A Socio-economic analysis of factors Influencing jatropha curcas l. adoption by communal farmers in Shamva District of Zimbabwe

Abstract

Jatropha curcas L. or physic nut is a plant that has the potential of reducing rural poverty and increasing fuel supply. Worldwide interest in plant oils commenced when it became evident that fossil fuels were depleting and becoming more costly as a fuel resource. In Zimbabwe, the renewed attempt to promote the tree by the Government and other organizations has been met by a slow uptake despite seedlings being made available at affordable prices. This study sought to identify the socio-economic characteristics of smallholder communal farmers of Shamva District to establish how these charactersistics influence its adoption by employing the logistic regression model. Noting that the relative advantage of a technology is one of the attributes upon which an innovation is judged and has the strongest effect on the rate of adoption, the study explored the economic relative advantage of Jatropha adoption by investigating the economic incentives existing in the current policy environment through the use of the policy analysis matrix. The basic concepts and theoretical foundations of adoption analysis were discussed including a review of empirical evidence on factors affecting adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. An adoption theoretical framework and a sustainable livelihood conceptual framework were used. The study, made up of a sample size of 300, was carried out in ward 12 of Shamva District. Study findings revealed that among other socio-economic factors, farm size and off-farm income were the only significant factors determining Jatropha curcas L. adoption. An analysis of economic incentives existing in the Jatropha system revealed that while Jatropha had a positive net present value over its 35 year economic period at both private and economic prices to the tune of US$150/ha and US$1789/ha respectively, there was an overall implicit taxation amounting to US$1638/ha. However, the computed internal rate of return figures when compared to cost of capital revealed that Jatropha was only profitable at economic and not at private valuation of resources. Taken together with the overall implicit tax, the study showed that the current policy environment was not encouraging Jatropha adoption. The major conclusions and recommendations from the study were that Jatropha should be targeted to farmers with large pieces of land, hedges should be promoted for small land holders, markets and cheap processing machinery should be introduced in addition to reviewing the Jatropha seed price upwards to promote adoption.