Innovation behaviour among smallholders: Evidence from the peach value chain in Cochabamba, Bolivia

There is increasing empirical evidence that farmers not only decide to innovate on the basis of economic and personal considerations, but also on the context of the social interactions they maintain among themselves and with agents who promote change. The focus of this study was on how communication within the social networks of farmers influences their decision to innovate. Three communities in the Valle Alto of Cochabamba, Bolivia, were studied with regard to their social interactions and the degree to which innovations in peach production and marketing were applied. Variables denoting the embeddedness of farmers in the networks were derived using social network analysis. The results show that the connectivity of farmers in social networks allows the exchange of information on improved practices and innovations in peach production and marketing. Though, the effect on innovativeness is significant, its effect is marginal. Results also show that farmers do not communicate actively on such issues. A further analysis of the type of innovations available to the farmers reveals that many of them did not yet contribute to substantial increases in production and income. One may argue that the available innovation –for this particular case- were simply not substantial enough to make diffusion through the network and application on farmers’ fields worthwhile.