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Farmers willingness to adopt genetically modified maize seeds in Ghana

John K.M. Kuwornu (Corresponding author) Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, P. O. Box LG 68, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana Tel: +233 245 131 807 E-mail: jkuwornu@ug.edu.gh / jkuwornu@gmail.com Daniel B. Sarpong Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, P. O. Box LG 68, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana Tel: +233 244 737 745 E-mail: dbsarpong@ug.edu.gh Wilberforce K. Osei Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, P. O. Box LG 68, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana E-mail: wilberforcek@yahoo.co.uk Abstract Cereals production, especially maize, in Ghana is characterized by low yields and productivity, which are compounded in the long run by production fluctuations due to drought, pests, and diseases. Chemical pesticides and, to a limited extent, integrated pest management (IPM) practices have been applied to control the pests, weeds and diseases but with limited success. However recent studies indicate that genetic modification technology of some of these crops can be employed to solve these challenges. Following the development and introduction of genetically modified maize technology in some developing countries such as South Africa, this study sought to determine farmers willingness to adopt genetically modified (GM) maize seed varieties in the Sunyani Municipality (a major cereal area) in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana The study examines farmers willingness to adopt three types of GM maize: Bt maize, Ht maize, and Bt/Ht maize. Data was collected from 160 commercial farmers from three maize producing areas using questionnaires. In this study, a conceptual framework was developed for the decision to adopt and econometric analyses of the choices are presented using Binary Logit and Multinomial Logit regression model. The empirical results show that age, gender, experience, land tenure and education are significant factors likely influence the adoption of GM maize seeds. However, on a case by case basis with respect to the individual GM maize seeds varieties, age had a positive effect on the farmers' willingness to adopt Bt maize seed while gender and education variables had a negative influence on Bt maize seed adoption. Age, education, experience, land tenure and extension contact variables had a positive effect on the likely adoption of Ht maize seed variety. For Bt/Ht maize seed variety variables -age and extension contact - had a positive effect on adoption of Bt/Ht maize seed variety, whiles variables -FBO member and family labour had a negative effect on its likely adoption. It is recommended, that campaigns toward adoption of GM maize seeds should focus on older, male, educated, experienced and permanent land-owning farmers.

Key Words: Farmers, Adoption, GM maize seeds, Binary Logit model, Multinomial Logit Model, Ghana

1. Introduction Maize is one of the important cereal crop produce and also staple food of great socioeconomic importance in Ghana. It is produced in most parts of the country, especially in the Guinea Savannah woodland

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vegetation zone. Of the total land of 13,628,179 hectares under agricultural cultivation in Ghana, maize production occupies about 740,000 hectares (MOFA, 2002). The importance of maize as a crop to the people of Ghana had attracted efforts to improve its production in terms of quantity and quality. Unfortunately maize production in Ghana is characterized by low productivity, which is compounded in the long run by production shocks due to drought, pests, and diseases. Chemical pesticides and, to a limited extent, integrated pest management (IPM) practices have been applied to control the pests, weeds and diseases but with limited success. In view of this, efforts have been channelled through biological and agronomic research into the development of varieties that are high-yielding, disease resistant and insect resistant along with best cultural practices. This study derives its justification from the fact that maize is one of the main staple foods among rural households in Ghana. However, there has been a fluctuating trend in maize production over the last decade, which threatens household food security and income sources. Secondly, In Ghana, a draft legislative instrument contingent on the 1972 seed law allows research to be conducted on genetically modified seeds under a controlled environment. Thus, an economic study such as this is relevant to be carried under this legislative instrument so that Ghana could benefit from such opportunities. To the best of our knowledge, micro level studies focusing on the adoption of GM technologies targeted at developing countries such as Ghana are very limited and this study seeks to fill some of the gap by determining farmers willingness to adopt GM maize seed in the Sunyani municipality. This study will help provide additional knowledge on the awareness and adoption of GM maize varieties in Ghana. This could assist decision makers, policymakers, scientists and the general public as a whole in making informed judgments about GM maize seed. Several researches have been conducted on adoption of an innovation. Adoption of a new technology is an important decision making process and hence requisite and comprehensive knowledge about the technology need to be provided. Studies have identified several parameters believed to be influencing farmers decision to adopt a technology (e.g., Payne et.al, 2003; Lwayo et.al, 2008; Adesina and Chianu, 2002). This study intends to determine farmers willingness to adopt GM maize varieties and the factors likely to affect the willingness to adopt in the Sunyani municipality in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. The rest of the paper is structured as follows: Section 2 presents the methodology; Section 3 presents the

