Agricultural technology adoption in developing countries.

Abstract

The paper examines the technology adoption process in a general sense, with a view to explaining why failures occur and what can be done to improve the transfer process. Examples are drawn from experience with the US Agency for International Development in El Salvador and West Africa. Success, even with a low level technical package, encourages the producer to try other new ideas so that the really dramatic techniques can be gradually introduced. Such an approach requires patience on the part of donors and local government officials. It is also more costly in both monetary terms and time. It should, however, succeed with farmers where other attempts have failed.