**3.4 Factors affecting CA adoption**

Variables of human capital were assessed through a questionnaire administered to household heads to unpack factors affecting the effective adoption of CA project as a drought risk reduction tool in Chivi. The impact of human capital on CA adoption were tracked using the demographic characteristics of household questionnaire participants such gender, age, level of education, marital status, employment status and household incomes. Adoption of a new agriculture technology does not only depend on the nature of the technology but also its intended users. Hence the heterogeneity of farmers and their demographic structure influence the adoption of a new innovation [18]. Gender is an important characteristic in the adoption of CA considering the associated gender roles and dynamics especially in rural communities. Age is influential in new technology adoption. Adoption of new technology declines with age [19].

Chi-square (χ2) test was used to associate demographic characteristics of participants with CA adoption. The findings showed a relationship between gender and CA adoption, refer to **Table 1**.


**169**

capital.

*Adoption of Conservation Agriculture as a Disaster Risk Reduction Tool in Chivi District…*

The Chi-square (χ2) analysis revealed a significant association of gender and being a conservation farmer (p < 0.05). However a Crammer test classified the relationship weak. These findings are supported by other surveys done in Chivi, which showed that women constitute the majority of communal small holder farmers [20, 21]. This was also supported by the key informant interviews held with NGOs operating in Chivi. NGOs target women in their CA projects, hence more women have adopted the project. However with more women involved in CA, the project ought to have a special design tailor-made to suit women's gender roles and their often tight work schedules for sustainability. The CA activity plan used in Chivi contradicts this, CA project activities run throughout the year [22]. CA project in Chivi, runs concurrently with the conventional agriculture, the main and traditional agriculture system practiced by every farmer as well as livestock farming. Therefore time could also be the barrier to effective CA adoption and would certainly hinder

The relationships between age, level of education, marital and employment status and CA adoption were found statistically insignificant. On age the findings showed that more participants were in the active age group, the 30 to 50 year age group, followed by 51 to 60 year group, then the 60 and above. Despite these findings of the Chi square tests, it is also important to note that the age structure of Chivi highlighted a community operating in a poor economic environment, considering that the active population is fully engaged in small holder farming as opposed to the norm that active population often work off the family compounds in towns and cities. It also showed that small holder farming is a major source of livelihood in this community. Therefore there is a need for sound agricultural innovations to boost livelihoods and curb drought effects. Chivi age structure consisting of a higher percentage of the active population, shows that the community is not negatively affected by new technologies which is ideal for effective information dissemination critical in CA adoption [23]. Younger farmers make long-term plans in their operations and acquire necessary skills and knowledge better than old farmers. The level of education is also of paramount importance to information dissemination, comprehension of information and querying of information sources. Majority of participants had secondary education with a 58.6%. Participants with primary education were 37.1%. The least participants had a tertiary qualification about 1.4% followed by those who never attained any formal education with 2.9%. The findings shows that Chivi District comprises of a literate population. This means that Chivi community is very much aware of their environment and if given adequate information on CA, it can comprehend it and make informed decisions on adopting or not adopting. In this case low adoption of CA might be more to do with the applicability or feasibility of the project design and assets other than human

Social dimensions such as marital status are also of importance in the adoption of a new agricultural system [24]. Marital status and gender are critical in decision making, especially in crucial issues such as adoption of a new farming system. Dimensions such as gender roles in decision making roles and land ownership come into play. Majority of the household heads who participated in this study were married, with a 58%. Single participants constituted 18% whilst 17% were divorcees and 7% widows. This married to non-married ratio of 58:43% is a true reflection of the marital status in Chivi. According to census report population of widows and divorcees is rising due to factors such as prevalent HIV/AIDS and economic hardships [20]. In a social structure such as this there is a need for developmental projects such as CA to strengthen weak social networks and support the existing ones and to avoid project domains that create or exacerbate social tensions.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94318*

its effectiveness as a drought adaptation tool.

