Determinants of adoption of climate-smart agricultural technologies and practices in groundnut production: a gender-disaggregated analysis in arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya

Despite the fact that climate smart agricultural (CSA) technologies and practices have significant role for improving agricultural productivity and food security, their adoption remains limited among smallholder farmers in Kenya arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs). This study investigated how gender and other socioeconomic factors affecting adoption of CSA technologies and practices in groundnut production across Siaya and Elgeyo Marakwet counties in Kenya. The research employed a multivariate probit model (MVP) to analyze cross-sectional data from 196 smallholder farmers, examining 14 key independent variables influencing the adoption of five CSA technologies and practices: water harvesting, drought-resistant seeds, soil conservation, organic fertilizer application, and intercropping. Key findings reveal 13 out of 14 determinants were significantly affect adoption of CSA technologies and practices with different level of significance. The study also used poisson regression to test CSA adoption intensity. Accordingly, access to (extension, credit, and technology), group membership, and farming experience highly and positively affected adoption intensity. The study further revealed distinct gender disparities in labor allocation, with women predominantly undertaking labor-intensive activities in groundnut production such as weed management 64(32.46%), harvesting and postharvest management 63(32.14%), while men dominated land preparation 99(50.51%) and groundnut marketing 104(53.06%). Interestingly, from the qualitative data analyzed, adoption patterns of some CSA technologies and practices strongly correlated with gender roles. On the other side, the analysis revealed no statistically significant difference between male and female-headed farmers in adopting some CSA technologies and practices. This paradox suggests that although division of labor is remained high in agricultural activities, adoption decisions may follow different patterns in ASALs in Kenya. County agricultural offices need to ensure large-scale adoption of CSA technologies and practices through, mobile phone message farmer led demonstration, field schools and success stories. This creates awareness to the farmers and establishing wider delivery of CSA technologies and practices.