Role of technology adoption in mediating relationships between participation, social capital and empowerment among agricultural sector modernisation of chilli farmers in Sri Lanka

The ultimate goal of community development is to enhance the quality of life leads to their empowerment. As a result, the Ministry of Agriculture is establishing national agricultural development projects to strengthen its capabilities to empower Sri Lankan chilli farmers. However, the concept of empowerment in Sri Lanka is still in its infant stage, and few models for developing countries have been developed. It is argued that governments should use empowerment measures compared to increasing economic activity to assess national progress and create appropriate strategies and policies. Before making the right decisions, it is essential to identify the factors that determine empowerment. Therefore, the primary goal of the current study is to investigate the key factors that influence the empowerment of Sri Lankan chilli farmers. Additionally, it looked at how technology adoption mediates effect the relationship between empowerment determinants and empowerment. The explanatory sequence method was used to collect the primary data, supplemented by qualitative data for in-depth interpretation. A questionnaire-based survey collected quantitative data from 322 respondents using multi-stage random sampling. Furthermore, three FGDs and six indepth interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data for the in-depth interpretation of research objective two. The quantitative data was analysed descriptively and inferentially using the software programs SPSS and Smart-PLS. In the meantime, qualitative data was utilised to support the statistical data. According to the findings, there was a high level of participation, social capital, technological adoption, and empowerment. Furthermore, the findings revealed that participation, social capital, technology adoption, and empowerment correlate significantly, and significant model factors explained 78.3% of the variance in empowerment. Moreover, the impacts of participation and social capital components on the technology adoption variable were explored; participation and social capital results were shown to significantly effect agricultural technology adoption, accounting for 55.1% of the variation in adoption. In addition, technology adoption served as a mediator of the relationship between participation, social capital, and empowerment. Based on theoretical justification and empirical findings, this study has added to the body of knowledge by supporting the significance of determinants of empowerment. The community members could be empowered within community development when they participated in development activities, have strong social capital, and adopt technologies. Furthermore, understanding how to enhance individual and collective empowerment can help create effective strategies, policies, and development projects to benefit the community and achieve sustainable agricultural empowerment. Finally, the current study's findings can be used by the Sri Lankan government, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and policymakers to develop strategies and policies for the future improvement of the farming community.

Text 122754.pdf Download (3MB) Official URL or Download Paper: https://ethesis.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/18656

Actions (login required)

View Item