Effect of information channels on adoption of land use consolidation and maize production in Bugesera District Rwanda

Abstract

Rwanda is land locked country occupying about 26,338 kmz with a population of 11,689,689 inhabitants. The scattered and fiagmented agricultural lands coupled with the rapidly increasing population are a major constraint to productivity. In order to intensify production the government of Rwanda in 2008 initiated the land use consolidation policy that aimed at rearranged land parcels and consolidating their use through the crop intensification programme. Under the programme improved maize production was promoted through appropriate agronomic recommendations and subsidized seed and fertilizer. Information dissemination is the most important factor that determines adoption of technology. A study was carried out to identify the type of land use consolidation information channels used by maize farmers, the factors influencing adoption of land use consolidation and the effect of land use consolidation information channels on maize yield in Bugesera District, Rwanda. A cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire was used to enlist the information. Random sampling was used to get 135 farmers from four sectors of Bugesera District. The collected data was analyzed using STATA software package version 1 1. Most (87%) the farmers relied on farming for their liv ing experience, land size and land tenure varied with sectors. A majority (45%) of maize farmers got information from farmer groups while 34%, 11% and 4% got it from individual farmers, extension service and radio respectively. Most (71%) farmers adopted land use consolidation. Education, maize production, individual farmer, land tenure, distance from home place to the market, membership farmers’ groups, availability of improved seed and fertilizer significantly influenced adoption of land use consolidation. Increasing land size, farming experience and land under maize by one percent increased maize production by 82%, 12% and 22% respectively. Access to information for maize production was inadequate probabbl because of the poor infrastructure and the insufficient extension services. The adopted land use consolidation practice was not commensurate with the maize production. The govemment interventions should thus give emphasis to the researchers and farmers limitations in order to improve information dissemination delivery.