The Influence of Technology Characteristics on the Adoption of Fish Farming Technology: The Case of Selected Villages in Morogoro Region, Tanzania

Kitojo Wetengere

《Asian Journal of Agricultural Sciences》 2卷2期 (2010/04) Pp. 69-77

並列摘要

This study analyzed how characteristics of technology influence the adoption of fish farming technology in Morogoro region, Tanzania. During the research technology characteristics were measured by a scoring approach which involved assessment of adopters, adopters-abandoned and non-adopters of fish farming technology. A survey design was employed in data collection where 373 respondents were randomly sampled from the rural population. Instruments used for data collection included questionnaires, Participatory Rural Appraisal, Researcher's observations and secondary information sources. Descriptive statistics was used to report research findings and data was validated by means of mean scores. It was found that on the whole, fish farming ranked 7(superscript th) in characteristics of production technology and 4(superscript th) in characteristics of food technology. Out of seven characteristics of production technology, fish farming had the lowest operation cost and farmed fish was ranked 3rd in terms of marketability. In other production characteristics, fish farming was ranked between 5(superscript th) and 8(superscript th). Accordingly, out of four food characteristics, fish farming was ranked 2(superscript nd) in terms of palatability and 3(superscript rd) in terms of status. In other food characteristics, fish farming was ranked 6(superscript th). In both food and production characteristics, fish farming was ranked poor by non-adopters and adopters-abandoned than fish adopters. It is due to the above grounds that the adoption rate of fish farming was low while abandoning rate was high. Four recommendations have been made basing on this study. Firstly, improving the production technology of farmed fish and devise a farmer-friendly harvesting strategy. Secondly, investing in rural marketing infrastructure and encouraging farmers to form association to enable them transport fish to urban markets. Thirdly, providing knowledge on fish preparation, cooking and preservation to improve palatability of farmed fish. Finally, documenting and promoting the nutritional value of fish to stimulate demand.

並列關鍵字

Fish farming ； palatability of farmed fish ； technology characteristics