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results and discussion, while Section 4 concludes with some policy recommendations. 2. Methodology 2.1 Research Setting The Sunyani Municipality is located in the heart of Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana, between Latitudes 70 55N and 70 35N and Longitudes 20 W and 20 30W. It shares boundaries with the Wenchi Municipality to the north, Berekum and Dormaa Districts to the west, Asutifi District to the south and Tano South District to the east. Sunyani West district with its Odumase as its Capital. The municipality falls within the West Semi-Equatorial Climate Zone. Its mean monthly temperature varies between 23 degrees celsius and 33 degree celsius, with the lowest in August and the highest in March/April. The municipality, like other parts of the region, enjoys heavy to moderate rainfall, recording an average total rainfall between 1,088 mm and 1,197 mm. It experiences two rainfall regimes. The major rainy season occurs from April to the end of July, while the period from September to late October is the minor wet season. Found within a transitional zone, the southern portion is covered with tropical soft woods, whilst the northern sector is covered mainly with Guinea Savannah woodland. The forest cover in certain parts of the municipality is, however, degenerating into the Savannah type through human activities, such as agriculture and settlement expansion. 2.2 Sampling and Data Collection This study used three definitions of genetic modification of maize seed for adoption: Insect resistance maize seed (Bt maize), herbicide resistance maize seed (HT maize) and stacked maize (Bt/HT maize). The data was obtained through interview by way of questionnaires. Purposive sampling was used, as first the research needed to select three commercial maize growing communities, among the numerous maize producing localities in the Sunyani municipality. After that, simple random samples (70, 50 and 40 farmers) were taken separately from each group (Odumase, Nsuatare and Chiraa) in the municipality. The contingent valuation method was employed to elicit farmers responses by creating and presenting a hypothetical, but, realistic scenario to the farmers. GM maize seed technology was explained in detail to all farmers; before they were asked series of questions whether they would be willing to adopt GM maize seed varieties if it were available. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 and Stata version10.

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2.3 Methods of Data Analysis 2.3.1 Contingent Valuation The study developed a scenario that dealt comprehensively with all the aspects of genetically modified organisms. It was assumed that the technology was new to the farmers, thus a step by step approach education was adopted to explain this technology to them. The botany, physiology, advantages, disadvantages, etc, of this technology were some of the issues that were discussed and afterwards opportunity was given to farmers for them to ask questions, before questionnaires were administered. 2.3.2 Binary Logit Model The underlying economic theory on factors that are thought to influence the decision to adopt is based on the understanding that farmers are rational. They form an impression of the potential costs and benefits of a candidate technology usually through their own research either by experimenting with the technology or through analysis of secondary information from early adopters and key informants in the community. In economic theory the farmer is thought to optimize an objective function such as expected utility or net present value of benefits from adopting a given technology. The study employs a logit model following from studies conducted by researchers (Payne et al., 2003; Lwayo et al., 2008) which employed this model. In adoption studies, the use of probability models is conceptually preferable to conventional linear regression models because parameter estimates from the former overcome most weaknesses of linear probability models, namely: they provide parameter estimates which are asymptotically consistent, and efficient. The logit model was preferred to the probit model because of its simplicity. The general model is a binary choice model involving estimation of the probability of adoption of a given practice (Y) as a function of a vector of explanatory variables (X):

Prob(Y=1) = F(X)

(1)

Prob(Y=0) = 1 - F( X)

(2)

Where Yi is the observed response for the ith observation of the response variable Y. Yi = 1 for a farmer willing to adopt, and Yi = 0 for a farmer who is unwilling to adopt, and X is a set of explanatory variables such as age, sex, off-farm business, and farm size, which determine the probability of adoption of a GM

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maize seed technology (P). The Binary Logit model uses a logistic cumulative distribution function (c.d.f) to estimate P as follows:

P(Y=1)/P(1-Y) = Pi/1-Pi =

'X

(3)

InPi/1-Pi=X

(4)

2.3.3 Multinomial Logit Model: The multinomial model was used to express the probability of a farmer making a particular choice of GM maize seed variety. The model is predicted on the utility that the farmer would derived by choosing a particular GM maize seed variety. A utility function is therefore assumed to exist for the farmers. The farmers are assumed to be rational in their decision making process and the utilities accruing to them are additive. The farmers decision to choose a particular GM maize seed variety is characterized as a polychotomous choice among four mutually exclusive alternatives. Let Uij denote the utility that the farmer would derive, by choosing one of the four outcomes;

