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Vol. 037: Honagbode, Appolinaire C.: The Role of Off-Farm income and Gender Issues in Technology Adoption in Farming Families in Southern Benin


Farming and Rural Systems Economics Vol. 37

In many areas in West Africa, the overuse of land shows an increasing degradation of soils and an increasing unsustainability of farming. New technologies have been developed, but adoption rates are below expectations. This book focuses on the contribution of cash income from off-farm activities and on the impact of gender in the adoption process. The main information base comes from own surveys as well as from others primary sources in a research team in Benin. Farming systems analyses was applied. In future impact analyses different innovations in combating soil degradation have been assessed in family models applied under different off-farm employment and gender conditions. Special reference have been given to the decision-making process between husband and several wives of different age. The results of the analyses confirm what can be seen in many countries in West Africa: increasing scarcity of land and reduction of natural fallow could not be compensated by modern technology adoption. In part-time farming families with scarcity of labour, off-farm income has not positively contributed to adoption process, especially when hiring of external labour is expensive. In cases where farming is the dominant activity of the family, off-farm income was used to introduce soil conservation measures. With respect to gender, the models show that the adoption of the new technology can lead to a future increase of family income. In all cases of increasing family income, the income of the wives did not increase.


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Farming and Rural Systems Economics Vol. 37
ISSN 1616-9808
2001, 198 pp., 7 ills., 21 x 14,8 cm, paper

28.00 EUR
Artikelnr.: 978-3-8236-1367-1
  • (price without VAT: 26.17 EUR)
  • (VAT: 1.83 EUR)