Agricultural Technology Adoption Research Articles

New Technological Knowledge, Rural and Urban Agriculture, and Steady State Economic Growth

We analyze the growth effects over space arising from the adoption of new agricultural technology in a rural-urban setting. We use a dynamic model to study the impacts of technology and learning on the steady state growth rates of rural and urban regions that produce agricultural goods. New applications of agricultural technologies are tested and adopted in the rural region and they are gradually learned by the urban region. Our analysis leads to four results. First, we determine the steady state growth rate of agricultural output per worker in the rural region. Second, we define an urban to rural region agricultural technology knowledge ratio, analyze its stability properties, and then use this ratio to compute the steady state growth rate of agricultural output per worker in the urban region. Third, for specific parameter values, we study the ratio of agricultural output per worker in the urban to the rural region when both regions have converged to their balanced growth paths. Finally, we discuss the policy implications of our analysis.

Adoption and welfare impacts of multiple agricultural technologies: evidence from eastern Zambia

AbstractUsing plot level panel data and multinomial endogenous switching regression, this article analyzes the adoption and welfare impacts of multiple agricultural technologies in eastern Zambia. We adapt a multinomial endogenous switching/treatment effect regression framework to correct for selection bias and endogeneity originating from both observed and unobserved heterogeneity. Results indicate that joint adoption of multiple agricultural technologies had greater impacts on crop yields, household incomes, and poverty than the adoption of individual components of the technology package. Our findings suggest that efforts aimed at raising household incomes and reducing poverty should focus on promoting the adoption of multiple agricultural technologies through provision of improved support services such as extension and input supply.

Climate policy vs. agricultural productivity shocks in a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling framework: The case of a developing economy

The main objective of this paper is to compare the cost of climate policy consistent with the 2 °C global warming target (Paris Agreement target) with the cost of climate change induced agricultural productivity shocks, using a recursive dynamic CGE model for India. The social cost of carbon, in terms of loss in agriculture sector, is estimated to be about 2 percent of GDP, at zero rate of discount, under conservative forecasts of fall in agricultural productivity. In comparison, the cost of climate policy consistent with the Paris Agreement target of 2 °C is about 1 percent of GDP. Thus, there is a strong case for the adoption of ambitious climate policy in India, provided other countries also adhere to the same. Besides, revenues generated from the carbon tax and emission allowance could be a means to support the development and adoption of new energy and agricultural technologies, to increase social sector expenditure and to reduce abatement costs.

An Evaluation of Climate Mitigation Adoption Technologies in Improving Rural Households‘ Livelihood Outcomes: The Case of Eastern Oromia, Ethiopia

Agricultural technologies are seen as an important route out of poverty in most of the developing countries. However, the rates of adoption of these technologies have remained low in most of these countries. This study aim at shedding some light on an evaluation of climate mitigation agricultural adoption technologies, and its contribution to rural livelihood outcomes in Gurawa district using cross sectional data collected from randomly selected 180 sample households during the 2016 crop production season. Multivariate probit and Propensity score matching was used to identify impacts of adoption technologies, and to identify factors affecting smallholder farmers‘ multiple technology adoption decisions. The results showed that the probability of adoption of agricultural technologies are influenced by several factors: family size, economical active members, education level, age of the household head, social status, soil fertility status, distance from extension office, land holding, distance to markets and distance to weather road. The impact evaluation results indicated that on average, the participation household in soil conservation has increased food security status and asset accumulation nearly by 38% and 15%, respectively, however it decreases the rate of poverty nearly by 51 percent. Use of improved seeds increased food security status and decreased poverty rate nearly by 38% and 44%, respectively. On the other hand, use of irrigation technology increased food security status and asset accumulation nearly by 23% and 31.8%, respectively, whereas it decreases the rate of poverty nearly by 29 percent. Similarly, adoption of row planting methods increased food security status and asset accumulation nearly by 28.7% and 15.5%, respectively, whereas it decreases the rate of poverty nearly by 51.5 percent. Therefore, policy makers should give due emphasis to the aforementioned variables to increase adoption technologies and improve the livelihood of the rural households.

