Abstract

FORERO CAMACHO, César A.; ROJAS CARVAJAL, Guillermo H.  and  ARGUELLES-CARDENAS, Jorge H.. Social and financial capital in cattle technology adoption for high elevation Andean rural areas in Colombia. Corpoica cienc. tecnol. agropecu. [online]. 2013, vol.14, n.2, pp.149-163. ISSN 0122-8706.

Technology adoption has been discussed as an alternative to strengthen rural development and solving the problems of food production in the world. However, is a decision influenced by multiple factors, which promote or not its implementation. The objective of this investigation was to establish which aspects of social and financial capital influence the adoption of technologies in rural areas where farmers practice the dual-purpose cattle production system. Methodologically, a mixed model that integrates a quantitative and qualitative approach and tools to obtain information: surveys, semi-structured interviews and focus groups, were used in a small farmers' community in Bogotá, Colombia. The rate of technology adoption was determined by estimating weighted indices for the following subdomains: conservation, feeding, agroforestry, milking, reproduction, and health. We performed weighted indices for the components of social capital (level training, community organization, community trust, institutional trust and reciprocity) and financial capital (savings and income). Hierarchical clustering of data using multiple correspondence analyses allowed the identification of three groups of producers according to their level of adoption: innovators, early adopters and skeptics. Linear regression models established the components of social capital and financial capital with greater significance or influence on the adoption of livestock technologies. The level of training, reciprocity and community organization from the social capital, and the planning index from the financial capital are the factors that have more influence in the adoption.

Keywords : technology adoption; social capital; financial capital; cattle rising.

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