The effects of a participatory approach on the adoption of agricultural technology: Focusing on the social network structure in rural Ethiopia

Ryo Takahashi*, Yasuyuki Todo, Terefe Degefa

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study empirically examined the effects of the participatory approach on the adoption of new crop varieties and agricultural practices. Particularly, we focused on the social network structure and examined how the introduced technologies diffused through networks in rural Ethiopia. Our empirical results indicate that if farmers knew and trusted fellow participants, the probability of adopting a new maize variety increased by 25 percentage points. However, this network had no statistical impact on the diffusion of new agricultural practices. We conclude that the participatory approach has great potential in the adoption of new crop varieties through the social networks of farmers in Ethiopia.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)50-56
Number of pages7
JournalStudies in Agricultural Economics
Volume117
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Keywords

  • Farmer research group
  • Impact evaluation
  • Participatory research and extension

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Economics and Econometrics
  • Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Development
  • Geography, Planning and Development

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The effects of a participatory approach on the adoption of agricultural technology: Focusing on the social network structure in rural Ethiopia'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this