TY  - JOUR
AV  - public
A1  - Mavunganidze, Z
A1  - Madakadze, J C
A1  - Mutenje, M J
A1  - Nyamangara, J
TI  - Factors affecting the choice of conservation agriculture practices adopted by smallholder cotton farmers in Zimbabwe
UR  - http://www.academicjournals.org/journal/AJAR/article-abstract/9557ACF35842
JF  - African Journal of Agricultural Research
SN  - 1991-637X
PB  - Academic Publishers
N1  - This study was funded by the National Research
Foundation (NRF) of South Africa and International
Foundation of Science (IFS), Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through Union
Project in Zimbabwe
N2  - Conservation agriculture (CA) has been widely promoted in Zimbabwe as an antidote to non-viable agricultural production and continual land degradation. However, the adoption process had been quite slow and has not yet entered into the exponential uptake phase. This study aimed at identifying factors that influence the level of adoption of CA components. A cluster analysis from results of a household survey administered to 146 households in Muzvezve II, Kadoma District, Zimbabwe identified five dominant CA strategies (clusters) practiced by cotton growing farmers. A multinomial logit model revealed that the choice of CA components adopted is positively influenced by farmer?s age, formal education, access to extension services, labour, animal draught power availability and land size. The empirical results suggests that, to promote adoption of a complete package of CA policies that increase access to formal education and extension of CA should make strategic intervention through innovative methods of farmer to farmer extension services. Promotion of longer-term and effective CA can only be accomplished through targeting young educated farmers. It is of paramount importance as well to address the main factors leading to non-adoption and slow adoption such as labour and animal draught power availability.
KW  - Cluster analysis
KW  -  household survey
KW  -  non adoption
KW  -  strategic intervention
KW  -  multinomial logit.
Y1  - 2013///
SP  - 1641
ID  - icrisat7322
EP  - 1649
VL  - 8
IS  - 17
ER  -