The Effect of Empowerment on the Adoption of Soil and Water Conservation Technology in the Loess Plateau of China

Abstract

Since there is a serious problem of land degradation and soil erosion in the Loess Plateau region of China, soil and water conservation technology (SWC) is necessary to protect land resources and reduce water loss, so as to promote the development of sustainable agriculture. By using the binary probit model, this study analyzes the effect of organizational, economic and self-empowerment on the adoption of soil and water conservation technology in the Loess Plateau region of China. The results indicated that all these empowerments have significant positive effects on the adoption of SWC, and there are significant gender differences in the impact. Organizational empowerment had a more significant impact on the adoption of SWC by male household heads, while economic empowerment and self-empowerment had a more significant effect on the adoption of SWC by female household heads. Therefore, more organizational and financial support for farmers is needed, and farmers themselves should have more confidence in the adoption of new technologies. Furthermore, given the gender differences in the impact, more gender equality should be ensured in the promotion of agricultural technologies.

Keywords

• empowerment
• organizational empowerment
• economic empowerment
• self-empowerment
• the adoption of soil and water conservation technology
• gender differences