Gender differences in the adoption of agricultural technology: the case of improved maize varieties in southern Ethiopia

This study explores the role of gender-based decision-making in the adoption of improved maize varieties. The primary data were collected in 2018 from 560 farm households in Dawuro Zone, Ethiopia, and were comparatively analyzed across gender categories of households: male decision-making, female decision-making and joint decision-making, using a double-hurdle model. The results show that the intensity of improved maize varieties adopted on plots managed by male, female, and joint decision-making households are significantly different. This effect diminishes in the model when we take other factors into account. Using the gender of the heads of households and agricultural decision-maker, the current study did not find significant evidence of gender difference in the rate and intensity of adoption of improved maize varieties. The intensity of adoption of improved maize varieties is lower for female-headed households where decisions are made jointly by men and women, compared to the male-headed households where decisions are made jointly. As the economic status is a key driver of adoption of improved maize varieties, it is recommended that the policies and programs that aim at developing and disseminating quality maize seeds in southern Ethiopia should emphatically support economically less endowed but more gender egalitarian joint decision-making households, especially female-headed ones.