TY - JOUR A1 - Jha, Srijna A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Sieber, Stefan T1 - Factors Influencing the Adoption of Water Conservation Technologies by Smallholder Farmer Households in Tanzania JF - Water N2 - In Tanzania, the increasing population coupled with climate change amplifies issues of food insecurity and negatively impacts the livelihoods of smallholder farmer households. To address these issues a range of water conservation techniques (WCTs) have been useful. However, the adoption of these WCTs in Tanzania has been limited due to many reasons. With the objective to better understand and identify the factors that significantly influence the adoption of WCTs in Tanzania, the study uses survey data from 701 smallholder farmer households and a bivariate logistic regression, to provide, for the first time, a comprehensive model for the adoption of WCTs in Tanzania that includes a range of individual, household, socio-economic, and farmer perception related variables (factors). The evaluation shows that 120 farmers (17.12%) adopted WCTs and finds the farmer perceptions of rainfall instability, household wealth, and food security to be crucial. The results suggest that policy interventions should encourage conservation behavior (especially when the rainfall is perceived to be uncertain), emphasize the economic and food security-related benefits of adopting WCTs, include strategies that make adoption of WCTs attractive to female-led households, attempt to reach greater number of farmers via social networks and provide better access to public funds for farmers. KW - decision-making KW - logit regression KW - farmer perceptions KW - social networks KW - public funds KW - water conservation adoption Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3320 SN - 2073-4441 VL - 11 IS - 12 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mahmood, Nasir A1 - Arshad, Muhammad A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Shahzad, Muhammad Faisal A1 - Ullah, Ayat A1 - Mueller, Klaus T1 - Fatalism, Climate Resiliency Training and Farmers’ Adaptation Responses: Implications for Sustainable Rainfed-Wheat Production in Pakistan JF - Sustainability N2 - Climate change is a severe threat to the agricultural sector in general and to rainfed farming in particular. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors that can potentially affect the adaptation process against climate change. This study focused on wheat farmers and farming systems in the rainfed agroecological zone of Pakistan. Farmers’ data related to climate change fatalism, the availability of climate-specific extension services, socioeconomic and institutional variables, and farm characteristics were collected. A logit model to assess farmers’ decisions to adopt an adaptation measure and a multinomial logit model to assess their choice of various adaptation measures were used. The results showed that fatalistic farmers were unlikely to implement climate change adaptation measures. The variables related to the climate-specific extension services, including farmers’ participation in training on climate-resilient crop farming and the availability of mobile communication-based advisory services, had highly significant and positive impacts on farmers’ decisions and their choice of adaptation measures. Input market access and tractor ownership also had positive and significant impacts on farmers’ decisions to adapt and their choice of adaptation measures. This study highlights the need to improve rainfed-wheat farmers’ education levels to change their fatalistic attitudes towards climate change. Furthermore, government action is needed to provide climate-specific extension services to ensure sustainable production levels that will ultimately lead to food and livelihood security under a changing climate. KW - fatalism KW - climate-specific extension service KW - climate-resilient farming KW - rainfed farming KW - adaptation Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3338 SN - 2071-1050 VL - 12 IS - 4 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jha, Srijna A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Lana, Marcos A1 - Amjath-Babu, T.S A1 - Sieber, Stefan T1 - Exploring Farmers’ Perceptions of Agricultural Technologies: A Case Study from Tanzania JF - Sustainability N2 - The low agricultural productivity of key crops and food insecurity continue to be key issues in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Tanzania. The growing population, depleting resources, and changing climate further amplify these issues. Globally, many agricultural technologies (AgTs) are available as pathways for improved agricultural productivity and food security, however, they have had relatively little success in SSA and Tanzania. This is because the uptake of AgTs is a complex process, which is highly localized, involving multiple actors, stages, and spatial and time dimensions. Smallholder farmers often experience issues of sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up throughout the uptake process of AgTs, all of which vary by region. This indicates a need for a systematic and simultaneous understanding of sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up of AgTs to better guide agricultural strategy and policy interventions in SSA and Tanzania. Moreover, in order to understand the local settings better, a consideration of the perceptions of the farmers themselves, who are the primary actors in the uptake process of AgTs, is key. Acknowledging this, the study takes on a case study approach, using the scaling-up assessment (ScalA) method and three focus group discussions with a total of 44 smallholder farmers to systematically and simultaneously assess the sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up of three AgTs (use of fertilizers, improved seeds, and small-scale irrigation) in Tanzania. The study finds that the farmers perceive all three AgTs to be sustainable for the study region. Adoption rates are perceived to be medium for use of fertilizers, high for improved seeds, and low for small-scale irrigation. The most significant constraints for adoption experienced by the farmers are lack of technical physical inputs, marketing facilities, and know-how. Scaling-up is perceived to be well fulfilled for use of fertilizers and improved seeds, but only partially fulfilled for small-scale irrigation, which is the most limited of the three AgTs. The most significant constraints for scaling-up experienced by farmers are a lack of confidence in the added value of the AgTs beyond project activities, marketing facilities, and technical physical inputs. The overall success potential is high for the use of fertilizers and improved seeds, and the average for small-scale irrigation. The farmers’ perceptions partially indicate why the bundle of AgTs is lacking in the study region and provide a basis for discussing targeted agricultural and policy interventions in Tanzania. KW - sustainability KW - adoption KW - scaling-up KW - agricultural technologies KW - farmer perceptions KW - agricultural productivity KW - food security KW - Tanzania Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3340 SN - 2071-1050 VL - 13 IS - 3 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ullah, Ayat A1 - Saqib, Shahab E. A1 - Kächele, Harald T1 - Determinants of Farmers’ Awareness and Adoption of Extension Recommended Wheat Varieties in the Rainfed Areas of Pakistan JF - Sustainability N2 - Scientific evidence suggests that there is room for eradicating poverty and hunger by increasing food production through the adoption of modern agricultural practices by farmers. This study aimed, first, to explore the relationship between the farmers’ awareness and adoption of improved wheat varieties. Second, it aimed to find the key factors that govern the farmers’ awareness and adoption of extension-recommended innovations in the rainfed cropping system of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Data were collected from 395 respondents. A binary logit model was used to analyze the effect of the farmers’ socioeconomic and farm-specific characteristics on their awareness and adoption of the extension-suggested wheat varieties. Moreover, qualitative data from 40 key informants were collected for in-depth analysis. The results show a strong association between the farmers’ awareness of a technology (improved wheat varieties) and its adoption. The results of the logit model show that their extension contacts, income from agriculture, and access to credit positively affected the farmers’ awareness, whereas their education and household sizes negatively affected their awareness. Moreover, the factors that positively influenced the farmers’ decision to adopt the technology included the extension contact, the confidence in the extension, the risk-bearing attitude, and the credit access, whereas the household size and education negatively affected it. The results of the key informant interviews reveal that the high incidence of poverty, the low soil fertility, the farmers’ inability to make effective decisions, the lack of accurate weather predictability in the rainfed farming system, the lack of government interest, and the asymmetric information in the inputs markets contributed to the farmers’ low levels of awareness and to their poor adoption of improved agricultural technologies. These results indicate that any intervention aimed at the awareness and adoption by farmers of improved technologies, such as new wheat varieties, should recognize the heterogeneity in the farmers’ socioeconomic and farm-specific characteristics. KW - farmers’ awareness KW - technology adoption KW - improved wheat varieties KW - socioeconomic and farm-specific characteristics Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3496 SN - 2071-1050 VL - 14 IS - 6 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Biland, Mazhar A1 - Zeb, Alam A1 - Ullah, Ayat A1 - Kächele, Harald T1 - Why Do Households Depend on the Forest for Income? Analysis of Factors Influencing Households’ Decision-Making Behaviors JF - Sustainability N2 - Using survey information of 150 randomly selected households across 21 villages of the forest-rich district of Swat, Pakistan, this study assessed households’ decision-making behaviors in depending on income from nearby forested land using socio-economic attributes. The evidence from the study may aid in making the existing policies be better targeted toward families that depend on the forest for income. Descriptive statistics and econometric techniques such as logit and tobit were used to analyze the data. Respondent households obtained the highest share of their income from off-farm activities (37%) and least from forest activities (16%). Fuelwood constitutes the biggest share (66%) of forest income, followed by medical plants (20%) and fodder (13%). We found that households with more physical assets, more family members working in off-farm jobs, and households earning more income from off-farm jobs were significantly and negatively associated with households’ decision to depend on forest income and total income obtained. We also found that households with less distance to the market and membership to joint forest management committees (JFMCs) were significantly and negatively associated with households’ total income obtained. However, household size was significantly and positively related to households’ decision of forest dependency. The study recommends the creation of