Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Adoption of Modern Agricultural Technologies by Lowland Indigenous Groups in Bolivia: The Role of Households, Villages, Ethnicity, and Markets

  • Published:
Human Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A survey of 102 Mojeno and 62 Yuracare Amerindian households in the department of Beni in the Bolivian rain forest was done to measure the effects of household and village attributes, ethnicity, and markets on the adoption of chemical herbicides and insecticides for farming. We hypothesized: i) that village attributes would matter more among households with weak links to the market, ii) that education and income would matter more in households integrated to the market, and iii) that ethnic membership would not matter because, as a null hypothesis, we assume all cultures are equally adept at processing information about technological innovations. The results of a probit model with Huber robust standard errors did not confirm any of the hypotheses. Village variables were statistically significant at all levels of integration to the market. Contrary to human capital theory, income and education played a more prominent role in relatively autarkic villages. Ethnicity was statistically significant in the pooled sample and at different levels of integration. Results suggest that conventional determinants of adoption of new farm technologies may need reappraisal in more autarkic settings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Alderman, H., and Garcia, M. (1994). Food security and health security: Explaining the levels of nutritional status in Pakistan. Economic Development and Cultural Change 42(3): 485-507.

    Google Scholar 

  • Almeida, A., Ozorio, L., de, and Campari, J. S. (1994). Sustainable Settlements in the Amazon. Education and Social Policy Department, The World Bank, Washington, DC. Discussion paper 26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvarado, M. (1996). Uso del Monte Alto en Comunidades Indígenas del Beni: El Efecto del Mercado en e l Tamaño del Chaco. Tesis de licenciatura en ciencias sociales, carrera de antropología, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barham, B., Carter, M. R., and Sigel, W. (1995). Agroexport production and peasant land access: Examining the dynamics between adoption and accumulation. Journal of Development Economics 46: 85-107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batte, M., Jones, E., and Schnitkey, G. D. (1990). Computer use by Ohio commercial farmers. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 72: 935-945.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bedoya, E. (1995). The social and economic causes of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon basin: Natives and colonists. In Painter, M., and Durham, W. H. (eds.), The Social Causes of Environmental Destruction in Latin America. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI: pp. 217-248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bravo-Ureta, B. E., and Evenson, R. E. (1994). Efficiency in agricultural production. The case of peasant farmers in eastern Paraguay. Agricultural Economics 10: 27-37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brush, S., Taylor, J. E., and Bellon, M. (1992). Bio diversity and technological adoption in Andean potato agriculture. Journal of Development Economics 39(2): 365-388.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cancian, F. (1979). The Innovator's Situation: Upper Middle Class Conservatism in Agricultural Communities. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • CEDI (1990). Povos Indígenas no Brazil. Sao Paulo.

  • CEDI (1993) “Green Gold” on Indian Land. Logging Company Activities on Indigenous Land in the Brazilian Amazon, Sao Paulo (manuscript).

    Google Scholar 

  • Conklin, B. A., and Graham, L. R. (1995). The shifting middle ground: Amazonian Indians and eco-politics. American Anthropologists 97(4): 695-710.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Franco, M., and Godoy, R. (1993). Potato-led growth. The role of agricultural innovations in transforming Bolivian agriculture: A macroeconomic perspective. Journal of Development Studies 29(3): 561-587.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodds, D. J. (1993). Preliminary Research Report to the Instituto Hondure o de Antropología e Historia. Miskito Land Use in the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve. Department of anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duraisamy, P. (1992). Gender, Intrafamily Allocation of Resources and Child Schooling in South India. Yale Economic Growth Center, Discussion Paper 667.

  • Feder, G., and O'Mara, G. T. (1981). Farm size and the adoption of green revolution technology. Economic Development and Cultural Change 30: 59-76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feder, G., Just, R. E., and Zilberman, D. (1985). Adoption of agricultural innovations in developing countries: A survey. Economic Development and Cultural Change 33: 255-299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feder, G., Lau, L. J., and Slade, R. H. (1987). Does agricultural extension pay? The training and visit system in Northwest India. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 42: 677-686.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, A. D., and Rosenzweig, M. R. (1996). Technical change and human capital returns and investments: Consequences of the green revolution. American Economic Review 86(4): 931-954.

    Google Scholar 

  • García-Barrios, R., and García-Barrios, L. (1990). Environmental and technological degradation in peasant agriculture: A consequence of development in Mexico. World Development 18(11): 1569-1585.

    Google Scholar 

  • Godoy, R., Flores, V., Bravo, D., O'Neill, K., Kostishack, P., Cubas, A., and McSweeney, K. (1996). Adoption of New Farm Technologies in an Amerindian Rain Forest Society of Central America: The Role of Markets, Education, and Land. Harvard Institute for International Deve lopment, Cambridge, MA: (manuscript).

    Google Scholar 

  • Godoy, R., Jacobson, M., and Wilkie, D. (1998). Strategies for coping with misfortunes rain forest dwellers: The Tsimane' Indians of Bolivia. Ethnology, 37(1): 55-69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenbaum, L. (1989). Plundering the timber on Brazilian Indian reservations. Cultural Survival Quarterly 13(1): 23-26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griliche, Z. (1957). Hybrid corn: An exploration in the economics of technological change. Econometrica 25: 501-522.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hecht, S. B. (1993). The logic of livestock and deforestation in Amazonia. BioScience 43(10): 687-695.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hiebert, D. L. (1974). Risk, Learning, and the Adoption of Fertilizer Responsive Seed Varieties. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 57: 764-768.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamison, D., and Lau, L. J. (1982). Farmer Education and Farm Efficiency. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, J. (1980). Conflict Between Whites and Indians in the Llanos de Moxos, Beni Department: A Case Study in Development from the Cattle Regions of the Bolivian Oriente. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida.

