Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
although they are well known and frequently used in high-scale societies. The
various elements of the traditional diffusion model can be combined to develop a
decision-making framework to explain how adoption of soil and water conservation
can be implemented within lesser-scale societies. While adoption of conservation
production systems will never be accepted by all farm managers within any society,
use of the diffusion model to introduce new conservation production systems will
increase the probability that the outcome of the process will be greater adoption of
conservation practices and/or technologies at the farm level.
The first stage in the traditional diffusion model is the creation of awareness
among farmers about socioenvironmental problems associated with use of produc-
tion systems that contribute to degradation of agricultural land. To accomplish this
objective, education and exposure to environmental information must be provided to
land managers. While provision of information and training may appear to be a very
simple task to perform for people living in high-scale societies, such as the United
States, this task is often extremely difficult to accomplish within lesser-scale socie-
ties. Within high-scale societies, government agencies have been developed to pro-
vide farmers with information in a prompt and efficient manner. Mass media systems
have been created that instantaneously provide information to millions of people via
multiple venues. While information and training institutions are quite common and
easily accessible within high-scale societies, such institutions seldom exist in lesser-
scale societies, especially within rural areas of poor countries. Without access to
training and information-dissemination structures, the conservation decision-making
process is often terminated at this point.
Most often, conservation training/information within lesser-scale societies are
delivered by government agents or by change agents provided by nongovernment
organizations. Local farmers who have experience with conservation production
systems sometimes act as instructors and communicate their knowledge to other
farmers through informal systems. The latter approach can prove to be problematic
because farmers engaged in teaching may not be aware of some important elements
of the conservation production system they are discussing. Failure to inform poten-
tial adopters about critical components may render what they communicate faulty or
inadequate to achieve anticipated conservation/production goals. Failure to achieve
anticipated outcomes may result in rejection of future conservation initiatives among
potential adopters who have observed what has occurred.
Assuming potential adopters have been made aware of environmental problems
associated with the agricultural production systems presently being employed, the
second stage of the diffusion model becomes operative. At this stage of the decision-
making process, land managers should be willing to consider possible solutions.
Access to information about alternative action options becomes very important. Land
managers begin the process of developing attitudes toward alternative action options,
and this requires access to information about all action options being considered.
The same barriers exist at this stage of the decision-making process that existed in
the initial stage of the diffusion model. If information about alterative action options
is difficult to access, the options that can be assessed are very limited. Frequently,
the most relevant action option for a specific land manager is not considered because
information about that specific innovation is not available. If information provided
