Knowledge and Adoption of Complex Agricultural Technologies
In most of Sub-Saharan Africa, agricultural extension models have become more decentralized and participatory and thus rely on effective farmer-to-farmer learning, while increasingly including nontraditional forms of education. At the same time, agricultural technologies become more complex and are now often promoted as integrated packages, which are likely to increase the complexity of the diffusion process. Based on a randomized controlled trial, this study assesses the effects of “farmer-to-farmer” extension and a video intervention on adoption of a complex technology package among 2,382 smallholders in Ethiopia. Both extension-only and extension combined with video increase adoption and knowledge of the package, especially of its more complex components; on average, however, the video intervention has no additional effect on adoption. Knowledge and the number of adopted practices also increase among farmers not actively participating in extension activities, which suggests information diffusion. For this group, the additional video intervention has a reinforcing effect, and particularly fosters adoption of the integrated package.
Main Authors: | , , , |
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Format: | Journal Article biblioteca |
Language: | English en_US |
Published: |
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank
2021-12-09
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Subjects: | RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL, INTEGRATED SOIL FERTILITY MANAGEMENT, TECHNOLOGY DIFFUSION, AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SYSTEMS, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, |
Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099646212082350827/IDU0fed712ae01c250430e089f00bcaf56560886 https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/40761 |
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Summary: | In most of Sub-Saharan Africa,
agricultural extension models have become more decentralized
and participatory and thus rely on effective
farmer-to-farmer learning, while increasingly including
nontraditional forms of education. At the same time,
agricultural technologies become more complex and are now
often promoted as integrated packages, which are likely to
increase the complexity of the diffusion process. Based on a
randomized controlled trial, this study assesses the effects
of “farmer-to-farmer” extension and a video intervention on
adoption of a complex technology package among 2,382
smallholders in Ethiopia. Both extension-only and extension
combined with video increase adoption and knowledge of the
package, especially of its more complex components; on
average, however, the video intervention has no additional
effect on adoption. Knowledge and the number of adopted
practices also increase among farmers not actively
participating in extension activities, which suggests
information diffusion. For this group, the additional video
intervention has a reinforcing effect, and particularly
fosters adoption of the integrated package. |
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