Beyond Individualistic Behaviour: Social Norms and Innovation Adoption in Rural Mozambique

Development efforts to lift smallholder farmers out of poverty are often focused on promoting the adoption of new technologies that can improve yields, such as improved seeds, fertilizer, and chemicals. Two sets of drivers / obstacles must be considered when addressing innovation adoptions: economic and cultural and behavioural drivers. This paper focuses on both sets of drivers with special consideration of the second set, which is often overlooked during intervention design and execution. Using a dataset of observations from 300 smallholder farmers from rural Mozambique, this paper investigates the cultural and behavioural aspects that may facilitate or hinder the adoption of new farming technologies. The prevailing social norms that shape the behaviour of an ideal "good farmer" as defined by each of the investigated communities are explored, examining how these characteristics hinder or accelerate the diffusion of technological innovation. What emerges from the analysis is a social norm of good farmer extremely concerned about others. Moreover, this collectivistic image does not prevent a positive social perception of achieving above average farming results. The empirical analysis investigates the main drivers of Mozambican farmers’ innovation adoption, especially in the case of the most radical innovations, with particular attention given to analysing whether the collectivistic good farmer identity constitutes an obstacle to innovation. The results of various econometric analyse on intensity and adoption of innovations show that education, information, training and income level are structural drivers of radical innovation adoption and its intensity. Moreover, not only does the prosocial idea of good farmer not prevent farmers from undertaking innovative solutions but also has a significant impact on the adoption of the most radical solutions.