9 pages, In agricultural research for development adoption of new technology tends to be cast in categories: adoption, partial adoption, dis-adoption or non-adoption. While these may serve for pragmatic classification and measures for project success or impact they fail to properly acknowledge the ongoing and independent efforts of farmers (and others) in experimentation and integration of knowledge across a range of sources. This paper explores responses to practices for cattle management introduced during a research project, at project close, and five years after the project has finished. We consider the perceptions and application of new knowledge by farmers, extension staff, and policy makers. By taking a longer-term view, we demonstrate how farming households adapt and integrate knowledge from different sources into their daily practice, influenced by local institutions and changing cultural expectations, as well as external researchers. We also consider the influence of changing government priorities and incentives in steering farm-management decisions. Results suggest that a focus on measures to build capacity and empower farmers with information to adapt and respond to change, regardless of project activities, is a much more important goal and indicator of impact than measuring adoption.
Hodgon, Linwood L. (author) and Singh, Harpal (author)
Format:
Book
Publication Date:
1970
Published:
India
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 192 Document Number: D04646
Notes:
Contains Table of Contents and Highlights of the Report only, James F. Evans Collection; Cited Reference, Hyderabad, India: National Institute of Community Development
Feder, Gershon (author), Just, Richard E. (author), and Zilberman, David (author)
Format:
Report
Publication Date:
1982
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 51 Document Number: C00566
Notes:
AgComm Teaching, Washington, D.C. : The World Bank, 1982. 65 p. (World Bank Staff Working papers No. 542), Reviews various studies which have provided a description of and possible explanation to patterns of innovation adoption in the agricultural sector. Covers both empirical and theoretical studies. Highlights the diversity in observed patterns among various farmers' classes as well as difference in results from different studies in different socio-economic environments, and reviews the attempts to rationalize such findings. Special attention is given to the methodologies which are commonly used in studies of innovation adoption and suggestions for improvements of such work through the use of appropriate econometric methods are provided.
