Awareness
A first prerequisite for a farmer to apply a new technology is
to be aware about the existence of the technology. The time
from the availability of the innovation to the awareness of
farmers is what Lindner et al. (1982) call the discovery stage.
More recently introduced technologies are often less well
known than technologies that have been spreading for a longer
period of time. Awareness about a specific technology might
be virtually complete in certain areas—like mineral fertilizer in
Asian agro-industrialized countries—but very low or virtually
zero in other areas—like in South Kivu. The rate of awareness
about a technology likely varies with the type of technology,
the specific context, and farm and farmer characteristics.
The supply and diffusion of information—and hence the type
and intensity of information campaigns and extension activities—are
crucial for increasing awareness rates, but also the
demand for information matters. Certain farmers might be
more eager to learn than others and more actively engage in
the search for information about farming. The cost of searching
for information might be lower for better educated and
more experienced farmers, and farmers with a larger network
and more social capital.