This study will assess the determinants of partial adoption dynamics and its impact implications on yield and farm profit among rice farmers in Morogoro region of Tanzania using a unique panel data. We will build on the previously collected data set from the same farmers to gather additional information on the adoption choices and dynamics, but also build up a panel data set for a relatively cleaner identification strategy of the impact of System of Rice Intensification (SRI).
SRI is a low-tech but climate-friendly farming system that has been proven to have significant positive yield impacts. The technology comes as a set of complimentary principles that need to be applied jointly to realize such impressive gains. However evidence suggests that some farmers partially adopt the technology by applying only some of the components while objectively leaving out others. Notably the relatively few previous SRI studies assume that farmers either adopt the whole package (the adopters) or none of the principles at all (the non-adopters), which underscores the role of omitted components and hence bias the impact conclusions of the technology. Understanding the drivers of such sub-optimal adoption choices of climate-friendly and yield-enhancing technologies by farmers and its welfare implication is relevant.
Overall, the study aims at assessing the dynamics and determinants of partial adoption of SRI technology in Tanzania and to estimate the welfare implications of such among the rain dependent rice farmers in Tanzania.
The specific objectives of the research project are
1. Assess the role of experimentally elicited behaviors of risk and time preferences on farmers’ partial adoption choices.
2. Estimate the impact of SRI on yield and crop income across different groups of adopters (i.e. partial and full adopters)
3. Perform the statistical tests for the SRI impact differences between the partial and full adopters.
4. Investigate the dynamics of SRI adoption of SRI over time, with a special focus on partial adoption
