Entrepreneurial and attitudinal determinants for adoption of Climate-smart Agriculture technologies in Uganda

Abstract

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies have great potential to minimize climate risks, sequester carbon, improve food security, and achievement of Sustainable Intensification (SI) goals. This makes their adoption a necessity for achieving sustainable agricultural systems. Despite the benefits and all efforts, smallholder farmers in developing countries still have low adoption of CSA technologies. This study explored the determinants of intentions to start and continue adopting CSA technologies. A cross-sectional survey based on the Theories of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Diffusion Of Innovations (DOI), and Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) was administered to 230 randomly selected smallholder coffee farmers in the Luweero district, Uganda. A Multi-group Structural Equation Model (Multi-group SEM) analysis reveals that more factors determine the intention to start adopting CSA than for intention to continue implementing CSA and the same factors could influence the former and the latter differently. Key recommendations to enhance the uptake and continued adoption of CSA technologies include focusing on raising awareness about the characteristics of CSA technologies, employing a multi-stakeholder approach to remove obstacles that hinder CSA adoption and providing business and entrepreneurial skills training for farmers. Our study findings and recommendations will help different stakeholders in designing more suitable and sustainable CSA technology adoption interventions.

Keywords:

• climate-smart agriculture
• diffusion of innovations
• entrepreneurial orientation
• structural equation modeling
• sustainable intensification
• theory of planned behaviour
• Uganda

Acknowledgements

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) are gratefully acknowledged for funding and institutional support. Farmers from Greater Luweero District who participated in the study are acknowledged.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Conceptualization, D.K., B.S., J.W., H.D.S., H.S. and XG.; and H.D.S.; Methodology, D.K., J.W., H.D.S.; Validation, D.K., B.S., J.W., H.D.S., H.S. and XG.; Formal Analysis, D.K., J.W., H.D.S.; Investigation, D.K., B.S.; Resources, H.S.; Data Curation, D.K.; Writing—Original Draft Preparation, D.K.; Writing—Review & Editing, D.K., J.W., H.D.S., H.S. and XG.; Visualization, D.K., J.W., H.D.S., H.S.; Supervision, J.W., H.D.S., H.S. and XG.; Project Administration, H.S.; Funding Acquisition, H.S. All authors have read and agreed to the publishing of the manuscript.

Data availability statement

Data will be made publicly available when the article is accepted for publication. The data will then be available in a depository at Ghent University online and physical libraries and the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) website. The data set associated with the paper can be found at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cScrVIagktTMV_wS9_dY8OLhHfc3QHIi/view?usp=drive_link

Informed consent statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Ethical statement

All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before they participated in the study. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, the protocol was approved and an ethical clearance certificate obtained from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Internal Review Board (IRB) per the Research Ethics Policy under the Reference number IRB/003/2022 on 13 May 2022.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2023.2282236.

Correction

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) under the USAID-Funded project: Enhancing Resilient and Adaptive Agriculture Livelihoods in Uganda-Scaling of Successful Technologies (Project number: CC6243).The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) under the Reference number IRB/003/2022 on 13/05/2022.

Notes on contributors

Diana Kirungi

Diana Kirungi PhD research fellow at Ghent University Belgium and a Research Associate at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) with seven years of experience in designing, implementing and scaling Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) interventions.

Brian Senyange

Brian Senyange PhD research fellow at Ghent University with a research focus on Entrepreneurial Orientation and adoption of agricultural technologies.

Joshua Wesana

Joshua Wesana Associate Professor at Mountains of the Moon University and a Post-Doctoral Researcher at Ghent University with a research focus on climate adaptation and mitigation in the agri-food sector.

Haroon Sseguya

Haroon Sseguya Technology Scaling Specialist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) with over fifteen years of experience in agricultural research and development.

Xavier Gellynck

Xavier Gellynck Professor at Ghent University, with research interest in agri-business marketing, value chain and network management.

Hans De Steur

Hans De Steur Professor at Ghent University with research interests in agri-food marketing, and socio-economic analysis of innovations in the agri-food sector.