  • Jones, J. (1991). Economic, Political Power, and Ethnic Conflict on a Changing Frontier: Notes from the Beni Department in Eastern Bolivia. Working Paper # 58, Institute for Development Anthropology, Binghamton, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, J. (1995). Environmental destruction, ethnic discrimination, and international aid in Bolivia. In Painter, M., and Durham, W. H. (eds.), The Social Causes of Environmental Destruction in Latin America University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI, pp. 169-216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Just, R. E., Zilberman, D., and Rausser, G. C. (1980). A putty clay approach to the distributional effects of new technology under risk. In D. Yaron and C. Tapiero (eds.), Operations Research in Agriculture and Water Resources, North Holland Publication Co., Amsterdam, pp. 42-63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klitgaard, R. (1992). Taking Culture into Account: From “Let's” to “How.” Paper presented at the International Conference on Culture and Development in Africa, The World Bank, Washington, DC, April 2-3, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ledec, G., and Goodland, R. J. A. (1988). Wildland: Their Protection and Management in Economic Development. The World Bank, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehm, Z. (1991). Loma Santa: Procesos de Reducción, Dispersión y Reocupación del Espacio de los Indígenas Mojeños (manuscript).

  • Lipton, M., and Longhurst, R. (1989). New Seeds and Poor People. Unwin Hyman Ltd., Longon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann, P. S. (1989). Green revolution revisited: The adoption of HYV wheat seeds in India. Journal of Development Studies 20(1): 131-145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mather, K. F. (1922). Exploration in the land of the Yuracarés, eastern Bolivia. Geographical Review 12: 42-56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, L. E. (1917). The Yuracaré Indians of eastern Bolivia. Geographical Review 4(6): 450-464.

    Google Scholar 

  • Molina, W. (1994). TIPNIS Hoy. CIDDEBENI, Trinidad, publicación # 28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moran, E. F. (1993). Through Amazonian Eyes: The Human Ecology of Amazonian Populations. University of Iowa Press, Iowa City.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munshi, K.. (1995). Social Learning and Technological Diffusion: An Application to India. PhD dissertation, Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mu oz, J. A. (1995). Access to Land and Rural Poverty in Bolivia. Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office, Country Operations 1 Division, The World Bank, Washington, DC (manuscript).

    Google Scholar 

  • Paz Pati o, S. (1991). Conflictos Interétnicos en la Región del Habitat Tradicional Yuracaré. Carrera de Sociología, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Cochabamba, Bolivia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, J. M. (1994). Farmer education and farmer efficiency: A meta analysis. Economic Development and Cultural Change 43(1): 149-165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putler, D. S., and Zilberman, D. (1988). Computer use in agriculture: Evidence from Tulare County, California. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 70: 790-802.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ribera, R. J. (1983). Aima Su e. Un Estudio de la Situación Actual de la Etnia Yuracaré del Oriente Boliviano: Bibliografía e Investigación de Campo. Facultad de Filosofía y Ciencias Religiosas, Universidad Católica Boliviana, Cochabamba, Bolivia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riester, J. (1976). En Busca de la Loma Santa. Los Amigos del Libro, La Paz.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig, M. R., and Wolpin, K. I. (1988). Heterogeneity, intrafamily distribution, and child health. Journal of Human Resources 23(4): 437-461.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruttan, V. (1977). The green revolution: Seven generalizations. International Development Review 19: 16-23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahlins, M. (1972). Stone Age Economics. Aldine, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Southgate, D. (1991). Tropical Deforestation and Agricultural Development in Latin America. International Institute for Environment and Development, LEEC Paper DP91-01.

  • Southgate, D., and Clark, H. (1993). Can conservation projects save biodiversity in South America? Ambio 22(2-3): 163-166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Southgate, D., and Whitaker, M. (1992). Promoting resource degradation in Latin America: Tropical deforestation, soil erosion, and coastal ecosystem disturbance in Ecuador. Economic Development and Cultural Change 35(4): 786-807.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, J. (1990). Household, communities, and preschool children's nutrition outcomes: Evidence from rural Côte d'Ivoire. Economic Development and Cultural Change 38: 231-261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tansel, A. (1993). School attainment, parental education, and gender in Côte d'Ivoire. Economic Development and Cultural Change 38: 231-261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thiele, G., Johnson, J., and Wadsworth, J. (1995). Bosquejo Socioeconómico del Norte de Bolivia. Centro de Investigación Agrícola Tropical and Misión Británica en Agricultura Tropical, Informe Técnico No. 20, Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, T. (1995). An indigenous people's struggle for socially equitable and ecologically sustainable production: The Kayapó revolt against extractivism. Journal of Latin American Anthropology 1(1): 98-21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vidal, L. (1989). Questao indígena e meio ambiente. Ambates entre culturas e interesses diferenciados. Sao Paulo em Perspectiva 3(4): 50-55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yifu Lin, J. (1991). Education and innovation adoption in agriculture. Evidence from hybrid rice in China. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 32: 713-723.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Ricardo Godoy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jeffrey R. Franks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mario Alvarado Claudio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Godoy, R., Franks, J.R. & Claudio, M.A. Adoption of Modern Agricultural Technologies by Lowland Indigenous Groups in Bolivia: The Role of Households, Villages, Ethnicity, and Markets. Human Ecology 26, 351–369 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018779131004

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018779131004

Search

Navigation