Factors affecting the adoption of integrated pest management on food access: A case of Masembura communal lands, Bindura district

Abstract

Food security is under great threat globally with food demand increasing exponentially propelled by the growth in population which is expected to hit the 9.5 billion mark by the year 2050 (FAO, 2019). There is great need to sustainably manage food production and one way to do that is through pest management. IPM is one of the ways which is sustainable as efficient in controlling pests. The thesis looks into the factors affecting IPM adoption and its contribution to food security. The other objective of the study is to determine the characteristics of the adopters and the non-adopters of IPM, to analyse the effects of IPM on food access, to ascertain the challenges affecting adoption of IPM and to analyse the factors affecting adoption of IPM amongst the smallholder farmers in Masembura communal area in Bindura. The study employed a cross sectional survey design, collecting data mainly using the research questionnaire. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and Binary Logistic Regression. The results from the first objective indicates that there are more male than female participants in agriculture. Independent T-test was used to test for the significance difference between adopters and non-adopters in terms of income, household size, farming experience and land size. The results from the Independent T-test indicated that at 5% significant level there was difference in terms of income (p=0.006), household size (p=0.030) and land size (p=0.00002). The study also shows that they were more males in the study (58.1%) and 54% in the 28-35 years age group as well as 69% who attained secondary education. The majority of farmers indicated that the cost of implementation of IPM and climate change were the greatest external challenge affecting adoption of IPM. It was concluded from the study that adoption was stalled because of these challenges. The results from the study also indicated that they were more food secure respondents (56.2%) under the adopters compared to (34.9%) under the non-adopters. There was significant difference in HFIAS between the adopters of IPM and the non-adopters of IPM (t_122.90=7.61,p<0.01. From the results, household size, land size, sex, farming experience and income were found to be statistically significant at 0.05 significance level. It was recommended from the stud the government look into policy that supports adoption of agriculture technology as well as providing research that makes use of local and available material for IPM as well as methods of propagating and multiplying them. Key Words IPM adoption Challenges Food Access Binary Logistic