Factors that influence agricultural technology adoption among commercial vegetable growers in Arusha District, Tanzania

Mary Daniel Minja; George Julius Babune

doi:10.51867/scimundi.5.2.3

Authors

Mary Daniel Minja
maryminja510@gmail.com
Tanzania Institute of Accountancy, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2737-9081
Dr. George Julius Babune Tanzania Institute of Accountancy, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6103-3779

Keywords:

Arusha, Adoption, Agricultural Technology, Vegetable Growers

Abstract

Vegetable farming is an alternative source of livelihood and an important agricultural practice for income generation and employment opportunities. Currently, agricultural technologies are promoted among commercial vegetable growers to improve their livelihood. However, in many cases, the commercial vegetable farmers’ adoption rate of modern technologies is low. There is limited understanding of the technology’s adoption and the determinants of insights. This paper aims to assess the factors affecting technology adoption among commercial vegetable growers in three wards of the Arusha District, Tanzania. It targeted vegetable growers in the study area. This study adopted a cross-sectional design and quantitative approach guided by the theory of diffusion of innovation. The multi-stage sampling method was used to select a sample of 150 households. Data were gathered by a questionnaire applied in a survey method. The study used descriptive statistics to analyse the factors affecting agricultural technology adoption in the study area. Findings indicated that the farmers’ education, household income, farm size, access to extension services, and access to credit influence the adoption. These factors are fundamentally enclosed within the vicious cycle of poverty that limits growers from adopting innovative and adaptive strategies of effective agricultural technologies in the study area. It was concluded that agricultural adoption among vegetable commercial growers is determined by education, household income, farm size, access to extension services, and credit facilities in the study area. Hence, there is a need for purposive interventions to address these factors among agricultural and business actors.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Dimensions

REFERENCES

Adams, F. H., Lemaire, M., & Prah, K. (2019). Factors affecting girls' completion of senior high schools in Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Area. Journal of Education and Practice, 10(6), 15-26. https://doi.org/10.1234/jepr.2019.10.6.15

Ahmed, H., & Anang, B. T. (2019). Does farmers' group membership enhance technology adoption? Empirical evidence from Tolon District of Ghana. Review of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 22(2), 26-32. https://doi.org/10.15414/raae.2019.22.02.26-32 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15414/raae.2019.22.02.26-32

Akello, M. C., & Mwesigwa, D. (2023). Household size and household food security in Ngetta Ward, Lira City, Northern Uganda. International Journal of Developing Country Studies, 5(1), 88-109.https://doi.org/10.47941/ijdcs.1479 DOI: https://doi.org/10.47941/ijdcs.1479

Antwi, D. K., Gyamera, E., & Abdulshakur, M. (2025). The adoption of agricultural technology in small-scale farming in the Adumasa community in Ghana. Journal of Educational Technology and Learning Creativity, 3(1), 47-57. https://doi.org/10.37251/jetlc.v3i1.1618 DOI: https://doi.org/10.37251/jetlc.v3i1.1618

Emerick, K., & Dar, M. H. (2021). Farmer field days and demonstrator selection for increasing technology adoption. Review of Economic and Statistics, 103(4), 680-693. https://doi.org/10.1162/re5900917 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00917

Jack, K., & Tobias, J. (2017). Seeding success: Increasing agricultural technology adoption through information. IGC Growth Brief Series, 12. https://doi.org/10.1086/703868 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/703868

Kaya, A., & Bostan Budak, D. (2021). The role and importance of vegetables in the global economy and Turkey. EJONS International Journal on Mathematics, Engineering and Natural Sciences, 17(1), 88-97. https://doi.org/10.38063/ejons.380

Kirui, E. C., Kidoido, M. M., Akutse, K. S., Wanyama, R., Boni, S. B., Dubois, T., & Mutyambai, D. M. (2025). Factors influencing the adoption of agroecological vegetable cropping systems by smallholder farmers in Tanzania. Sustainability, 17(3), 1148. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17031148 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su17031148

Lu, Y.-X., Wang, S.-T., Yao, G.-X., & Xu, J. (2023). Green total factor efficiency in vegetable production: A comprehensive ecological analysis of China's practices. Agriculture, 13(10), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13102021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13102021

