Demographic Factors Influencing Adoption of Modern Technologies among Tomato Smallholder Farmers: A Case of Mboga Na Matunda Project in Iringa District

Abstract

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one the most useful vegetables in Africa and the world as it has contributed to income level of smallholder farmers. This study therefore assessed factors influencing the adoption of modern technologies among Tomato smallholder farmers in iringa District, Tanzania. The data were collected through interview, focus group discussion, and questionnaire from 60 respondents and analyzed by using SPSS version 20, and deductive approach method. The findings show that 83.3% of respondents were male. Age of the smallholder tomato producers, 21-40 were 70% active age group. The educational level of respondents are; primary education 51.7%, secondary education 33.3%, and post secondary education 15%. Household size 1-2 members is about 23.3%,3-4 members is 66.7%, and above 4 is 10% of respondents. The study confirm that, demographic factors including sex,age,education and household size influenced the decision making process of smallholder tomato producers of adopting technologies.