Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
was initiated in 1995 with the expressed goal of diffusing soil conservation practices
among local farmers. The authors suggest that lack of flexibility in project imple-
mentation resulted in rejection of conservation practices in some areas. They note
that when farmers were included in the planning process and when flexibility was
included in the implementation procedures, adoption was more frequently observed.
Factors that were shown to be most important in facilitating adoption at the village
level were the following: conservation problems were clearly demonstrated, farmers
groups were organized to address conservation problems, the conservation practices
being diffused were shown to be effective, and education/training was available to
potential adopters. Factors shown to influence the adoption decision at the farm level
were as follows: farm size, availability of labor, access to economic resources, off-
farm employment, availability of water resources, and the congruence of the prac-
tices with the existing farming systems. All of these factors are consistent with the
factors discussed in the traditional diffusion model.
Saguiguit et al. (1999) and McDonald and Brown (2000) discuss the Integrated
Social Forestry Program introduced in the Nueva Vizcaya Province in northern
Philippines. The program was designed to bring about adoption of agroforestry and
soil conservation production systems among highland farmers. Conservation efforts
were focused on motivating land managers to adopt and use conservation practices
by providing subsidies to access production inputs, making training and technical
assistance available to potential adopters, enhancing the community support sys-
tems, and making tenure rights available to program participants. The use of tenure
rights as an incentive to participate in the project was somewhat unusual. The oppor-
tunity to gain tenure rights to the land being operated as a reward for participating in
the project acted as a very powerful incentive for subsistence farmers to participate
in the conservation program.
While all project participants adopted some aspect of the program, most program
participants adopted contour hedgerows rather than the more complex alternatives.
The primary reasons for adoption were the economic subsidies provided by the pro-
gram, the land tenure reward for program participation, and the encouragement of
respected community leaders. Saguiguit et al. (1999) note that awareness of the ben-
efits associated with adoption of soil conservation practices was not a significant
issue for program participants. They suggest that the reason for this finding is that
farmers were motivated to adopt by economic and land tenure factors and not by
environmental concerns. The authors also posit that it is highly doubtful that adopt-
ers will continue using the new conservation production systems once the program
resources are withdrawn because farmers have not been informed about the ben-
efits of the new practices. The authors observed that some conservation practices
employed before the project were still being used and diffused among other farmers
as the project progressed. This finding suggests that the type of conservation prac-
tices being diffused by the project were probably not the most relevant to the needs
of local farmers.
Sureshwaran et al. (1996) discuss research focused on the adoption of Sloping
Agricultural Land Technology (SALT) among subsistence farmers operating farms
on Leyte Island in the Philippines. The project sponsors used an approach very
similar to the traditional diffusion model to implement the conservation program.
