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conferenceseries
.com
Volume 6, Issue 4 (Suppl)
Agrotechnology, an open access journal
ISSN: 2168-9881
Agri 2017
October 02-04, 2017
allied
academies
10
th
International Conference on
AGRICULTURE & HORTICULTURE
October 02-04, 2017 London, UK
Social capital and agricultural technology adoption among Ethiopian farmers
Nizam A Husen
1
, Tim K Loos
1
and
Khalid H A Siddig
1,2,3
N K Tiwari
1
, Priyanka Sharma
1
and
S F A Zaidi
2
1
University of Hohenheim, Germany
2
Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
3
Khartoum University, Sudan
D
espite the recent efforts to increase agricultural productivity in Ethiopia, food insecurity remains a major challenge in the
country. Improving smallholders´ productivity requires the adoption of suitable agricultural technologies and practices.
Previous researches highlighted the importance of socio-economic factors; but widely overlooked the role of social capital in
technology adoption and its potential to create collective actions, reduce transaction costs, relax supply side constraints, and
disseminate information. Using socio-economic data of 398 farming households, we assessed social capital, using a probit
model, as a determinant for soil and water conservation practices (SWC) such as terraces, bunds and agro-forestry as well as
adopting productivity enhancing technologies (PET) such as fertilizers and improved high yielding seed varieties. We found
that members of Iddir (informal funeral group) were more likely to adopt SWC (18.2%). For the case of PET, Iddir members
were 12.8% less likely to adopt. Being members of Jarsumma (informal conflict resolution) increased the likelihood of SWC
and PET adoption by 12.87% and 17.8%, respectively. Therefore, we recommend that technology transfer should consider
the different types of social capital as an alternative policy option to the prevailing top down approaches in order to improve
smallholder livelihoods.
abbamilki@mail.comAgrotechnology 2017, 6:4(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2168-9881-C1-028