Uij = j Xij + eij

(5)

Where j varies and Xij remains constant across alternatives; and eij is a random error term reflecting intrinsically random choice behaviour, measurement or specification error and unobserved attributes of the alternative outcomes. Let also Pij (j = 0, 1, 2, 3) denote the probability associated with the four choices, with j = 0 if the farmer opts for conventional maize variety (Obaatanpa), j = 1 if the farmer opts for Bt maize seeds, j = 2 if the farmer opts for Ht maize seeds and j = 3 if the farmer opts for Bt/Ht maize seeds. The multinomial logit model (Babcock et al., 1995), is given by

(6)

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for j =1, 2, 3. Where Pij is the probability of being in each of the groups 1, 2 and 3.

(7)

for j = 0 Pio is the probability of being in the reference group or group 0. In practice, when estimating the model (equation 8) the coefficients of the reference group are normalized to zero (Maddala, 1990; Greene, 1993; Kimhi, 1994). This is because the probabilities for all the choices must sum up to unity (Greene, 1993). Hence, for 4 choices only (4-1) distinct sets of parameters can be identified and estimated. The natural logarithms of the odd ratio of equations (3) and (4) give the estimating equation as (equation 8):

In P/1-P= 0+1AGE+2AGE2+3EDUC+4GENDER+5EXPERIENCE+6FARMSIZE+7FBOMEMBER+8OFFBUS +9TENURE+ 10FARMLAB+11CROPSYS+ 12EXTCONTACT +i (8)

This denotes the relative probability of each of group 1, 2 and 3 to the probability of the reference group. The estimated coefficients for each choice therefore reflect the effects of Xi`s on the likelihood of a farmer choosing that alternative relative to the reference group. The description and measurement of the variables in equation (8) are presented in table 1 below.

Table 1: Definition, Measurements and Descriptive Statistics the of Variables Used in the Analysis Variable Definition and measurement Mean Std. dev

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EDUC AGE FAMILYLAB FARMSIZE FBOMEMBER OFFBUS TENURE Education of farmer (years) Age of farmer (years) Number of unpaid family labor Acres of land allocated to maize production A member of any farmer-based organization (1=Yes 0= Otherwise) Having other form of business (1=Yes 0= Otherwise) Form of land 0=Otherwise) ownership (1=Outright purchase 9.00 40.00 2.00 5.44 0.49 0.71 0.45 4.99 5.89 1.96 3.01 0.50 0.45 0.50

CROPSYS EXTSERVICE GENDER EXPERIENCE

System of cropping (1=Monocropping 0= Otherwise) Access to agricultural extension agents (1=Yes Otherwise) Gender respondent (1=Male 0=Female) Years of growing maize 0=

0.62 0.73 0.57 9.86

0.49 0.44 0.50 6.15

In table 1, 57 percent of the respondents in the Sunyani municipality were males whilst, 45 percent belonged to farmer based organisation and 73 percent having access to extension. The number of years of education range from one to fourteen. The mean number of years of education for the respondents was nine years. The mean age of the sampled maize farmers in the Sunyani municipality was forty years. The mean number of years in cultivating maize was nine years. Forty nine percent of the sampled maize farmers belonged to a farmer based organisation whilst 71 percent having other form of business besides maize production. Farmers who owned farmland through inheritance or paid with cash were considered outright purchase whilst those sampled maize farmers who practised sharecropping (with the forestry department), renting and those who operated on family lands were considered temporary ownership. The latter is characterised by insecurity as the type of crop to grow, type of agronomic system to practise is externally determined hence the output decision cannot be the sole responsibility of the farmer. The mean number of sampled maize farmers having permanent ownership was 45%. In section 3 below presents the actual results of the study.

3. Empirical Results and Discussion 3.1 Awareness of Farmers Willingness to Adopt GM Maize Seeds Out of the 70 respondents from the Odumase community 10 farmers were aware of the GM maize

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technology, whiles none of the 50 and 40 farmers in the Nsuatare and Chiraa respectively were aware of the GM maize technology.

3.2 Farmers Willingness Decision Figure 1 shows the proportion of farmers that were willing to adopt the GM maize seeds after presenting them with the contingent valuation scenario. Fifty eight (58) farmers in the Odumase farming community were willing to adopt whiles 35 farmers from Nsuatare and 29 farmers from Chiraa were willing to adopt the GM maize seeds.

