Determinants of cashew farmers’ willingness to adopt bee pollination technology in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

The consistent drop in cashew nuts production due to decline in the population of animal pollinators is a growing concern for farmers and other actors in the cashew sector. Improving production through the use of technologies has been identified as a strategic way to combat the situation. This study is designed to assess the determinants of farmers’ willingness to adopt assisted bee pollination technology in Kwara State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select one hundred and sixty-two respondents for the study. The data collected using structured interview schedule were presented and analysed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression. Findings of the study revealed that the mean age of the respondents was 52.3 years, mostly males (94.4%) and were married (95.1%) with an average household size of 8 persons and 24.2 years of farming experience. Only 11.7% of the farmers had high level of awareness of the bee pollination practices and 63.5% are willing to adopt the technology. The logistic regression analysis revealed that marital status, household size and years of farming experience had significant contribution to the farmers’ willingness to adopt the innovation at 0.05 level of significance. The study concluded that the cashew farmers are willing to adopt the technology despite their poor level of awareness suggesting they are high risk takers. It was recommended that adequate information should be made available to guide them in their adoption decisions.