Enhancing adoption of agricultural technologies requiring high initial investment among smallholders

Low and slow adoption of improved agricultural technologies among smallholders often frustrate technology development and promotion efforts in the developing world. That is especially true for technologies requiring high initial investment. This study investigates how increasing farmers' awareness and exposure to new agricultural technologies through the creation of systematic linkages in the research-to-development continuum affect adoption. The double hurdle and duration analysis models were applied to a sample of 820 smallholder households producing wheat and barley in Syria. The results show that increasing exposure and awareness of the zero tillage technology through organized field days and demonstration trials, complemented with providing free access to costly zero tillage seeders for first-time users, increases the propensity, speed, and intensity of adoption. The intensity of adoption is also positively influenced by wheat acreage and farmers' access to credit. The findings of this study highlight the importance of facilitating farmers' initial exposure and ease of trying out new agricultural technologies, especially those requiring high initial investment, at low or no cost in ensuring fast and large-scale adoption.

Adoption of broadcast agricultural technologies by the farmers on radio

Mass media plays an important role in creating awareness about new agricultural technologies among farmers. Radio is a powerful tool which can easily reach to a large number of people without the restriction of literacy, distance and cost effectiveness. The objective was to assess the adoption level of farmers towards agriculture information on radio. Descriptive research design was adopted. The study was carried out in Allahabad district of Uttar Pradesh during the year 2013-14. Chaka block as well as four villages was selected purposively. Fifteen farmers from each village were selected purposively. An interview schedule was prepared to collect the data. The data were tabulated and analyzed with the help of statistical techniques. It is concluded from the study that most of the respondents had fully adopted the agricultural information on radio. Adoption has no significant association with educational level and age of the respondents.

Gender Effect on Adoption of Selected Improved Rice Technologies in Ghana

The study sought to test the hypothesis that gender influences adoption of innovations in the rice sector of Ghana. There is an existence of gender gap in adoption of farm innovations in Ghana. After desk review, it was found that the existing literature has not provided a clear linkage between gender and adoption of agricultural technologies. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine how the interaction between gender and other socio-economic factors influence the incidence of adoption of improved rice variety and fertilizer. Drawing on 917 face-to-face interviews with rice producers, the results show that child care and limited access to land inhibit female incidence of adoption. It is recommended that the innovation system should take cognizance of female reproductive role and develop, as much as possible, technology options that rely less on intensive use of labour. Furthermore, government should facilitate the development of land markets to improve female access to land, especially in northern Ghana where cultural norms restrict women’s access to land.

Transitions in Cooperative Labour and the Constraints to the Adoption and Scaling-Up of Labour Intensive Agricultural Technologies

The research presented in this paper stems from a collaboration between researchers in the Benin Republic, Nigeria and Canada who are examining the opportunities to enhance the sustainable production of under-utilized indigenous vegetables through the micro-dosage of synthetic fertilizer. Because micro-dosing is a labour intensive technology, and is time sensitive in application, we sought to better understand how the availability of labour, as affected by changes in cooperative networks, might affect adoption and scaling up opportunities. The systems of cooperative labour described in this paper reflect the culture and traditions of the Betammaribe people, residing in the village of Koumagou B in northwest Benin. Our results indicate that cooperative labour systems among the Betammaribe are in transition and are being influenced by seasonal migration, the financial demands of formal education, the use of oxen by those with relative wealth, and off-farm employment. These pressures have led to the atomizing of Koumagou B households and a concomitant decline in the availability of cooperative labour. Interventions designed to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers must not inadvertently perpetuate social and economic inequalities or disadvantage those most vulnerable. It is this possibility that warrants careful consideration as we contemplate the benefits of adopting and scaling-up new agricultural technologies in the future.

