Determinants of the Speed of Adoption of Soil Fertility-Enhancing Technologies in Western Kenya

Most adoption studies have employed cross-sectional data in a static discrete choice modelling framework to analyze why some farmers adopt at a certain point in time. The static approach does not consider the dynamic environment in which the adoption decision is made and thus does not incorporate the speed of adoption and the effect of time-dependent elements in explaining adoption. The adoption speed of an innovation is important in various aspects. Based on data from a survey of a random sample of 331 smallholder households in western Kenya, this study investigated determinants of time to adoption of mineral fertilizer, animal manure and compost using Duration analysis. Results revealed that factors that influenced timing of the adoption varied by the practices. Whilst education level of the household head, cattle ownership, location of the farm, access to extension services, and participation in land management programmes accelerated the adoption of different practices, age of household head, relative farming experience and market liberalization retarded the adoption. Gender of household head gave mixed results. To speed up adoption of the practices requires policies that promote farmers’ participation in land management programs, access to extension services and markets in addition to stratified targeting of different practices to specific locations and farmers.