Household-Level Determinants of Adoption Speed of Soil Fertility Boosting Technology: A Duration Analysis Approach of Composting adoption: A Case Study of Toke Kutaye District, West Shawa, Oromiya

Abstract

Most of the studies previously conducted on technology adoption have employed crosssectional data to analyze why some farmers adopt at a certain point in time though the static approach does not consider the dynamic environment in which the adoption decision is made and does not incorporate the speed of adoption of a certain technology. Using primary data from a survey of random sample of 200 smallholder farm households in Toke kutaye district of west shawa Zone, Oromiya, this study investigated determinants of adoption speed of compost using Duration analysis (Cox proportional Hazard Model) approach. Results revealed that while education level of the household head, livestock ownership, index of awareness, more availability of active family labor, farm size, tenure security and water accessibility in nearby location accelerated the adoption compost, age of household head, farm plot at distant location from residential area and perception towards health side of compost retarded the adoption speed of compost. To accelerate adoption of the technology requires policies that promote farmers’ educational level programs, high access to extension services, field demonstration on compost, frequent trainings about compost, eroding the bad perception they have for compost, targeting young farmers for intervention. Key words: speed of Adoption, duration analysis (Cox proportional Hazard model), Compost, Toke kutaye