Going beyond dichotomous adoption : the case of cassava technology on the Atlantic Coast of Colombia

An important aspect of the research and development (RandD) cycle is technology diffusion. Researchers, extension agents, research managers, donors and policymakers need to receive feedback from the field with respect to farmer adoption/nonadoption. Technology adoption studies attempt to explain and characterize adoption levels, rates and users. They can also serve as a guide for research managers in the allocation of funds among alternative RandD options. If the factors characterizing adopters/nonadopters can be identified fully and their decision-making analyzed, current RandD systems can be modified in order to reach this segment of the population more effectively. However, most studies have been of a qualitative nature; and there is no theoretical basis for specifying structural relationships and interdependencies. The purpose of this research was to identify the factors influencing farmers' response to new technology and then quantify the effect of accessing new alternative markets and joining small farmer organizations for cassava processing. The possible correlations studied were between technology adoption and the following factors: access to markets, characteristics of government programs and farm/farmer characteristics. More appropriate methodologies were developed to analyze the effect of explanatory variables on dichotomous dependent variables. The logistic regression model used estimates of data from a survey of 544 cassava farmers in the region. Preliminary results show that introducing the demand side in the analysis of the factors affecting the adoption process is important. In the case of cassava on the Atlantic Coast of Colombia, it was found that adoption of specific technologies was significantly affected by market access. Moreover, the study showed the importance of the cassava utilization technology in the adoption of production technology, which iS, in turn, affected by "distance to plant" and "membership in a cassava drying coop," supporting the theory that farmer associations can serve as vehicles for technology diffusion. Government programs that influence the access of farmers to information and credit are of great significance in technology adoption, especially when more intensive technical assistance and greater capital investment are required.