Cultivating Change: Long-Term Effects of Repeated Training on Organic Farming Adoption in Indonesia

Nathalie Luck (), Michael Grimm and Kristian Tamtomo
Additional contact information
Nathalie Luck: University of Passau and TU Munich
Kristian Tamtomo: Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta

No 18479, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: Most impact assessments of agricultural training evaluate one-time interventions over short time horizons. However, farmers may initially show enthusiasm for a new technology but subsequently dis-adopt it after a trial period, while others may adopt practices gradually over time. This study investigates the causal impact of repeated agricultural training on the adoption of organic farming practices among Indonesian smallholder farmers. Using a randomized controlled trial and four waves of panel data spanning five years, we analyze adoption dynamics over time. Farmers in the treatment group received training twice, once in 2018 and again in 2022. Our findings show that repeated training significantly increased the adoption of organic farming practices, but no evidence that training motivated farmers to fully transition to organic farming. Adoption patterns reveal substantial dis-adoption, re-adoption, and late adoption following repeated training. The results contribute to understanding longer-term adoption dynamics after extension programs and provide insights into the challenges faced by smallholder farmers transitioning to sustainable agricultural practices.

Keywords: organic farming; training; skills; technology adoption; information constraints; extension services; Indonesia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 J24 J43 O12 O13 Q12 Q15 Q16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-dev, nep-env, nep-exp, nep-inv and nep-sea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp18479.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18479

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Mark Fallak ().