STRATEGIES TO EFFECT

ADOPTION
STRATEGIES TO EFFECT ADOPTION

1. Extension Worker Intervention

2. Progressive Farmer Strategy
3. Mass Marketing
4. Follower Farmer
5. Selective Farmer to Farmer
Extension Worker Intervention

 Extension workers are valuable agents

for quick diffusion and adoption of
innovations
Extension Worker Intervention

 As “carrier” of information, they must

possess important traits such as
credibility, because of good
understanding of farmers and his
problems, nature of technology,
extension methods, research results, etc.
Progressive Farmer Strategy

 Extension agents usually are in direct

contact with progressive farmers from
whom innovations diffuse
Progressive Farmer Strategy

 Use of progressive farmers has its

attraction to extension workers
especially if they are working under the
pressure of targets (e.g. fertilizers to be
distributed, areas to be planted with new
varieties, etc.)
Mass Marketing
 Uses advertising to reach each member of the
target market directly

 Involves huge communication systems to give

info regarding product availability to consumers

 Feedback data to producers re consumers’ wants

 Can create broad public awareness of critical

issues
Mass Marketing

 Can be used to introduce new product (e.g. new

brand of chemical fertilizer), the modification of
existing ones (e.g. organic composting),
restricted consumption of inputs (e.g. use of
herbicides), and promotion of change in existing
institutions

 Requires careful design and delivery of products

to properly identified and analyzed
homogeneous target markets
Follower-Farmer

 Emerged from the T & V system introduced in

many Third World countries largely through
the encouragement and support of The World
Bank
 Contact farmers are identified from among

groups of families or households in one

village
 Extension worker works with contact farmers
Follower-Farmer

 System revolves around an intensive visit of

extension workers to contact farmers

 During visits, extension worker transfers

information to contact farmers who in turn
pass on the information to the farm
households that they are in charge of
Selective Farmer to Farmer
 Knowledge or information acquired by a
farmer is transferred to another farmer
through informal discussion in field and
villages
 Conversation can also happen during

leisure time and on social and religious

occasions.
 Relatives, friends, and others listen to and

participate in the discussions

Explanations for Rejection/ Adoption
of Technology
 INDIVIDUAL-BLAME’ Hypothesis
 - I am poor, I have low educational attainment,
traditional, fatalistic

 ‘SYSTEM-BLAME’ Hypothesis
 - Leadership is traditional, power relationship is
exploitative, etc.

 ‘PRO-INNOVATION’ Bias
 - The innovation is okay, it is the farmer’s fault.