Socio-cultural Factors Determining Adoption of Farm Technologies

Social constructivists argue that technology does not determine human action, but that rather, human action shapes technology. They also argue that the ways a technology is used cannot be determined without understanding how that technology is entrenched in its social context. Technology adoption is not just a process of introducing new technologies, releasing them into society and expecting society to take them up. It is a complex process where social relations come into play where social dynamics are mapped onto the specific technical characteristics. Society tries to understand the new technology by negotiating ways by which it can be altered. In this way, the farmers engage with the technology and experiment with it to find ways that are most suitable for them. It is therefore not just about the technology working or not working or succeeding or failing or even being adopted or not being adopted, but it is about how these farmers participate in their networks to re-construct the technology to suit their needs and capabilities.