466
Landholding size as an important productive asset was also negatively and
significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with disadoption of legume-maize rotation and
positively and significantly correlated with disadoption of maize-legume intercropping (see table on conditional marginal effects). Other things being equal, households with large land size are more likely to continue with adoption of maize-legume
intercropping than those with small landholding size. This means that landholding
size played a symmetrical role in encouraging both adoption and long-term use/
adoption of maize-legume intercropping and legume-maize rotation. The positive
correlation between landholding size and maize-legume intercropping was expected,
since one of the major reasons why farmers practice intercropping is to maximize
land use; thus, farmers with more landholding sizes are more likely to abandon
maize-legume intercropping and switch to legume maize rotation. The conditional
marginal effects show that a unit increase in landholding size increases the likelihood of abandoning maize-legume intercropping by almost 2% and reduces the
likelihood of abandoning legume-maize rotation by 3%. This relationship was significant at 5% alpha level.
While access to legume seed highly encourages the adoption of maize-legume
intercropping, results of the bivariate probit regression indicate that access to
legume seed among smallholder farmers was significant and negatively correlated
with disadoption of maize-legume intercropping. Seed access constraint was the
second most frequently reported reason for disadoption of maize-legume intercropping after pests and diseases among smallholder farmers. This implies that the probability of both adoption and continued adoption of maize-legume intercropping is
largely dependent on guaranteed access to legume seed among smallholder farmers.
Access to legume seed has the largest conditional marginal effects on both intercropping and rotation and shows that access to seed reduces the probability to abandon maize-legume intercropping by almost 39% and significantly increases the
probability to abandon legume-maize rotation by almost 26%. Access to extension
was negative and significantly correlated with disadoption of both maize-legume
intercropping and rotation at 5% and 10% alpha level, respectively. This implies
that households with greater access to extension services are less likely to abandon
the practices than those with no access to extension services, holding other things
constant. This implies that continued adoption of these two technologies is dependent on a vibrant extension system to a certain extent. The marginal effects in
Table 5 show that access to legume seed reduces the probability to disadopt maizelegume intercropping by almost 4%.
Farmer Perceptions of the Reasons for Disadoption of ISFM Practices
Farmers’ perceptions on reasons for disadoption of ISFM practices, particularly
maize-legume intercropping and rotation, were mixed, with some consistencies
with our model results. Figure 1 shows that the most frequently reported reason for
abandonment of the technologies is lack of access to legume seed with 67% of the
responses. This is followed by lack of access to markets to incentivize continued
J. S. Kanyamuka et al.
Landholding size as an important productive asset was also negatively and
significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with disadoption of legume-maize rotation and
positively and significantly correlated with disadoption of maize-legume intercropping (see table on conditional marginal effects). Other things being equal, households with large land size are more likely to continue with adoption of maize-legume
intercropping than those with small landholding size. This means that landholding
size played a symmetrical role in encouraging both adoption and long-term use/
adoption of maize-legume intercropping and legume-maize rotation. The positive
correlation between landholding size and maize-legume intercropping was expected,
since one of the major reasons why farmers practice intercropping is to maximize
land use; thus, farmers with more landholding sizes are more likely to abandon
maize-legume intercropping and switch to legume maize rotation. The conditional
marginal effects show that a unit increase in landholding size increases the likelihood of abandoning maize-legume intercropping by almost 2% and reduces the
likelihood of abandoning legume-maize rotation by 3%. This relationship was significant at 5% alpha level.
While access to legume seed highly encourages the adoption of maize-legume
intercropping, results of the bivariate probit regression indicate that access to
legume seed among smallholder farmers was significant and negatively correlated
with disadoption of maize-legume intercropping. Seed access constraint was the
second most frequently reported reason for disadoption of maize-legume intercropping after pests and diseases among smallholder farmers. This implies that the probability of both adoption and continued adoption of maize-legume intercropping is
largely dependent on guaranteed access to legume seed among smallholder farmers.
Access to legume seed has the largest conditional marginal effects on both intercropping and rotation and shows that access to seed reduces the probability to abandon maize-legume intercropping by almost 39% and significantly increases the
probability to abandon legume-maize rotation by almost 26%. Access to extension
was negative and significantly correlated with disadoption of both maize-legume
intercropping and rotation at 5% and 10% alpha level, respectively. This implies
that households with greater access to extension services are less likely to abandon
the practices than those with no access to extension services, holding other things
constant. This implies that continued adoption of these two technologies is dependent on a vibrant extension system to a certain extent. The marginal effects in
Table 5 show that access to legume seed reduces the probability to disadopt maizelegume intercropping by almost 4%.
Farmer Perceptions of the Reasons for Disadoption of ISFM Practices
Farmers’ perceptions on reasons for disadoption of ISFM practices, particularly
maize-legume intercropping and rotation, were mixed, with some consistencies
with our model results. Figure 1 shows that the most frequently reported reason for
abandonment of the technologies is lack of access to legume seed with 67% of the
responses. This is followed by lack of access to markets to incentivize continued
J. S. Kanyamuka et al.