Determinants of the adoption of small ruminant related technologies in the highlands of Ethiopia

This paper takes up the case of two market-sheds in the southern Ethiopian highlands (namely Adilo and Kofele) to examine the factors affecting the adoption of small ruminant related technologies in mixed-farming systems. A survey was conducted using semi-structured questionnaires with 155 randomly selected small ruminant keepers between May and June 2006. Farmers in each site initiated new practices like small ruminant fattening and managing a household 'veterinary kit'. Logistic regression analysis revealed that size of land and livestock holdings significantly affected the adoption of small ruminant technologies in both study sites. Farmer variables such as gender, literacy, age and family size appeared to influence adoption only in one location. In the densely populated area, Adilo, the adoption of more intensive feeding technology of commercial concentrates decreased with increasing farm size only up to a point. Younger farmers, female farmers and literate household heads were more likely to adopt the utilization of commercial concentrates. In relatively resource rich Kofele, treating small ruminants via the household veterinary kit increased with number of livestock, however with farm size only up to the point at which it reached a maximum. The present study showed that location or production system remarkably affects the options of interventions and determines their adoption