Figure 1: Proportions of Farmers Willing To Adopt the GM Maize Seeds Technology across the Maize Farming Communities 3.3 Binary Logit Estimates Table 2 presents the estimated coefficients of the factors that influence GM maize seed, using Binary Logit model. The log-likelihood ratio test statistic of 74.66 with a p-value 0.000 indicates the explanatory variables are collectively significant in explaining farmers willingness to adopt the GM maize seeds technology. Furthermore, the pseudo R2 of 0.43 reveals that, about 43 percent of the variation in the dependent variable (farmers willingness to adopt GM maize seeds) is explained by the explanatory variables. The Binary Logit estimates reveal that age, gender, education, experience and land tenure were the statistically significant variables that were likely to influence adoption of GM maize in the Sunyani Municipality. The age of the farmer had a negative significant effect on the willingness to adopt GM maize; however, when age was squared, the effect became positive and significant (implying that older farmers are more

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likely to adopt GM maize compared with younger ones). The result for age is consistent with (Gamba et. al., 2003; Gockowski and Ndoumbe, 2004; McBride and Daberkow, 2003). The gender of the farmers had a positive significant influence on the farmers willingness to adopt the GM maize seeds. Thus, male farmers are more likely to adopt the GM maize seeds. The result for gender is somewhat consistent with Adesina and Chianu (2002). The education variable significantly influences the farmers willingness to adopt the GM maize seeds. Thus, farmers average level of education often plays a crucial role in technology adoption, because better-educative farmers have a greater ability to understand and manage new technologies. This result is consistent with Buyinza (2008). The experience variable (number of years of cultivating only maize) had a positive significant influence on the farmers likelihood of adopting GM maize seeds. The result for experience is consistent with Fernandez-Cornejo et. al.,(2002). The land tenure variable had a negative significant influence on the farmers likelihood of adopting the GM maize seeds. The result for land tenure is consistent with Garming and Waibel, (2007) who found that permanent landowners were more likely to adopt alternative pest control than those who occupied it (i.e., the land) temporarily. 3.3.1 Marginal effects of the Estimated Significant Variables The marginal effect for education suggests that, ceteris paribus, a farmer with one more year of education than the average level in the sample has a higher probability 0.02 of deciding to adopt a GM maize seed technology. Next, the marginal effect of the age variable implies, ceteris paribus, an additional year added to a young farmers age decreases the probability of deciding to adopt the GM maize seed technology by 0.10. On the contrary, as a farmer ages ceteris paribus the chance of adopting the GM maize seed technology increases. Also the positive sign of the gender variable implies that males are more likely to adopt the GM maize seed technology than females would by a probability of 0.09. Table 2: Binary Logit estimates of the willingness to adopt any of the GM maize technology Variable C Age Age-square Gender Educ Experience Landtenure Farmsize Cropsys Estimate 23.4995 -1.123917** 0.0117951** 0.9598785* 0.2666067*** 0.0429601** -0.1536576* 0.0914751 0.6074801 Std error 11.41854 0.5210582 0.0059239 0.5579846 0.0623615 0.0533753 0.5510764 0.0910196 0.5413144 p-value 0.040 0.031 0.046 0.085 0.000 0.0421 0.0780 0.315 0.262 Marginal effects -0.1040588** 0.0010921** 0.0950689* 0.024684*** 0.0039775** -0.0143196* 0.0084693 0.0599021

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Offbus Familylab 0.9316505 -0.1015822 0.7054851 0.1605466 0.187 0.527 0.1017941 -0.0094051

Fbomember 0.3039982 0.6195898 0.624 Extcontact -0.6038403 0.6805172 0.375 0.0281516 Note: (***), (**), (*) represents 1, 5 and 10 percent significant levels respectively. 160 observations, Likelihood Ratio test statistic 2 = 74.66 (p-value=0.0000).Log likelihood = -50.378947. Pseudo-R2 = 0.4256

3.4 Significant Variables for the Multinomial Model Table 3 presents the estimated coefficients of the factors that influence the particular choice of GM maize seeds, using the Multinomial Logit regression model. Age, agesquare, gender and education were the factors likely to influence the Bt maize adoption in the Sunyani municipality in Ghana. Age positively influenced the adoption of the Bt maize whiles the other significant factors (agesquare, gender and education) had a negative influence on Bt maize adoption. Besides agesquare, all other factors (age, gender, education, experience, land tenure and extension contact) had a positive influence on the adoption of HT maize. Lastly age-square, family labour, member of farm-based organization exerted a negative influence on the adoption of Bt/Ht maize while age and extension contact positively influences the adoption of Bt/HT maize. The explanations for the positive and negative influence on the adoption of the GM maize are given in the earlier discussion with respect to the Binary Logit regression model.

