de production et ses de´terminants au niveau d'un e´chantillon de 178 exploitations ole´icoles dans la re´gion de Sfax (Tunisie) en utilisant un mode`le d'estimation simultane´e de la frontie`re stochastique de production et des effets de l'inefficacite´technique. Les re´sultats empiriques montrent que l'efficacitet echnique moyenne des exploitations ole´icoles dans la re´gion de l'e´tude est de 82%. Elle varie entre un minimum de 58.5% et un maximum de 95.5%. Ceci sugge`re qu'une utilisation plus efficace des facteurs de production permettrait une augmentation de la production d'olives de l'ordre de 18%. Par ailleurs, l'examen des de´terminants de l'efficacitet echnique de production re´ve`le que cette dernie`re est positivement affecte´e par la proportion de plantations productives, la proportion de la main d'oeuvre qualifie´e et la formation agricole. Cependant, elle est ne´gativement associe´e avec la pratique de l'amandier en intercalaire.