Effect of zai pit and half-moon technologies on household income among small-scale farmers in Kita Cercle, Mali

Abstract

Rain water harvesting technologies (RWHTs) known as Zai pit and Half-moon have been embraced by small-scale farmers as a solution to climate related shocks. However, little is known on the socio-economic, institutional and technological aspects affecting farmers demand for the technologies as well their effects on farmers’ income. This study was meant to fill this knowledge gap. The general objective was to contribute towards improved food security through enhanced use of Zai pit and Half-moon among small-scale farmers. The specific objectives were to: determine the socio-economic, institutional and technological aspects of small-scale farmers; assess the demand for Zai pit and Half-moon technologies among small-scale farmers; and to determine the effects of Zai pit and Half-moon technologies on small-scale farmers' income. Multistage sampling technique was used to interview 280 small-scale farmers using semi-structured questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to determine small-scale farmers’ socio-economic and institutional characteristics. Confirmatory Factors Analysis (CFA), Negative Binominal Regression (NBR) and Multinomial Switching Regression (MSR) were used to determine farmers’ perception, demand and the effects of the technologies on their income, respectively. Compared to non-users, the users of Zai pit and Half-moon were younger (49 old years), earning less off-income (333.841.00 FCFA), owning less Tropical Livestock Unit (2 TLU), having more contact with extension services providers (3 time) and had more training. CFA also revealed that users had a higher risk attitude (4.23), higher level of compatibility (4.27), higher perception on ease of use (3.87), higher perception on resources availability (2.03) and higher level of innovativeness (4.39) compared to non-users. The NBR results showed that demand was negatively influenced by the gender status, risk attitude, farm size, soil fertility, off-farm income and production farm assets value. Conversely, demand was positively influenced by the level of education, risk attitude, number of contact of extension service providers, farm size, soil erosion, slope of soil, compatibility, ease of use, innovativeness, usefulness and perception on timeless. The MSR analysis on the average treatment effect indicated that users of Zai pit, Half-moon and Zai-Half-moon earn (42.286 FCFA, 16.073 FCFA and 110.976 FCFA respectively) more income from the main crop and (158.040 FCFA, 45.448 FCFA and 431.714 FCFA) more from the general household income than non-users. To improve Zai pit and Half-moon use, the study recommends policy makers to improve farmers’ access to market, diversification of income, quality information and sensitizing farmers’ perception on technologies.