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Abstract
Empirical studies on agricultural technology adoption generally
divide a population into adopters and nonadopters, and analyse the reasons
for adoption or nonadoption at a point in time. In reality, technology
adoption is not a one-off static decision, rather it involves a dynamic
process in which information gathering, learning and experience play
pivotal roles, particularly in the early stage of adoption. A conceptual
framework for an adoption pathway is suggested in which farmers move
from learning to adoption, to continuous or discontinuous use over time.
The framework was applied to understand the adoption pathways for
vertisol management technology in highland Ethiopia. Analysis of a sample
of 585 households confirmed that a simple classification of farmers as
adopters and nonadopters was inadequate to understand the adoption
process. Rather a multistage decision process in which farmers moved from
learning to adoption to continuous or discontinuous use was more
appropriate. The sets of factors that significantly influenced decisions to
acquire knowledge about BBM, to adopt and then to use it continuously or
discontinuously were different. The lag between learning and adoption, and
the possibility of discontinuation and readoption imply that a longer period
will require for majority of the farmers to use the technology than if
adoption was a one off decision leading to continuous use.