Perception and Adoption of Government Agricultural Technologies among Smallholder Farmers in Western Uganda

Abstract

Agriculture production and productivity remain key to feeding the growing population with agriculture extension being at the centre of the performance of the agricultural sector in Uganda. Research shows that improved technologies promoted through extension service provision could have an even greater impact on food production and on farmers’ livelihoods in developing countries like Uganda. This study was conducted to investigate the perception and adoption of improved agriculture technologies under the government extension system among smallholder farmers in Kagadi District, mid-western Uganda. Data was collected using a questionnaire from 149 randomly selected households in three sub-counties. Results generated using Excel and SPSS revealed a high positive perception index of +0.63 for government extension services. The level of adoption of improved technology based on generalised partial adoption was 54.3% with farm size and training attendance being the significant factors affecting adoption of improved agricultural technologies in the study area. It is clear from the results that notable differences exist in terms of the perceptions of government extension services and the adoption of improved agricultural technologies. The general observation of farmers’ perception is that government extension service is helpful to farmers and is the major source of agricultural information in the area. Efforts should be made to support access to arable land and intensification of agricultural training sessions coupled with appropriate mobilisation of farmers to attend such training. Further studies should be done to understand these aspects on a wider scope in the country since this study was only conducted in one district. There is also needed to study the factors individually as well as the relationships with other factors to determine the adoption processes of technological advancement