Evaluation of a Multimedia Extension Program in Honduras

Abstract

Technology adoption is a critically important issue in developing countries where rising populations depend directly on dwindling resource bases. New technologies have rapidly become available to small-scale agricultural producers in Central America whose production systems, rooted in ancient Mayan traditions, provide daily sustenance. Slashand-burn methods of field preparation developed reflexively over generations, as farmers sought to maximize efficiency within the physical and institutional parameters imposed on them. Abundant land resources of Mayan civilizations permitted farmers to abandon their fields until the land became naturally rejuvenated. However, unlike their ancestors, modern-day Central American farmers are not afforded this luxury. Colonial institutions and population growth have tightened land constraints and forced farmers to cultivate the same land year after year. Reduction in soil fertility has provided impetus for farmers in Central America and other developing areas to seek alternative production methods. Expanded markets and complementary technologies provided further impetus. The capacity of farmers to respond to such pressures often corresponds to the farmers' ability to purchase complementary human capital, either their own or in the form of hired labor. Small farmers, however, usually lack the funds to purchase necessary assistance for technology adoption. Education and training have long been considered indispensable to technology diffusion and the correction of attendant economic disequilibria.1 Lack of skill and knowledge lie at the root of production inefficiencies that have kept production systems in developing countries from reaching their technical frontiers.2 Local research stations often demonstrate that new and feasible technologies enhance production efficiency, but these technologies of-