*\*\*P < 0.01.*

*\*\*\*P < 0.001. 0*

*No relationship to weak. 1*

*Moderate relationship. 2 Strong relationship.*

#### **Table 1.**

*Human capital and Conservation Agriculture.*

#### *Adoption of Conservation Agriculture as a Disaster Risk Reduction Tool in Chivi District… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94318*

The Chi-square (χ2) analysis revealed a significant association of gender and being a conservation farmer (p < 0.05). However a Crammer test classified the relationship weak. These findings are supported by other surveys done in Chivi, which showed that women constitute the majority of communal small holder farmers [20, 21]. This was also supported by the key informant interviews held with NGOs operating in Chivi. NGOs target women in their CA projects, hence more women have adopted the project. However with more women involved in CA, the project ought to have a special design tailor-made to suit women's gender roles and their often tight work schedules for sustainability. The CA activity plan used in Chivi contradicts this, CA project activities run throughout the year [22]. CA project in Chivi, runs concurrently with the conventional agriculture, the main and traditional agriculture system practiced by every farmer as well as livestock farming. Therefore time could also be the barrier to effective CA adoption and would certainly hinder its effectiveness as a drought adaptation tool.

The relationships between age, level of education, marital and employment status and CA adoption were found statistically insignificant. On age the findings showed that more participants were in the active age group, the 30 to 50 year age group, followed by 51 to 60 year group, then the 60 and above. Despite these findings of the Chi square tests, it is also important to note that the age structure of Chivi highlighted a community operating in a poor economic environment, considering that the active population is fully engaged in small holder farming as opposed to the norm that active population often work off the family compounds in towns and cities. It also showed that small holder farming is a major source of livelihood in this community. Therefore there is a need for sound agricultural innovations to boost livelihoods and curb drought effects. Chivi age structure consisting of a higher percentage of the active population, shows that the community is not negatively affected by new technologies which is ideal for effective information dissemination critical in CA adoption [23]. Younger farmers make long-term plans in their operations and acquire necessary skills and knowledge better than old farmers.

The level of education is also of paramount importance to information dissemination, comprehension of information and querying of information sources. Majority of participants had secondary education with a 58.6%. Participants with primary education were 37.1%. The least participants had a tertiary qualification about 1.4% followed by those who never attained any formal education with 2.9%. The findings shows that Chivi District comprises of a literate population. This means that Chivi community is very much aware of their environment and if given adequate information on CA, it can comprehend it and make informed decisions on adopting or not adopting. In this case low adoption of CA might be more to do with the applicability or feasibility of the project design and assets other than human capital.

Social dimensions such as marital status are also of importance in the adoption of a new agricultural system [24]. Marital status and gender are critical in decision making, especially in crucial issues such as adoption of a new farming system. Dimensions such as gender roles in decision making roles and land ownership come into play. Majority of the household heads who participated in this study were married, with a 58%. Single participants constituted 18% whilst 17% were divorcees and 7% widows. This married to non-married ratio of 58:43% is a true reflection of the marital status in Chivi. According to census report population of widows and divorcees is rising due to factors such as prevalent HIV/AIDS and economic hardships [20]. In a social structure such as this there is a need for developmental projects such as CA to strengthen weak social networks and support the existing ones and to avoid project domains that create or exacerbate social tensions.

*Natural Hazards - Impacts, Adjustments and Resilience*

away by recurrent drought in Chivi.

**3.4 Factors affecting CA adoption**

declines with age [19].

*No relationship to weak.*

*Moderate relationship.*

*Strong relationship.*

and CA adoption, refer to **Table 1**.

