Adoption pathways for new agricultural technologies : An approach and an application to Vertisols management technology in Ethiopia.

Empirical studies on agricultural technology adoption generally divide a population into adopters and non-adopters, and analyze the reasons for adoption or non-adoption 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 adoption pathway is suggested in which farmers move from learning to adoption to continuous or discontinuous use over time. The characteristics of both the user and the technology are considered important in explaining adoption behavior and the pathway for adoption. The resultant pathway has further implication for the time frame and the volume of potential impact of a new technology.The framework was applied to understand the adoption pathway for vertisol management technology and related factors in three on-farm research sites in highland Ethiopia.