The Future of Smallholder Farming in Eastern Africa - Uganda ...

(Shultz 1964; Pudasiani 1983; Welch 1978; and Idachaba 1994). It also improves the
farmer’s management capabilities (Gould, Saupe, and Klemme 1989). Other studies have also
found a positive association between education and adoption of conservation technology
(Earle, Rose, and Brownlea 1979; Ervin and Ervin 1982). Thus, a sufficient level of
education increases the intensity of soil conservation. In addition to the capital returns
generated by education, it also increases participation in social activities, which is a positive
externality. . Education is a variable that is within the control of the policymaker. Efforts can
thus be made to improve the education standards of farmers, possibly through the extension
service and through local NGOs. Training may need to go beyond simple information for the
adoption of new practices to include training in farm management—how to run a successful
farm operation using the more complex soil conservation practices. The lack of significance
of education for Machakos may have to do with the proximity to off-farm jobs in Nairobi.
Education increases the opportunity costs of farmer’s time by increasing the likelihood of
getting a high- paying job if one is available nearby.
Sex is negative and significant for the combined data set and also for Taita-Taveta.
This implies that female-headed households invest more in soil conservation than maleheaded
ones. Bird-David et al. (1998) argue that female-headed households tend to enjoy a
broader base of labor division and contribution of resources by members of the household.
They also have a greater degree of control over the household resources and feel a greater
degree of security. In addition, the authors argue that no significant differences were detected
in the extent to which extension agents visited different household types. Nevertheless,
Mwakubo (2003) contends that women are exposed to extension services more than men.
This is because they are often members of women’s groups, while men’s groups are rare.
Such groups are often the entry points for extension services—the place where extension
messages are extended. Extension staff usually participate in public meetings called barazzas,
which are sponsored by the provincial administration. Women are more likely to attend these
meetings than men and to pay more attention to extension messages. Because women are
keen to learn and make use of the knowledge gained, they may be better land managers.
Age is positive and significant for Taita-Taveta. The combined data set has the
expected sign, although it is not significant. Correlation of age with soil conservation
investments possibly shows that terracing is a very expensive undertaking, which older
people are more likely to undertake because they have more farming experience 21 and also
more accumulated wealth with which to finance terrace construction (Nyang 1999). A
bivariate correlation of age of the principal household member and number of rooms (a proxy
for wealth) shows that it is positive (0.194) and significant (0.05). But where land markets are
absent and poverty is rampant, age raises the time preference (high discount rate) of the poor,
which may lower the desire for further conservation (Shiferaw and Holden 1998). Finally,
household size and farm size per capita have a positive and significant effect on soil
conservation investments in Taita-Taveta. A possible explanation is that the larger the
household size, the more abundant the labor available for soil conservation investments. In
addition, and more importantly, subsistence needs are rather high, which can be met through
increased crop production made possible via increased soil conservation investments. The
lack of significance for Machakos may be explained by the availability of other livelihood
opportunities, such as off-farm jobs in Nairobi. We are also of the view that there is less land
pressure in Taita-Taveta, compared with Machakos. Moreover, this variable (farm size per
capita) is expected to be negative.
21 This suggests that farmers have to learn about the effects of a new technology before adopting it entirely. This
is important if risks of the new technology are unknown and hence there is a need to know its risk profile.