The gap between technology awareness and adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa: A literature review for the DeSIRA project

Abstract

This paper reviews different studies on technology adoption in sub-Saharan Africa to understand the determinants of low adoption of improved technologies, with a special focus on Malawi. This will in turn help explain why there is a gap between awareness and adoption of agriculture technologies. As evidenced from the results of the FGDs conducted in Malawi in 2018, despite the visible benefits of the new technologies, farmers often do not adopt or take a long time to adopt them. This creates a gap between awareness of agriculture technologies and their adoption. The existing literature from sub-Saharan Saharan Africa, demonstrates that adoption, as a decision-making process, is affected by farmers' access to information, their financial and human capital, incentives and external programs, plus farmers' attitude to risk.

One Hundred Priority Questions for the Development of Sustainable Food Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…How will the spread of animal and plant pests and diseases be impacted by climate change in sub-Saharan Africa, and which regions and farming systems are expected to be the most vulnerable? The question of sub-Saharan Africa's readiness for high technology adoption in agriculture has been the focus of ongoing debate [48,49]. While the region has seen rapid uptake in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, the adoption of farm management technologies that exist to improve yields has been slow [50,51].…”

“…Therefore, harmonising the various land uses-whether for agriculture, conservation, development, and/or recreation-requires a more inclusive and participatory 'bottom-up' land-use planning approach with consistent cross-sectoral and governmental support [57]. 49. To what extent is land-use planning contributing to managing trade-offs between food production and deforestation?…”