The Roles of Adoption and Behavior Change in Agricultural Policy

Research on the determinants of adoption of agricultural innovations (technologies and practices) has failed to converge towards a consistent explanation for why farmers choose to adopt new technologies and practices. This absence of convergence matters because it indicates that agricultural extension and policy are influenced by a body of literature that is often not able to offer clear recommendations on the variables that can be used to design policy interventions. Our analysis suggests that, in general, researchers have been too focused on understanding the adopter and the general farming context, and too little concerned with understanding the performance of the technology itself.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Adopters versus the Technology: Which Matters More when Predicting or Explaining Adoption?

Munguia¹,

Llewellyn²

2020

“…While care is needed in all contexts when defining adoption (Pannell and Claassen 2020), there is a particular need to carefully determine what is meant by adoption in smallholder settings. This is partly because of the relatively large influence of project or policy interventions, such as free provision of inputs (Andersson and D'Souza 2014).…”

Section: Specification Of Adoptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting Adoption of Innovations by Farmers: What is Different in Smallholder Agriculture?

Llewellyn¹,

Brown²

2020

Predictions of the speed and extent of adoption of new agricultural practices and technologies are needed to inform decisions and plans in agricultural policy, research and extension. Using an existing tool for predicting the adoption of agricultural innovations in developed countries as the starting point, we identify a number of distinctive features of smallholder agriculture in developing countries that affect agricultural adoption. Additional factors that need to be considered when making predictions of adoption by smallholder populations include: They may be relatively more heterogeneous in their constraints, capabilities, resources, attitudes and priorities; they may be more influenced by particular cultural norms; they may prioritize subsistence over profits; they may be less reliant on agriculture as their primary source of income; they may have relatively high future discount rates; nonlandowner farmers may be less able to capture the benefits resulting from an innovation; and there may be lower and slower diffusion of information across the farming population, with more variable extension quantity and quality.

“…Marketing research has relied on and contributed to the adoption literature (Heiman, Ferguson, and Zilberman 2020). Developing effective policy frameworks to enhance adoption of conservation technologies requires an understanding of the science behind the technologies and of their political and environmental impacts (Pannell and Claassen 2020).…”

Section: Innovative Aspects Of the Adoption Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Adoption of Innovations and Behavior Change to Improve Agricultural Policy

Pannell¹,

Zilberman²

2020

Research on the adoption of new practices and new behaviors in agriculture continues to grow and evolve, and its relevance to policy remains high. This special issue presents 10 papers that provide overviews of important aspects of the recent adoption literature, or identify gaps and opportunities in the literature. Adoption research has been innovative in a number of ways, including its recognition of adoption decision making as a process, not an event; its emphases on heterogeneity and learning; and its strong multidisciplinary flavor. There is scope for further innovation through efforts to enhance predictions of adoption, better understanding the balance between profit and non‐profit motivations, and better recognizing the influence on adoption of characteristics of the innovations, not just characteristics of the potential adopters and their contexts. Opportunities for policy include effort to support women farmers' adoption of beneficial innovations in developing countries, and use of tools and approaches from marketing in public extension programs