Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Socio-economic features, dynamics of farmers associations and adoption of sawah rice production technology in Nigeria and Ghana

Author(s):

O.I. Oladele ¹*, T. Wakatsuki ²

Recieved Date: 2012-01-20, Accepted Date: 2012-04-30

Abstract:

The adoption of new agricultural techniques of which sawah rice production technology is an example, is a key route out of poverty for many in the developing world.  This paper analyzed whether and how a farmer’s decision to adopt a new technology depends upon the adoption decision of other farmers in their social group, which, unlike most of the existing literature, the paper is able to identify precisely.  The use of various technologies depends on socioeconomic variables and the existence of different dimensions of social dynamics. Social dynamics is especially important in determining whether households have access to, and therefore use, different technologies. Although different studies have looked at social dynamics in terms of membership in groups, there is need to differentiate different kinds of social dynamics as they influence technology adoption differently. Social dynamics measured as bonding, bridging, and linking influence technology adoption. Overall the evidence suggests that network effects are important for individual decisions, and that, in the particular context of agricultural innovations, farmers share information and learn from each other. Individual adoption decisions depend upon the choices of others in the same social networks. Since farmers anticipate that they will share information with others, farmers are expected to be more likely to adopt when they know many other adopters. Dynamic considerations, however, suggest that farmers who know many adopters might strategically delay adoption to free-ride on the information gathered by others. The specific application of the socio-economic and dynamics of farmers association to adoption was explained through a cross sectional data collected from adopters and non- adopter of sawah rice technology in Ghana and Nigeria. The paper concludes that the externalities which play important role in technology-adoption decisions are network, market power and learning externalities. The study recommends investments, especially by development organizations, in strengthening these different forms of social dynamics by supporting local kinship or community groups that generate social dynamics, promoting farmer access and links with external organizations that can act as sources of information and technologies for farmers, as well as links with other farmer associations and groupings from whom they can learn. 

Keywords:

Socio-economic, dynamics, social groups, networks, externalities, adoption, sawah, rice

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2012
Volume: 10
Issue: 2
Category: Agriculture
Pages: 434-437

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