| The purpose of this study was to contribute to the understanding of characteristics associated with the adoption of maize hybrid variety (MH18) and condom as technologies that address interrelated issues of death and illness from AIDS/HIV, food insecurity, and population pressure on land. These interrelated issues aggravate the poverty conditions of most rural households in Malawi. With these interrelated problems in focus, this study addressed problems of slow, uneven, and non-adoption of technologies essential for supporting household production and reproduction functions. The study sample was 143 individual males and females as heads of rural households in Thumbwe Extension Planning Area (EPA) within Blantyre Agricultural Development Division (ADD).;Major findings indicated that the slow, uneven, and non-adoption for MH18 can mainly be attributed to lack of reliable incomes and credit packages, particularly for women. Despite the economic constraints, both adopters and non-adopters of MH18 males as well as females, indicated high acceptance of MH18 based on high quality performance in the field, home processing and consumption and potential for cash income. In support of previous related studies, this study revealed that agricultural delivery system mainly targeted men with agricultural information, creating a critical technical gap between men and women to the disadvantage of women. Women's lower education and literacy rates, unreliable incomes, land shortages and sole responsibility to manage the farm and household production in cases of female-headed households complicated the problems. On the other hand, the health delivery system targeted women first with the condom information mainly for family planning than AIDS/HIV control. This strategy indicates more problems and confusions, particularly, with marital dyads, in discussions leading to common understanding and collaboration in safer sexual behaviours and other reproductive concerns. The confusion is evidences by both male and female perceptions on use of condom to be more for family planning than HIV/AIDS control, the myths and stigma associated with condom use.;Based on the findings, it is recommended that the agricultural delivery system design and implement timely and clientele-customized financial, information, educational and communication packages. The packages should focus on vulnerable socio-economic groups such as women from both male and female headed households, males and females depending on unreliable income sources, the illiterate and those with very low or no education at all. The health delivery system needs to investigate and encourage innovative strategies for adequate information, and a suitable language for convincing men and women to effectively communicate safer sexual behaviour. Integrated Technology, Education and Communication Packages (ITEIC), coined by the researcher are recommended for further action and development research. The ITEIC package does not only address the interrelated problems in an integrated manner and specific to differences in demographic characteristics, but maximizes social learning mechanisms which provide opportunities to exchange information and ideas in a series of facilitated discussion groups and creating social pressure for appropriate adoption practices. (Abstract shortened by UMI.). |
