No.90 The Impact of Training on Technology Adoption and Productivity of Rice Farming in Tanzania: Is Farmer-to-Farmer Extension Effective?

  • #Working Papers

How far can new technologies taught to a small number of selected farmers diffuse to other farmers in a village? In order to answer this question, this paper investigates the impact of JICA training on the adoption of rice cultivation technologies and productivity in an irrigation scheme in Tanzania. By using a unique five-year panel data set and spatial econometric techniques, we found that non-trained farmers learned new technologies from trained farmers through social networks and by observing their plots. As a result, the paddy yield of directly trained farmers increased from 3.1 tons per hectare in 2008 to 4.7 tons per hectare in 2012, while that of non-trained farmers increased from around 2.6 tons per hectare in 2008 to 3.7 tons per hectare in 2012.

Keywords: technology adoption, agricultural training, social learning, rice, Sub-Saharan Africa

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Author
Yuko Nakano, Takuji W. Tsusaka, Takeshi Aida, Valerien O. Pede
Date of issuance
March 2015
Related areas
  • #Africa
Topics
  • #Agricultural / Rural Development
Research area
Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction
Research project