Assessment of adoption potential for smallholder conservation agriculture in Pandamatenga vertisols of northern Botswana

Abstract

The adoption of conservation agriculture among small-scale farmers is still low despite the proven economic and environmental benefits of the technology. This study was conducted at Pandamatenga of Chobe District in northern Botswana. The main aim of the study was to determine the factors that influence the adoption of Conservation Agriculture (CA) in the study area. A structured questionnaire was used for the collection of the socio- economic and demographic characteristics of the sampled smallholder rainfed farmers. The socio - economic characteristics of the smallholder rainfed farmers included land holding size (ha), labour availability, livestock possession, education level, and farming experience. Demographic characteristics considered in the study included smallholder rainfed farmers’ age, marital status, gender, and average number of family members in the household. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and the logistic regression model. The results have shown that gender and farm size had a significant influence on smallholder rainfed farmers’ decision to adopt CA technologies in Pandamatenga. Smallholder rainfed farmers had a positive perception and a high level of acceptance of CA technologies that were tried in their area.