Food for Hope: The Role of Personal Resources in Farmers’ Adoption of Green Technology

Innovative technologies are expected to play a significant role in climate change mitigation and adaptation within the agriculture sector and in global food security. Clearly, however, the value of technological innovations in the agriculture sector is premised on their adoption. Therefore, understanding why farmers differ in their adoption of innovative green technologies is important. In the following paper, we review current literature and set the theoretical framework for suggesting that three important personal resources correlate with agricultural technology adoption: positive emotions, character strengths (including specific ones), and cognitive goal-oriented hope. This study constitutes an important theoretical basis for future practical recommendations for environmental policy, positive psychology, and innovation adoption that may help narrow some of the gaps in technology adoption rates. In addition to its theoretical innovation, the importance of this study lies in its practical value: we focus on variables that are influenced through policy, education, and communication. The theoretical connections between positive psychology and environmental studies emerging from this study should be developed and explored. We hope that this new perspective will motivate future research on these factors within diverse farming communities across different nations.

Agricultural Extension and Technology Adoption for Food Security: Evidence from Uganda

AbstractWe evaluate causal impacts of a large‐scale agricultural extension program for smallholder women farmers on technology adoption and food security in Uganda through a regression discontinuity design that exploits an arbitrary distance‐to‐branch threshold for village program eligibility. We find eligible farmers used better basic cultivation methods, achieved improved food security. Given minimal changes in adoption of relatively expensive inputs, we attribute these gains to improved cultivation methods that require low upfront monetary investment. Farmers also modified their shock‐coping methods. These results highlight the role of information and training in boosting agricultural productivity among poor farmers and, indirectly, improving food security.

Is big data for big farming or for everyone? Perceptions in the Australian grains industry

Continued population growth and land intensification put increasing pressure on agricultural production and point to a need for a ‘step change’ in agriculture to meet the demand. Advances in digital technology—often encapsulated in the term ‘big data’—are increasingly assumed to be the way this challenge will be met. For this to be achieved, it is necessary to understand the ways that farmers and other industry stakeholders perceive big data and how big data might change the industry. It is also necessary to address emerging moral and ethical questions about access, cost, scale and support, which will determine whether farms will be able to be ‘big data enabled’. We conducted a discourse analysis of 26 interviews with stakeholders in the grains industry in Australia. Two main discourses were identified: (1) big data as a technology that will significantly benefit a few larger farms or businesses—Big Data is for Big Farming—and conversely (2) big data as a way for every farmer to benefit—Big Data is for Everyone. We relate these findings and the literature on adoption of technology and social studies in agriculture to the potential of farmers to embrace big data, from basic concerns about network infrastructure through to more complex issues of data collection and storage. The study highlights that there are key questions and issues that need to be addressed in further development of digital technology and big data in agriculture, specifically around trust, equity, distribution of benefits and access. This is the first study of big data in agriculture that takes a discourse analysis approach and thus interrogates the status quo and the prevailing norms and values driving decisions with impacts on both farmers and wider society.

Estimating the Productivity Impacts of Technology Adoption in the Presence of Misclassification

AbstractThis article examines the impact that misreporting adoption status has on the identification and estimation of causal effects on productivity. In particular, by comparing measurement error‐ridden self‐reported adoption data with measurement‐error‐free DNA‐fingerprinted adoption data, we investigate the extent to which such errors bias the causal effects of adoption on productivity. Taking DNA‐fingerprinted adoption data as a benchmark, we find 25% “false negatives” and 10% “false positives” in farmers’ responses. Our results show that misreporting of adoption status is not exogenous to household characteristics, and produces a bias of about 22 percentage points in the productivity impact of adoption. Ignoring inherent behavioral adjustments of farmers based on perceived adoption status has a bias of 13 percentage points. The results of this article underscore the crucial role that correct measurement of adoption plays in designing policy interventions that address constraints to technology adoption in agriculture.