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Table 3: Multinomial Logit estimates of the choice of GM maize seeds with reference to the conventional maize seed (obaatanpa) Variable C Age Age-square Gender Educ Experience Landtenure Farmsize Cropsys Offbus Familylab Fbomember Extcontact Estimate -26.37634** 1.322658** -0.0144424** -1.112828* -0.2374298*** -0.0617523 0.8231895 -0.0871014 -0.6545299 -0.9896044 -0.0754485 -0.6417126 1.118856 Bt maize Std error 11.29417 0.5209013 0.0059764 0.5901975 0.0680736 0.0567927 0.6050112 0.0994207 0.5949842 0.7596756 0.1698727 0.6606098 0.7206334 Ht maize Std error 10.18186 0.5216253 0.0065516 0.4800441 0.0689067 0.5630112 0.5044153 0.0785576 0.5135181 0.5452666 0.1562389 0.5094195 0.5630112 Bt/Ht maize Std error 21.80183 1.184945 0.0160396 0.5969759 0.0905288 0.0481448 0.6208988 0.0975571 0.6284805 0.6653797 0.2419234 0.6611987 0.7821953

p-value 0.020 0.011 0.016 0.059 0.000 0.277 0.174 0.381 0.271 0.193 0.657 0.331 0.121

Estimate -23.31388** 1.082483** -.012763* -0.412414 0.1186639* 1.014351* 1.358732*** -0.002733 -0.354333 -0.359715 -0.254423 -0.381539 1.014351*

p-value 0.022 0.038 0.051 0.390 0.085 0.068 0.007 0.972 0.490 0.509 0.103 0.454 0.072

Estimate -64.22472*** 3.41316*** -0.046176*** -0.717079 0.0480401 0.0684917 0.9328185

p-value 0.003 0.004 0.004 0.230 0.596 0.155 0.133 0.731 0.656 0.888 0.005 0.017 0.009

0.0335476 0.2801817 0.0941159 -0.685678*** -1.571363** 2.05306***

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4. Conclusions and Recommendations This study sought to determine the farmers willingness to adopt genetically modified maize seeds in the Sunyani Municipality in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. To achieve this main objective, specific objectives were also set out to determine the farmers awareness of GM maize seed technology and to examine the factors likely to influence farmers willingness to adopt maize seed varieties in the Sunyani municipality. To address these specific objectives, data were collected using questionnaires from 160 commercial maize farmers in three maize farming communities namely Odumase, Chiraa and Nsuatare in the Sunyani Municipality. The results reveal that, in general, most maize farmers (93.8%) in the Sunyani municipality are not aware of the GM maize technology. However, majority of these farmers (76.25%) expressed interest and are willing to adopt the GM maize seeds should it be introduced in Ghana. Thus, out of the 160 maize farmers interviewed only 10 farmers (from the Odumase farming community) were aware of the GM maize seed technology. In the Odumase farming community 58 maize farmers were willing to adopt the GM maize seeds whilst the other 12 maize farmers were not willing to adopt should the GM maize seeds should it become available in Ghana. Moreover out of the forty (40) farmers interviewed in Chiraa, only 29 maize farmers were willing to adopt the GM maize seed whiles the other 11 factors were not willing to adopt. With the Nsuatare farming community, 35 maize farmers were willing to adopt the GM maize should it be introduced in Ghana whilst the other 15 were not willing to adopt.

The Binary Logit model results reveal that, factors likely to affect the farmers willingness to adopt GM maize are Age, Age-square, Gender, Experience, Education and Land tenure were the significant factors that are likely to affect the farmers willingness decision to adopt the GM maize technology. The age of the farmer had a negative significant effect on the willingness to adopt GM maize; however, when age was squared, the effect became

