Determinants of Smallholder Farmers’ Adoption of Integrated Poultry and Fish Farming Systems: Evidence from Sidama Region, Ethiopia

Abstract Integrated poultry–fish farming (IPFF) offers considerable potential to enhance resource-use efficiency, diversify agricultural production, and strengthen the livelihoods and climate resilience of smallholder farmers. However, empirical evidence regarding the micro-level correlates of IPFF adoption remains scarce in Ethiopia. This study evaluates the adoption status of IPFF and identifies the socioeconomic, farm-level, and institutional factors associated with household adoption decisions. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 253 randomly selected smallholder farming households in southern Ethiopia. Primary data were gathered using a structured questionnaire and analyzed through descriptive statistics, independent-samples í µí±¡-tests, Pearson’s chi-square tests, and a multivariable binary logistic regression model. Overall, 49.8% of the sampled households had adopted IPFF. The econometric results reveal that household size (í µí± = 0.050), perceived profitability (í µí± = 0.025), and technical awareness of IPFF (í µí± = 0.028) were positively and significantly associated with adoption, while sex of the household head (í µí± = 0.100) and farming experience (í µí± = 0.089) exhibited weak positive associations. Perceived relative advantage and technical familiarity emerge as primary correlates of technology uptake. These findings indicate that IPFF adoption co-occurs more strongly with family labor capacity, experiential knowledge, technical awareness, and expected economic gains than with physical asset endowments or conventional institutional support in isolation. Interventions aimed at promoting IPFF should prioritize practical technical training, demonstration ponds, peer-to-peer learning networks, localized enterprise budgeting, and gender-responsive extension frameworks.