The Impact of Innovation Platform Diversity in Agricultural Network Formation and Technology Adoption: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

This study investigates the diversity in impact of innovation platforms (IPs) on agricultural networks and technology adoption among 1200 households in nine sub-Saharan Africa countries. We explore the extent to which the 32 IPs implemented adopted the Integrated Agricultural Research for Development Approach (IAR4D). We find that IPs implemented according to the IAR4Dness principles are better at promoting networks of households with other farmers within villages. We find that IPs with more active members were more successful in promoting agricultural technologies, while IPs with many different stakeholders were less successful in promoting agricultural technologies.

Locus of Control and Technology Adoption in Africa: Evidence from Ethiopia

We investigate the implication of farmers’ locus of control on their technology adoption decisions. Our empirical analysis is based on two longitudinal surveys and hypothetical choice exercises conducted on Ethiopian farmers. We find that locus of control significantly predicts farmers’ technology adoption decisions, including use of chemical fertilizers, improved seeds, and irrigation. We show that individuals with an internal locus of control have higher propensity of adopting agricultural technologies, while those with an external locus of control seem less likely to adopt one or more of these agricultural technologies. We observe these empirical regularities in both datasets, and for both revealed measures of farmers’ technology adoption decisions as well as farmers’ hypothetical demand for agricultural technology. The results hold even in a more conservative fixed effects estimation approach, assuming locus of control as time-variant and dynamic behavioral trait. These findings provide psychological (behavioral) explanations for the low rates of adoption of profitable agricultural technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our results highlight that improving farmers’ psychological capital and non-cognitive skills may facilitate agricultural transformation. More generally, the results suggest that anti-poverty policies that only focus on relaxing short-term external constraints, including physical access to markets and technologies, may not sufficiently alleviate agricultural underinvestment.

Does gender matter in the adoption of push-pull pest management and other sustainable agricultural practices? Evidence from Western Kenya

This paper examines whether there is a difference in the adoption of push-pull pest management technology (PPT) and other sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) on field-plots managed by males or females and those that are jointly-managed by males and females using plot-level and gender disaggregated data from Western Kenya. The econometric results suggest that there was no gender heterogeneity in the adoption of PPT after controlling for the manager of the field-plot and plot characteristics. However, gender differences in the adoption pattern of some other SAPs were evident. Jointly-managed plots were more likely to receive animal manure and soil and water conservation measures compared to male-managed and female-managed plots. We did not find any gender differences in the adoption of maize-grain legume intercropping, crop rotation, fertilizer use and improved maize seeds. The analysis further showed a significant correlation between PPT and other SAPs, suggesting that the adoption of agricultural technologies is interrelated. Lack of evidence on gender differences suggests that promotion and dissemination of PPT can be supported equally for male and female cereal farmers. Wider adoption can be achieved through promoting awareness of the technology and offering training through field days.

Factors Influencing Adoption of Improved Robusta Coffee Technologies in Uganda

Abstract. This paper draws from a cross sectional survey of 252 coffee households and 8 key informants to examine the economic, farmer and institutional factors influencing adoption of improved Robusta coffee production technologies in Uganda. Data was subjected to descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. A logit model was estimated to ascertain the factors and their influence on adoption of improved coffee production technologies. Results revealed that access to credit, availability of off-farm income, level of education, labor availability and access to extension services significantly influenced adoption. Size of land holding, gender and age (of farmer) had no significant influence on adoption, suggesting that improved coffee technologies are mostly scale, gender and age-neutral. It was concluded that coffee households’ agricultural technology adoption decisions depend on their economic circumstances, farmer characteristic and institutional effectiveness. Keywords: Economic factors; Farmer characteristics; Institutional factors

Model results versus farmer realities. Operationalizing diversity within and among smallholder farm systems for a nuanced impact assessment of technology packages

