Socio-Economic Factors Influencing the Adoption of Conservation Agriculture in Northern Namibia

This paper aims to determine the preferences of farmers in practicing conservation agriculture (CA) in rural communities in Namibia. The multinomial logit model was used to estimate the main principles of conservation agriculture (CA) to determine the preferences of farmers in practicing conservation agriculture, given their socio-economic characteristics. In each case, farmers were presented with four different exclusive choices to select from. The multinomial logit model reveals that an increase in the education level of the household head p≤0.000, household size p≤0.085, mono-cropping p≤0.000, annual crop rotation p≤0.000, crop rotation after two years p≤0.000, and weeding twice for 5 h per weeding per hectare p≤0.028 significantly affects the preference for using a basin tillage over a direct seeder, with all other model variables held constant. The log odds of preferring mono-cropping over intercropping cereal with cowpeas are higher for farmers practicing crop rotation annually compared to those rotating crops every two years, assuming no change in other predictor variables with p≤0.019. In addition, the study found that economic status significantly influences the attractiveness of CA with basin tillage being preferred over the direct seeder among the farmers studied. This preference underscores the characteristics of the respondents, who are primarily subsistence farmers reliant on traditional farming tools. This suggests a strategic opportunity to engage younger and more educated farmers to be the lead farmers to mentor others in their communities. Markets for appropriate tools, such as direct seeders and rippers, must be established to make CA tools available to the farmers in the local market.