Abstract:
Climate change manifestations and population pressure are some of the most
critical challenges that affect agricultural productivity. Integrated soil fertility
management (ISFM) technologies are among the agricultural innovations that
have been developed to address declining crop productivity. These technologies
have been promoted across diverse areas including marginal agro- ecological
zones. Despite the nobility and versatility of ISFM technologies, their adoption
is still low particularly across Kenya landscapes. Consequently, there is limited
knowledge explaining the adoption of these technologies especially in the dry
areas. This study therefore, applied Cragg's Double Hurdle model to determine
the factors affecting adoption and adoption intensity of ISFM technologies among
farmers in Upper Eastern Kenya, who mainly grow sorghum both as a food and a
cash crop. The results revealed that gender, dependants, farming goal for subsistence purpose
(p
<
.01), decision on information use, farm size, extension services,
research
awareness,
ISFM
awareness
and
ISFM
access,
significantly
affected
household decision on adoption of ISFM technologies. On the other hand, gender
of household head, farm size, main source of agricultural information and
formal agricultural training had significant
influence on adoption intensity of ISFM
technologies. There is a thus a crucial need for integration of determinants
surrounding
adoption and
adoption
intensity
of ISFM
technologies in
policy making
and
planning
processes
to
enhance
sorghum
crop
productivity
in
marginal
Upper
Eastern areas of the
country.
