No.58 The Determinants of Technology Adoption:The Case of the Rice Sector in Tanzania

  • #Working Papers

Using an extensive household-level data set collected in Tanzania, this paper investigates the determinants of technology adoption in rice cultivation by focusing on the role of credit. We find that credit enhances fertilizer use and the adoption of labor-intensive agronomic practices such as transplanting in rows, for which monitoring of hired labor is easy. We also find that new technologies are adopted more widely in irrigated areas and small-scale farmers are not at a disadvantage. Based on these findings, we argue that with appropriate policies including credit, a rice Green Revolution can improve the productivity of small-scale farmers in Tanzania.

Keywords: technology adoption, Green Revolution, Sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania

Author
Yuko Nakano, Kei Kajisa
Date of issuance
March 2013
Related areas
  • #Africa
Topics
  • #Agricultural / Rural Development
Research area
Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction
Research project