Mariyono, J. (2017). Microcredit and technology adoption: Sustained pathways to improve farmers' prosperity in Indonesia. Agricultural Finance Review, 79(1), 85-106. https://doi.org/10.1108/AFR-05-2017-0033 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/AFR-05-2017-0033

Meiguran, M., & Basweti, E. (2017). Influence of farmer level of education on the practice of improved agricultural technologies: A case of Nyamusi Division, Kenya. International Journal of Recent Research in Interdisciplinary Sciences (IJRRIS), 3, 19-27. http://www.paperpublications.org

Mkuki, Z., Ombati, J. M., & Ngeno, J. K. (2025). Training programs for smallholder farmers at ward agricultural resource centers in Tanzania: Status and the remaining gaps. East African Journal of Agriculture and Biotechnology, 8(1), 211-227. https://doi.org/10.37284/eajab.8.1.2897 DOI: https://doi.org/10.37284/eajab.8.1.2897

Mtuguja, H., Kafuku, S. E., Becherescu, A., Sărățeanu, V., Balint, M., & Drăgunescu, A. (2023). Overview of vegetable farming in Tanzania. Journal of Horticulture, Forestry and Biotechnology, 27(1), 37-42. https://doi.org/10.5555/20230301428

Mtui, J. (2023). Agriculture-led industrialization for inclusive growth in Tanzania. UDSM Online Journal Testing, 13(1), 156-182. https://doi.org/10.56279/ter.v13i1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.56279/ter.v13i1.149

Neway, M. M., & Zegeye, M. B. (2022). Gender differences in the adoption of agricultural technology in North Shewa Zone, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia. Cogent Social Sciences, 8(1), 2069209. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2022.2069209 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2022.2069209

Norton, G. W., & Alwang, J. (2020). Changes in agricultural extension and implications for farmer adoption of new practices. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 42(1), 8-20. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13008 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13008

Ochieng, J., Afari-Sefa, V., Muthoni, F., Kansiime, M., Hoeschle-Zeledon, I., Bekunda, M., & Thomas, D. (2022). Adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies for vegetable production in rural Tanzania: Trade-offs, complementarities and diffusion. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 20(4), 478-496. https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2021.1943235 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2021.1943235

Rogers, E. M. (1995). Diffusion of innovations (3rd ed.). Macmillan Publishing Co. https://teddykw2.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/everett-m-rogers-diffusion-of-innovations.pdf

Ruzzante, S. W., & Bilton, A. M. (2018). Agricultural technology in the developing world: A meta-analysis of the adoption literature. In International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (Vol. 51760, p. V02BT03A023). American Society of Mechanical Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2018-86452

Ruzzante, S., & Bilton, A. M. (2021). Adoption of agricultural technologies in the developing world: A meta-analysis dataset of the empirical literature. Data in Brief, 38, 107384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2021.107384 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2021.107384

Ugochukwu, A. I., & Phillips, P. W. (2017). Technology adoption by agricultural producers: A review of the literature. In From agriscience to agribusiness: Theories, policies and practices in technology transfer and commercialization (pp. 361-377). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67958-7_17 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67958-7_17

Utami, C. W., Indrianto, A. T. L., & Pratama, I. (2019). Agricultural technology adoption in Indonesia: The role of extension services, rural financing, and institutional context. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 7(7), 258-276. http://dspace.uc.ac.id/handle/123456789/2111

Verma, P., & Sinha, N. (2018). Integrating perceived economic wellbeing into the technology acceptance model: The case of mobile-based agricultural extension services. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 126, 207-216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.08.013 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.08.013

Vinholis, M. d. M. B., Saes, M. S. M., Carrer, M. J., & de Souza, M. (2021). The effect of meso-institutions on adoption of sustainable agricultural technology: A case study of the Brazilian Low Carbon Agriculture Plan. Journal of Cleaner Production, 280, 124334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124334 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124334

Yu, Z., Xu, H., Govindasamy, R., Van Wyk, E., Özkan, B., & Simon, J. E. (2024). An analysis of factors influencing African indigenous vegetable farmers' bargaining power: A case study from Zambia. Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 30(1), 193-204. https://doi.org/10.15832/ankutbd.1239590 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15832/ankutbd.1239590