Women’s prospects to adopt enhanced freshness formulation (EFF) technologies for banana in Morogoro rural district, Tanzania

Abstract

This paper draws lessons from a study based on forecasts rather than actual results. The study was conducted to identify factors that could potentially affect women’s decisions to adopt enhanced freshness formulation (EFF) technologies among banana growers in Morogoro, Tanzania. The study tested whether men and women were equally likely to adopt EFF technologies. The authors also explored whether women who are willing and able to influence adoption decisions and women who are willing but unable to influence adoption decisions face similar adoption challenges. The results from logit model suggest that the adoption prospect is lower among female adopters than male adopters (p < .05). The study predicted a higher probability of female growers to be willing and able to influence adoption decisions among younger female growers compared to those over 35 years old (p < .1) although the overall impact on the adoption rate was low, owing to limited participation of young farmers (11 %) in banana production. The findings reveal less willingness and ability to adopt the technologies among female growers who perceived EFF applications as labour-insensitive technologies (p < .05). Likewise, the study identified higher willingness and ability to influence the adoption among growers whose bananas were not about to be harvested (p < .05). The authors recommend continued efforts to address a priori challenges that can potentially undermine adoption with easy-to-use preparation and application methods, and by targeting growers whose fruits are at early stages of maturation. Future studies could focus on the potential impacts of specific types of EFF technologies on the adoption prospect.