Socioeconomic impacts of adopting new agricultural technology on farmers, in southwest ethiopia

This study was undertaken to assess the socio-economic impact of adopting new agricultural technology on the livelihoods of the farmers, in southwest Ethiopia. The major objectives of this study is to assess the socio-economic impact of adopting agricultural technologies on producers in terms of education, frequency of feeding and ability to finance. A random sample of 323 farmers were selected using multistage random sampling from the study area. Multiple regression Models, Logistic regression models, test hypothesis: Z-test, t - test and coefficients of determination methods of data analysis were used in this study. Comparisons were made between agricultural technology adopters and non-adopters using the Z- test and regression analysis. This study defines agricultural technology adopters as those who use agricultural technology. If the producers not adopt the agricultural technology, he/she is considered as non-adopters. To assess the impact of adopting agricultural technology on the educational status of the family, the ratio of children in schools to the total number of school aged children in the family, expressed as percentage. The ability of the household to feed the family was also seen in terms of the frequency of feeding the children and the adult. The percentage of farmers having corrugated iron sheet roofed houses, the percentage of farmers having separate kitchens other than their living rooms for cooking and the percentage of farmers having separate structure for livestock other than the living room were used to assess the impact of agricultural technology adoption on the housing conditions of the farmers. It was found that technology adopters are better off than the non adopters in terms of sending children to elementary school, housing conditions and ability to finance their families’ food requirements. The impact of father’s education, number of children and livestock ownership on the improvements in the livelihoods of the farmers and the problems facing the farmers were also emphasized. After all analysis, it can be concluded that adoption of agricultural technology enables the farmer to send children to school, have improved housing conditions, and food secured than the non-adopters. Finally, the results were recommended as creating the awareness about the uses of education, business awareness and advising the producers and non-producers of agricultural technology adoption.