Agricultural technology adoption, productivity, and poverty reduction in Cameroon: A mediating analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20414/jed.v5i2.6839Keywords:
technology adoption, agriculture output, productivity, poverty reductionAbstract
Purpose — Often people's hesitation to accept new technology stems from a misconception of what technology truly entails. Pictures of future robots and robotics typically spring to mind when people think of technology. Many poor nations rely heavily on agriculture for their survival. Most of the world's impoverished population works in agriculture and lives in rural regions. Indirectly and directly, it contributes to expanding industries and providing food for the world's population. This paper investigates the effects of agricultural technology adoption on poverty reduction.
Method — The study adopted both the survey and causal research designs. The researcher employed purposive and snow ball sampling techniques. A total of 384 households were sampled for the study. Data for this study was gotten with the help of a structured questionnaire from household in Tubah Sub-Division of Cameroon and was analysed using inferential statistics.
Result — This study revealed that consumable and durable inputs significantly positively affect agricultural productivity in the sub-division at 1% and 5% degree of significance respectively. The results further showed that agricultural productivity had a mediating positive effect on poverty reduction at 1% degree of significance.
Contribution — Most studies on agricultural technology adoption in developing countries only focus on short-term impacts. In contrast, this study provides information on the long-term effects of technology adoption on farmers' livelihoods and the environment.
Downloads
References
Adekambi, S. A., Diagne, A., Simtowe, F., & Biaou, G. (2009). The impact of agricultural technology adoption on poverty: The case of NERICA rice varieties in Benin (No. 1005-2016-78928, pp. 1-16).
Ariga, J., & Jayne, T. S. (2011). Fertilizer in Kenya: Factors driving the increase in usage by smallholder farmers. Yes Africa can: Success stories from a dynamic continent, 269-288.
Asfaw, S., & Shiferaw, B. A. (2010). Agricultural technology adoption and rural poverty: Application of an endogenous switching regression for selected East African Countries (No. 308-2016-5081).
Bhutto, A. W., & Bazmi, A. A. (2007, November). Sustainable agriculture and eradication of rural poverty in Pakistan. In Natural Resources Forum (Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 253-262). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Carmines, E. G., & Zeller, R. A. (1979). Assessing reliability. Assessing Reliability: Reliability and Validity Assessment, 17, 37-49.
Christiaensen, L., Demery, L., & Kuhl, J. (2011). The (evolving) role of agriculture in poverty reduction—An empirical perspective. Journal of development economics, 96(2), 239-254.
Dhrifi, A. (2014). Agricultural productivity and poverty alleviation: what role for technological innovation. Journal of Economic and Social Studies, 4(1), 139-158.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of marketing research, 18(1), 39-50.
Gandolfi, F., & Neck, P. A. (2010). Poverty: A social disgrace and dilemma. In Sustainable economy: Corporate, social and environmental responsibility (pp. 73-106).
Minten, B., & Barrett, C. B. (2008). Agricultural technology, productivity, and poverty in Madagascar. World Development, 36(5), 797-822.
Muzari, W., Gatsi, W., & Muvhunzi, S. (2012). The impacts of technology adoption on smallholder agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa: A review. Journal of Sustainable Development, 5(8), 69.
Nunally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychology theory. New York: McGrew-Hill.
Rogers, E. M. (1995). Lessons for guidelines from the diffusion of innovations. The Joint Commission journal on quality improvement, 21(7), 324-328.
Shaw, C. S. (2014). Agricultural Technology Adoption in West Africa (Doctoral dissertation).
Shiferaw, B., Prasanna, B. M., Hellin, J., & Bänziger, M. (2011). Crops that feed the world 6. Past successes and future challenges to the role played by maize in global food security. Food security, 3(3), 307-327.
Sofoluwe, N. A., Tijani, A. A., & Ogundari, K. (2012). Indigenous technology adoption and poverty reduction in rural Nigeria. Indigenous Policy Journal, 23(3).
Sullivan, J. L., & Niemi, R. G. (1979). Reliability and validity assessment.
Wong, K. K. K. (2013). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) techniques using SmartPLS. Marketing Bulletin, 24(1), 1-32.
Wreford, A., Ignaciuk, A., & Gruère, G. (2017). Overcoming barriers to the adoption of climate-friendly practices in agriculture.
WWF, E. (2022). Annual Report 2021 A Conservation Diary.
Yamta, L., & Midala, A. S. (2014). The impact of poverty alleviation programmes in the areas of agricultural development and job creation for unemployed youth in Borno state. International Journal of Education and Research, 2(9), 351-364.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Paul Akumbom, Mary Juliet Bime Egwu, Peter Ngek Shillie
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