*Human capital and Conservation Agriculture.*

**Figure 4**.

commonly used adverbs to describe community buy-in. Drought was also mentioned as a barrier to community buy in. The benefits of CA are said to be less visible due to recurrent droughts. Chivi community through focus group discussions also confirmed low buy into the CA project but had different reasons, refer to

The focus group participants who adopted CA in Chivi, did it for diverse reasons, 34% adopted for new farming ideas, 32% adapted to curb drought effects, 17% for free inputs and 17% to increase production. The participants who did not adopt CA had also their own reasons, 34% did not see the need as they have enough resources to continue with conventional farming, 34% mentioned use of primitive farming and labour intensive methods, and 32% did not prefer small grains and changing their traditional farming system. All, 100% of participants who did not adopt CA were aware of the challenges faced in agricultural production however they did not see CA as the solution to their challenges. The interesting argument was that CA is affected by drought the same way as conventional agriculture system. This was also indirectly brought up by AREX and NGOs interviews. They attributed the negative attitude of farmers towards CA to lack of tangible benefits which are being washed

Variables of human capital were assessed through a questionnaire administered to household heads to unpack factors affecting the effective adoption of CA project as a drought risk reduction tool in Chivi. The impact of human capital on CA adoption were tracked using the demographic characteristics of household questionnaire participants such gender, age, level of education, marital status, employment status and household incomes. Adoption of a new agriculture technology does not only depend on the nature of the technology but also its intended users. Hence the heterogeneity of farmers and their demographic structure influence the adoption of a new innovation [18]. Gender is an important characteristic in the adoption of CA considering the associated gender roles and dynamics especially in rural communities. Age is influential in new technology adoption. Adoption of new technology

Chi-square (χ2) test was used to associate demographic characteristics of participants with CA adoption. The findings showed a relationship between gender

**Variable Chi-square df\* p-value Cramer's V** Gender 6.056a 1 .014\* .2090 Age 1.601a 3 .659 .1070 Level of education 3.493a 3 .322 .1590 Marital status .280 2 .869 .0610 Employment status 2.249a 3 .522 .1270

**168**

*\* P < 0.05. \*\*P < 0.01. \*\*\*P < 0.001. 0*

*1*

*2*

**Table 1.**


#### **Table 2.**

*Chivi monthly household incomes.*

Despite an insignificant statistical link between CA adoption and marital status, inherent gender dynamics in marital status of a rural society such as Chivi needs a closer scrutiny. The strength of gender roles in decision making and land ownership might not be visible on the ground but has a huge indirect influence on adoption of an agricultural innovation such as CA [25]. These gender roles are well-defined in Chivi, a predominantly rural district with only 30 out 32 rural wards [20, 24].

An interview with key informants on gender gaps in Chivi also acknowledged existent gender gaps. NGOs had problems with the registering Chivi women to a CA sister project of Nutritional gardens. Most women would register into this project under their husbands' names some of which divorced them and some not even in the community, working either in the cities or outside the country. This shows that even though women are the producers they are not the decision makers nor practical land owners. This becomes a bit complicated when they have to make crucial and life changing decisions such as changing the farming system from conventional plough system to CA. There is need to mainstream gender into a CA project, lest it might affect the sustainability of CA or further widen the gender gaps that already exists in agriculture.

Financial capacity as well as off field commitments also influence the adoption of CA technology. Employment status of participants revealed that most household heads who participated in this survey were unemployed. At least 59% of the participants were unemployed. Very few participants were employed with a 3.6% and about 28% were self-employed while 10% were on pension. The findings showed that the rate of employment in Chivi is very low and people who are employed work outside the District [8, 21].

Household heads' monthly incomes were also analysed. The incomes were categorised using the United Nations (UN) poverty datum line of US\$1.90 per individual per day [26]. This was calculated for a 30 day month and further multiplied by 4 which is the average household size for Chivi District [20], refer to **Table 2**.

Most participants, thus 69.3% had a monthly income below the poverty datum line while only 30.7% of the households were out of the poverty threshold. This supports the UN (2019)'s assertion that sub-Saharan Africa has most of the people living below the poverty line together with South Asia. In line with these findings, focus group discussions also raised an interesting argument on CA impact in the community. Participants who adopted CA from its inception mentioned free inputs as one major reason which made them buy into the project while the non-adopters argued that CA project had blocked the issuing of free drought relief food by NGOs. These arguments speak to the high levels of poverty in the community. Hence for CA technology to be acceptable in the community it has to prove itself as a viable income generating project.