off-farm opportunities and inclusion of local people in the management of forests through establishment of JFMCs, particularly for large and poor families. KW - decision-making behavior KW - socio-economic attributes KW - forest income dependency KW - total income obtained Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3441 SN - 2071-1050 VL - 13 IS - 16 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ullah, Ayat A1 - Mahmood, Nasir A1 - Zeb, Alam A1 - Kächele, Harald T1 - Factors Determining Farmers’ Access to and Sources of Credit: Evidence from the Rain-Fed Zone of Pakistan JF - Agriculture N2 - This study investigates the factors that affect farmers’ access to agricultural credit and its role in adopting improved agricultural technologies in the rain-fed zone of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. Using logistic models, we assess and compare the relative role of farmers’ socioeconomic attributes in their access to credit and adoption strategies. The results indicate a moderate positive association between farmers’ access to agricultural credit and their adoption of improved agricultural technologies. The binary logit model’s results indicate that farmers with a large-sized farm, high farm income, better access to information, and large physical asset ownership showed a positive influence on credit access. However, farming experience showed a negative effect on farmers’ access to agricultural credit. Regarding farmers’ credit sources, this study found that asset-rich farmers with more farming experience and better access to information relied more on banks than on input providers and informal credit sources. Similarly, older farmers with more education, larger farm sizes and high farm income were more likely to have borrowed from input providers than banks. We conclude that the role of the effective provision of information on credit and agricultural technology is imperative and requires separate policies that are specifically aimed at different groups of farmers with different socioeconomic and farm-related characteristics. KW - agricultural credit KW - adoption of agricultural technologies KW - rain-fed zone KW - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa KW - socioeconomic attributes Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3419 SN - 2077-0472 VL - 10 IS - 12 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kandel, Giri Prasad A1 - Bavorova, Miroslava A1 - Ullah, Ayat A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Pradhan, Prajal T1 - Building resilience to climate change: Examining the impact of agro-ecological zones and social groups on sustainable development JF - Sustainable Development N2 - Nepal is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, which is negatively affecting agricultural production and food security. However, the role of agro-ecological zones and social groups in climate change adaptation (CCA) and its impact on smallholder farmers in Nepal remains unexplored. To fill this gap, this study aimed to identify the effect of agro-ecological zones and social groups on smallholder farmers' adaptation to climate change using the multivariate probit model. Multistage sampling was used to collect data from 400 households in three agro-ecological zones of Nepal. These zones were highland (mountainous region), midland (hilly region) and lowland (terai/plain region). The results of our study showed that farmers in the Mountain region are more likely to adopt off-farm activities and temporary migration as a CCA strategy than those in the Terai/plain agro-ecological zone. In the Terai/Plain, farmers mainly adopt small-scale irrigation and agroforestry. In terms of social groups, the Brahmin group was more likely to adopt new crop varieties and small-scale irrigation than the Sudra group. The Sudra farmers preferred temporary migration and off-farm activities more than the Brahmins. Our study shows that policies to promote the adoption of CCA strategies need to take into account location and social group differences in order to improve the adaptive capacity of the most vulnerable farmers. Mountain and Sudra farmers need support to adapt to climate change and sustain agriculture. KW - agro-ecological zones KW - climate change KW - multivariate probit model KW - social groups KW - sustainable development Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-8226 SN - 0968-0802 VL - 31 IS - 5 SP - 3796 EP - 3810 PB - Wiley ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Madaki, Mustapha Yakubu A1 - Lehberger, Mira A1 - Bavorova, Miroslava A1 - Igbasan, Boluwatife Teniola A1 - Kächele, Harald T1 - Effectiveness of pesticide stakeholders’ information on pesticide handling knowledge and behaviour of smallholder farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria JF - Environment, Development and Sustainability N2 - Although pesticides ensure the quality and quantity of agricultural produce, they have adverse effects on farmers, their families, and consumers. Therefore, in order to reduce the unpleasant effects of pesticide use, stakeholders would be well advised to extend guidance and precautions to end users. The objective of this study was to determine the pesticide handling behaviour and the effectiveness of pesticide information on pesticide handling knowledge and personal protective equipment (PPE) use among farmers in southwest Nigeria. One hundred and fifty-six farmers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire in December 2019 and January 2020. The results revealed that a one-third of the farmers dispose their pesticide residues on the field, only 3% of the farmers dispose the hazardous pesticide waste at a collection point, and 65% of them dispose the empty containers indiscriminately. The