The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of participatory adaptation trial on adoption of agricultural technological
innovations for orphan crops among smallholder farmers in three districts in Uganda. A total of 120 participatory
adaptation trials were conducted in Tororo (60), Mukono (30) and Ntungamo (30) from the second season of 2010 to the first
season of 2012, a total of four seasons. The improved technologies introduced included high yielding varieties, row planting, and
pest control practices. One year after adaptation, in the second season of 2013, tracking of adoption was carried out by interviewing
300 randomly selected farmers in the study area. Of the adopters, majority (71.3%) had participated in the adaptation
phase. However, the remaining 28.7% of adopters had not participated in the adaptation trials – indicating considerable spill-over.
In addition, 67% of farmers stated that the local monitoring and evaluation committees set up during the adaptation trials (which
consisted of five committee members/ sub-county), were useful and had motivated them to adopt the improved technologies. In
addition, pre-existing farmer groups, especially in Tororo district, positively influenced technology adoption in the district with
89% of adopters having belonged to a farmer group. These findings indicate that participatory adaptation trials, was effective and
could be considered for increasing adoption of other technologies. For efficient technology transfer among resource poor
smallholder farmers, we recommend the use of participatory adaptation trials, combined with the formation of local monitoring
committees, as well as ensuring that researchers work with established farmer groups.