Adoption of Rainfed Paddy Production Technologies among Smallholder Farmers: A Case of Central District- Zanzibar, Tanzania

This study intended to determine factors affecting the adoption of new technologies in rainfed paddy production practiced by smallholder farmers in the Central District-Zanzibar, Tanzania. A cross-sectional research design was employed. A structured questionnaire, focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant (KI) interviews were used to explore issues related to rainfed paddy production. 120 respondents who were engaged in rainfed paddy farming were selected from 4 village clusters (30 respondents in each village cluster) from December 2013 to January 2014. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression model. Results show that majority of respondents (55%) were female while 45% were male aging 19-59 years. The study revealed that rainfed paddy production technologies that were adopted by smallholder farmers included row planting, fertilizer application (P=.03), weed control and the use of improved paddy seed varieties (p= .04). Descriptive analysis results showed that the adoption level of technologies was high. The logistic regression analysis showed that extension services, age, off-farm income and distance from residence to the marketplaces were factors that influenced the decisions of smallholder farmers to adopt technologies (p<.05). Researchers recommend that the government of Zanzibar should continue providing efficient extension services to smallholder farmers in order to ensure sustainability in the adoption of rainfed paddy production technologies in Zanzibar.