DOI: 10.36347/sjavs.2017.v04i06.001

Pages: 214-222

Abstract: The farmer to farmer extension support is increasingly being supported in Zimbabwe as a strategy to complementing the public extension service in delivering extension support to smallholder farmers. Despite this increasing support, development practitioners and traditional conservative extensionists still doubt the effectiveness of the model in promoting technology adoption, agricultural productivity and development. This study sought to assess the impact of the farmer to farmer extension approach on improved farming practices adoption amongst 479 smallholder farmers selected randomly from 6 districts in Manicaland and Masvingo provinces of Zimbabwe. The study found that 80.6% of the sample farmers indicated adopting improved farming practices and the most widely adopted technologies were conservation farming related technologies, crop management practices related technologies, soil fertility management related technologies and farming as a business. Results of the binary logistic regression show that the farmer to farmer extension approach positively and significantly influences the adoption of improved farming practices. Other extension related variables that positively and significantly affect adoption of improved farming practices are the number of years of receiving extension support by the household and agricultural extension training. However, private input suppliers and contractors extension has a negative and significant effect on adoption of improved farming practices. The study recommends that the government actively pursue increasing coverage of the farmer to farmer extension support and should also put in place measures to continually upgrade the skills of extension farmers.