Abstract

Irrigation technology has been reemphasized to adapt to the climate variability effects on agricultural production. However, scanty evidence exists on the adoption of irrigation technology among smallholder farmers in developing countries whose production is vulnerable to climate variability. Hence, this study determined factors contributing to the adoption of irrigation technology among smallholder farmers in Keiskammahoek, South Africa and determined the association between participation in government irrigation schemes and the adoption of irrigation technology. A two-stage sampling procedure was utilized to interview 102 smallholder farmers with a semi-structured questionnaire. Data generated were analyzed using the test of independence statistics and a probit regression model. The test of independence result shows a strong positive association between participation in irrigation scheme and the adoption of irrigation technology. The results from the probit model indicate that parameters such as farmer’s age, years of education, and number of livestock owned are significant with an inverse relationship to the farmer adopting irrigation technology. Farmers with ten or more years of farming experience are likely to adopt irrigation technology more than their counterparts with five or fewer years. Based on these results, we recommend irrigation technology practices as a water-saving initiative and as an adaptation strategy for water scarcity imposed by climate variability in South Africa.