Socio-Demographic and Economic Factors Associated with Adoption of Tarpaulins and Hermetic Bags for Maize Postharvest Handling in Rukwa and Katavi Regions, Tanzania

Abstract

Maize is the number one staple food in Tanzania, but its postharvest loss is a problem. Using tarpaulins and hermetic bags to dry and store maize, respectively, to reduce the loss has been being promoted, but their adoption remains low among smallholder maize farmers. This paper assesses the socio-demographic and economic factors associated with adoption of the two technologies. This paper is based on primary data which were collected mainly using a structured questionnaire from November 2022 to March 2023 from 365 smallholder maize farming households in Rukwa and Katavi Regions, Tanzania. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 27 to determine descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that 22.5% of the households were non-adopters of tarpaulins and hermetic bags, while 43.6% and 34.0% were lower and higher adopters, respectively. Pearson’s chi-square tests revealed that household income per capita was significantly associated with the adoption levels (Chi-Square = 11.610, p = 0.020, Cramer’s V = 0.126), while age, sex, education, farming experience, and household size were not significantly associated with the adoption (p > 0.05). It is concluded that low adoption of tarpaulins and hermetic bags for maize postharvest handling in the research area is primarily due to low income among smallholder maize farmers. To enhance the adoption, local government authorities should control the supply and pricing of tarpaulins and hermetic bags to make them more accessible to low-income farmers and promote the benefits of these technologies to end maize postharvest losses.