Poverty status and the impact of social networks on smallholder technology adoption in rural Ethiopia

Lenis Liverpool-Tasie and Alex Winter-Nelson

No 49357, 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Abstract: Despite recent traces of economic growth, Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Though about 80% of its population is engaged in agriculture, agricultural productivity remains low and extremely vulnerable to climatic conditions. The adoption and use of modern technologies is generally accepted as a potential vehicle out of poverty for many but adoption rates in the country remain low with the nature of the adoption process largely unstudied (Spielman et al, 2007). This paper studies the impact of social networks in the technology adoption process in rural Ethiopia. In particular it tests for the presence of social learning effects. In addition to geographic networks, it considers the role played by other networks with more purposeful interactions such as a household’s friends. The study explores the differential impacts of social networks by network type, technology and the asset poverty status of households.

Keywords: Food Security and Poverty; International Development; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40
Date: 2009-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-dev, nep-net and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Working Paper: Poverty status and the impact of social networks on smallholder technology adoption in rural Ethiopia (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aaea09:49357

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.49357

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