Agricultural Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Processes in Vietnam’s Northwestern Uplands:State-governed or Demand-driven?

Abstract

This paper assesses processes of adoption of agricultural innovations introduced to the northwestern uplands of Vietnam since the late 1950s as a result of external driving forces and the motivation of adopting farmers. We found that innovations which meet the immediate needs of food security and income generation in the uplands are adopted by a high number of farmers, but tend to be less environmentally sound. Innovations driven by political and ecological interests, i.e. of the type “adoption for political and social rewards” and “adoption for a sustainable environment,” are accepted by only a small proportion of farmers. Agricultural innovations that can satisfy both the agenda of the government and meet the needs of farmers are quickly disseminated and have a long lifespan in the uplands. “Adoption for local consumption” and “adoption for cash income” have currently reached their peak after a period of rapid growth in the recent past. Examples of this include intensive rice cultivation for household food needs and hybrid maize cultivation for market demand. This study further identified three main mechanisms of innovation diffusion, namely the trickle-down mechanism, the ripple mechanism and the network mechanism with their underlying communication models of “transmission,” “interpersonal communication” and “social network” respectively.