Agricultural production in Northern Ghana is dominated by smallholder farm systems, which are characterized by low inputs and low outputs, declining soil fertility, large yield gaps and limited adoption of agricultural technologies. There is an urgent need for alternative farm designs that are more productive, yet more sustainable. Technology packages for sustainable intensification are promoted by an R4D project in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions of Ghana. In this paper, we analyse differences in perceived suitability, and modelled technical impact per technology package.We used a locally validated framework to categorise farm systems diversity that considers both, the horizontal (between households) and vertical (within households) dimension of diversity. Farm households were classified along a gradient of resource endowment. We selected one representative farm per type and per region to assess and compare their socio-economic and environmental performance (farm profitability, labour and soil organic matter inputs) using the whole-farm model Farm DESIGN. We then used Farm DESIGN to assess the potential impact of five proposed technology packages and to explore promising alternative farm configurations. We discussed model assumptions and results with farmers, including alternative cropping patterns and trade-offs. We evaluated the packages with different household members using a weighted scoring technique, subsequently juxtaposing model results with farmer perceptions.Large differences prevailed among and within farms per type and per region, with low resource endowed farms being projected to benefit most in relative and least in absolute terms from an adoption of the packages. Farmer feedback confirmed the accuracy of alternative farm configurations, as determined by the model. However, the feedback also revealed that the most profitable farm designs would be hard to attain in reality, particularly for members of low and medium resource endowed households, due to high initial investment costs. Within households, women were more positive about the packages than men, since men heavily penalized extra costs and labour, translating into a greater congruence of model results with the male evaluation. We discuss the importance of distinguishing between technical (technology i.e. purchased tools and inputs) and managerial (techniques e.g. row planting) package components. We conclude that operationalizing inter- and intra-household diversity is a fundamental step in identifying sensible solutions for the challenges smallholder farm systems face in Northern Ghana.

Determinants of Adoption of Ecosystem-Friendly Farming Practices for Sustainable Agricultural Development in Ghana

Agriculture plays a key role in economic growth, enhancing food security, poverty reduction and rural development. Future food security and economic independence of developing countries would depend on resilient ecosystems for a sustainable agricultural development. Intensive agriculture with high inputs has resulted in rapid crop production in Ghana, accompanied by negative environmental effects. The adoption of ecosystem-friendly farming technologies, which do not destroy nature, would ensure these negative effects are addressed. However, the rate of adoption of these practices has remained low in Ghana. This paper explores the determinants of adoption of ecosystem-friendly farming practices (EFFPs) in Northern region of Ghana with a sample of 300 farmers. The results revealed that sex, age, educational level, household size, production system, credit access, previous income, market access, and expected benefits from the adoption influenced EFFPs adoption. The adoption of EFFPs should be made a precondition for farmers to gain access to desirable opportunities such as input subsidies, good pricing among others.

Does Gender Matter in the Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Technologies? A Case of Push-Pull Technology in Kenya

This paper examines if there is difference in the adoption of push-pull technology and other sustainable agricultural practices on plots managed by males, females and plots that are jointly-managed by males and females using plot level and gender disaggregated data. The econometric results suggest that there is no gender heterogeneity in the adoption of push-pull technology when the plot manager and plot characteristics are controlled for, suggesting that the technology is gender neutral. However, gender differences in the adoption pattern of other practices are evident. Jointly managed plots are more likely to adopt animal manure and soil and water conservation compared to male and female-managed plots. We do not, however, find any gender differences in the adoption of the rest of the practices. The analysis further shows that there is a significant correlation between push-pull and other sustainable agricultural practices, suggesting that the adoption of agricultural technologies is interrelated. The gender neutrality suggests that a program that considers women in the promotion and dissemination of push-pull technology can enhance the food security status of women and their households.

Does women’s agency influence agriculture technology adoption?

This paper assesses women’s agency and its influence on technology adoption in agriculture. In undertaking the study, data was sourced from CARE Pathways Programme 2013 Annual Review Studies in Tan...