majority of farmers never use respirators (79%), hats (60%), and boots (57%) when applying pesticides. Knowledge of pesticide application and waste management is low (58% of respondents scored less than 10 on a knowledge scale of 0–14). The result of the regression model shows that information from pesticide labels and farmer-to-farmer exchanges significantly increase farmers’ knowledge of pesticide handling and PPE use. Our results suggest that the effectiveness of current information provision to smallholder farmers on the correct use of pesticides is not sufficient. Therefore, we highlight the need for pesticide companies, distributors, and government agencies to intensify and further develop their efforts to empower smallholder farmers to improve their knowledge and use of pesticides. KW - Pesticide handling; Personal protective equipment; Pesticide information sources; Pesticide labels Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-8213 PB - Springer Nature ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ullah, Ayat A1 - Zeb, Alam A1 - Saqib, Shahab E. A1 - Kächele, Harald T1 - Constraints to agroforestry diffusion under the Billion Trees Afforestation Project (BTAP), Pakistan: policy recommendations for 10-BTAP JF - Environmental Science and Pollution Research N2 - Effective agroforestry diffusion under the newly started 10-Billion Trees Afforestation Project (10-BTAP) needs a thorough understanding of the policy and implementation shortfalls of the already completed BTAP. This study examines the factors that affected the diffusion of the agroforestry in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan (HKH) region of Pakistan under BTAP. The data were gathered through in-depth interviews with Village Development Committee (VDC) members, Forest Department (FD) officials, and local farmers. Important factors positively affecting agroforestry diffusion included locations of crop fields on the river sides, community dependency on firewood, and market value of agroforestry timber. The logistic regression model shows that household head’s age, access to information, and area under cropland positively affected household level adoption of agroforestry under BTAP; forest cover was negatively related. In-depth interviews show that key barriers to FD in diffusion of agroforestry included provision of false information by farmers to monitoring teams, non-availability of extension staff, lack of communication among project staff and community, as well as a lack of sufficient budget for activities. Primary barriers to community adoption of agroforestry included no participation of VDCs in planning and monitoring of agroforestry programs, lack of plant need assessments on the part of the project staff, poor quality of plants distributed by FD, farmers’ poor know-how of plantations, lack of trust among community and project staff, as well as the waste of plants by farming community. Thus, this study recommends that policy-makers and project designers should consider these factors when planning agroforestry diffusion under 10-BTAP to improve its success. KW - Agroforestry diffusion; 10-Billion Trees Afforestation Project; Policy and extension; Hindu-Kush Himalayan; Village Development Committees; Planning and monitoring Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7419 IS - 29 SP - 68757 EP - 68775 PB - Springer Nature ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Susan Sam, Anu A1 - Abbas, Azhar A1 - Surendran Padmaja, Subash A1 - Raghavan Sathyan, Archana A1 - Vijayan, Dhanya A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Kumar, Ranjit A1 - Müller, Klaus T1 - Flood vulnerability and food security in eastern India: A threat to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals JF - International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction N2 - The food security situation in India has improved due to economic growth, increased agricultural productivity, public policies and hunger eradication programmes. Nevertheless, much of India's population still suffers from hunger and poverty. Floods obstruct agricultural production; destroy infrastructure; and disrupt livelihoods, normal services, health care, etc. In this way, floods ultimately affect households' food security. We examined household food security in flood-prone rural areas of India in a more extensive way than in previous studies by constructing an index that incorporates various factors of the food security dimensions. Factors determining the level of flood-prone households' food security were also analyzed. By polychoric principal component analysis, an aggregate food security index was constructed. The food security score was regressed on different explanatory variables to evaluate their effect on the overall food security situation in the study area. Our results showed that three-fourths of the respondent households faced food security issues to varying degrees. Family type, physical assets and employment scheme showed positive impacts on the level of food security of the respondents. In contrast, households with female household heads and those suffering losses of property due to floods were adversely affected in terms of negative impacts on overall food security. The results suggest the need for the adoption of integrated strategies to effectively address food security issues amidst the increased severity of flood events. The study findings are useful for policy makers in India and countries with similar backgrounds to tackle the food insecurity brought about by flood hazards. KW - Odisha KW - Availability KW - Access KW - Stability KW - Utilization KW - Vulnerability Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7383 SN - 2212-4209 VL - 66 IS - 66 PB - Elsevier ER -