Factors Affecting Adoption of Artificial Insemination Technology by Small Dairy Farmers in Rwanda: A Case of Rwamagana District

Abstract

The dairy industry plays a crucial role in the rural community’s economy and farmers’ livelihoods. However, the level of dairy productivity in Rwanda remains relatively low since the industry is dominated by the indigenous Ankole cattle which have poor genetic potential and low productive capacity. The use of Artificial Insemination Technology in the country is intended to allow rapid genetic improvement of dairy herds in order to ensure high productivity and better livelihood status among small dairy farmers and other stakeholders involved in the value chain system. Despite the efforts made by the responsible authorities to disseminate the respective breeding technology to small dairy farmers in the countryside, the level of adoption in some productive areas is still low. This study therefore focused on assessing factors affecting adoption of Artificial Insemination Technology by small dairy farmers in Rwanda; where Rwamagana district was chosen as a study area. Semi-structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews were used to collect raw data from small dairy farmers (AI users and non-users) and key informants respectively while secondary data were gathered from the responsible public authorities. Descriptive statistics and binary regression model were used for analyzing quantitative data whereas content analysis was employed to analyze qualitative data. The findings show that Artificial Insemination Technology remains an essential attribute for improving reproductive performance which may ultimately lead to high dairy productivity. Through binary logistic regression, the study depicted that age, gender, education status, extension services, household income, distance from AI centers and access to credit were statistically significant implying their positive contributions to the adoption of AI technology among small dairy farmers. For enhancing farmers’ knowledge and skills on AI technology, the responsible authorities should allocate more resources for capacity building in productive areas. This intervention would increase the rate of AI adoption and ultimately, increase productivity in the dairy industry.

Keywords: Dairy Industry; Artificial Insemination; Technology Adoption; Small Dairy Farmers