What happens between technico-institutional support and adoption of organic farming? A case study from Benin

Abstract

Current debate about organic farming emphasizes on the sustainability of farming systems, rural livelihood, and food quality on the technical and economic factors influencing the conversion to organic farming. The paper aims at describing the psychosocial adoption factors associated with institutional and technical support systems set up for the promotion of organic farming, based on a case study in Benin. We carried out this study in Djidja District in South Benin. We conducted semi-structured interviews with two leaders and five agricultural advisers from the Benin Organisation for Promoting Organic Agriculture and structured interviews with 100 farmers selected randomly among 255 organic farmers, 50 non-adopters to record why they did not adopt organic farming, and 25 farmers who reverted to conventional farming to understand their rationales. We used descriptive statistics and correlation for quantitative data analysis and discourse analysis for qualitative data analysis. We found that important factors that affected the adoption of organic farming were their perceptions of the characteristics of the technology, the economic factors, the institutional support for socio-technical learning networks, and the credit gained by the nongovernmental organization promoting organic farming. Farmers' needs for technical competence, social relatedness, and farm income safety acted as psychosocial mediators between the technical and institutional supports and their motivation to convert to organic farming. Alongside their technical abilities, the capacity of agricultural advisers to cope with psychosocial factors associated with the institutional support systems appears to be crucial in motivating farmers to adopt innovation.