Uptake of conservation agriculture technology through farmer field schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique

Abstract

The study assessed the levels of usage of conservation agriculture technology in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angonia, Mozambique. A structured questionnaire was randomly administered to 192 farmers in each study site to collect data through a multistage sampling process. The study employed descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression to examine possible relationships among the study parameters. The results showed that land size used for conservation agriculture was a significant predictor in both study sites. Farmers’ intention to adopt depended on the services of vulgarisation of conservation agriculture technology. The results further showed that Kisangani farmers do not use the three-conservation agriculture technology at the same time, but they use crop rotation (54%). However, farmers use the three technologies (30%) simultaneously and soil cover (38%) in Angonia. The results suggest that efforts to promote adoption in Kisangani should be based on equal provision of extension services in all locations, and that the current farmer field schools (FFS) approach should be redesigned for contextualisation. For both study sites, the results imply that the use of FFS should be adapted to the use of farmer-to-farmer extension services, which can improve the upscaling of conservation agriculture to increase food security in a sustainable manner.

Factors influencing Adoption of Irrigation Technologies among Smallholder Farmers in Machakos County, Kenya

“…It's probable that, the expanding use of irrigation technology is linked to the need for larger farms to install multiple irrigation systems for increased crop yields. Our findings corroborates the study by Ali, Awuni, and Danso-Abbeam (2018); Marie, Yirga, Haile, and Tquabo (2020); Shang, Heckelei, Gerullis, Borner, and Rasch (2021); Cipriano, Onautsu, Tarassoum, Adejumobi, and Bolakonga (2022), that farm size was a significant positive factor in the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies.…”

Gender differences in climate-smart adaptation practices amongst bean-producing farmers in Malawi: The case of Linthipe Extension Planning Area

“…Secured access to land also enables farmers to invest in implementing new practices to enhance production. Farmers are generally willing to invest in irrigation and implement conservation agriculture when they have land and are guaranteed to earn from their investment, unlike when their access to land is controlled or when they are constantly exposed to the risk of losing their investment when that access is limited or altogether denied (Cipriano et al, 2022;Lee and Gambiza, 2022). Besides increasing food production, conversation agriculture and irrigation also help restore ecological balance.…”

“…Lack of food availability adds to an already existing undernourishment and poverty problem. Climate change can potentially worsen the livelihoods of the most vulnerable smallholder farmers, notably women, if not addressed on time (Assan et al, 2018;Cipriano et al, 2022).…”