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positive and significant (implying that older farmers are more likely to adopt GM maize compared with younger ones). The result for age is consistent with (Gamba et. al., 2003; Gockowski and Ndoumbe, 2004; McBride and Daberkow, 2003). The gender of the farmers had a positive significant influence on the farmers willingness to adopt the GM maize seeds. Thus, male farmers are more likely to adopt the GM maize seeds. The result for gender is somewhat consistent with Adesina and Chianu (2002). The education variable significantly influences the farmers willingness to adopt the GM maize seeds. Thus, farmers average level of education often plays a crucial role in technology adoption, because better-educative farmers have a greater ability to understand and manage new technologies. This result is consistent with Buyinza (2008). The experience variable (number of years of cultivating only maize) had a positive significant influence on the farmers likelihood of adopting GM maize seeds. The result for experience is consistent with Fernandez-Cornejo et. al.,(2002). The land tenure variable had a negative significant influence on the farmers likelihood of adopting the GM maize seeds. The result for land tenure is consistent with Garming and Waibel, (2007) who found that permanent landowners were more likely to adopt alternative pest control than those who occupied it (i.e., the land) temporarily.

The results of The Multinomial Logit regression model reveal that age had a positive effect on the farmers' willingness to adopt Bt maize seed while gender and education variables had a negative influence on Bt maize seed adoption. Age, education, experience, land tenure and extension contact variables had a positive effect on the likely adoption of Ht maize seed variety. For Bt/Ht maize seed variety, the variables -age and extension contact had a positive effect on adoption of Bt/Ht maize seed variety, whiles the variables -FBO member and family labour had a negative effect on its likely adoption.

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The results also reveal that Age of the farmer is a significant variable in explaining the adoption of all the three varieties GM maize seeds. Hence, the age of the farmer would play an important in adopting of the GM maize technology when it is introduced in Ghana.

Following from the result that majority of the farmers are not aware of the GM maize technology GM maize seed technology, sensitization programs should be introduced into agricultural programs to educate farmers within the various maize producing areas in Ghana before any policy on GM maize seed technology is developed and introduced. The study recommends that efforts to increase the willingness to adopt GM maize seeds for enhanced farm efficiency should focus on farmers age, gender, experience, land tenure system and education.

References Adesina, A. A., and J. Chianu, J. (2000). Econometric analysis of the determinants of adoption alley farming by farmers in the zone of southwest Cameron. Agriculture, Ecosystem and Environment, 80, 255-265. Adesina, A. A., and Chianu, J. (2002). Determinants Of Farmers' Adoption And Adaptation Of Alley Farming Technology In Nigeria. Agroforestry Systems. Agricultural Economics 55, 99-112. Buyinza, A. (2008). The Adoption of Alley Farming and Mucuna: Lessons for Research, Development, And Extension Agroforestry Systems. Environmental Research Journal, 56, 193 202. Fernandez-Cornejo, J., and McBride, W. D. (2002). Adoption of Bioengineered Crops, USDA. Economic Research Service, Agricultural Economics Report 810, Washington DC (USA). Gamba ,P., Ngugi,C.,Verkuiji,H., Mwangi, W., and Kiriswa. F. (2003). Wheat Farmers' Seed Management and Varietal Adoption in Kenya .Mexico, D.F.: CIMMYT, Egerton University ,Njoro,Kenya, and KARI,Nariobi. Garming, H. and Waibel, H. (2007). Do Wheat Farmers Adopt IPM For Health Reasons?-The Case Of Nicaraguan Vegetable Growers. Tropentang 2007, University of Kassel-Witzenhausen and University of Gottingen, October 19-11,2007, Conference on International Agricultural Research for Development. Gockowski, J. and Ndoumbe, M. (2004). The Adoption of Intensive Monocrop Horticulture in Southern Cameroon. Agricultural Economics, 30, 195-202, Elsevier.

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Greene, W. (1993). Econometric Analysis. Third Edition. Printice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Kimhi, A. (1994). Participation of Farm Owners in Farm and Off-farm Work Including the Option of FullTime Off-Farm Work. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 45(2), 232-239. Lwayo, M.K. and Maritim, H.K. (2008) Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Farmers' Decisions to Adopt Farm Forestry: An Application of Multivariate Logistic Analysis in Busia District, Kenya.http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/ARTICLE/WFC/XII/0096-B1.HTM Maddala, G. S. (1990). Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. McBride, W. W. and Daberkow, S. G. (2003). Information and Precision Farming Technologies. Journal of Agribusiness, 21, 21 28. MOFA, (2002). Ministry of Food and Agriculture Annual Report Ending. Payne, J., Fernandez-Cornejo, J. and Daberkow, S. (2003). Factors affecting the Likelihood of Corn Rootworm Bt seed Adoption [Online]http://www.agbioforum.org/v6n12/index.htm

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