Sociological and Ecological Factors in Technology Adoption: Fodder Trees in Southeast Nigeria

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Abstract
SUMMARY: Farmer-managed trials with browse trees were undertaken at two locations in southeast Nigeria. The fast-growing tree species Leucaena leucocephala and Gliricidia sepium were either inter-planted with crops as alley farms or planted in pure stands as intensive feed gardens. At both locations, most of the trees established successfully under farmer management. However, the quality of establishment was uneven, and the rate of utilization generally poor, especially at one site. The limited success of the trials is traced to a number of related sociological, institutional and edaphic factors. These include poor soil fertility; the incompatibility of established cropping patterns and rotation practices with the planting of trees on farms; the division of labour and organization of decision-making within the household; and land and tree tenure rules. It is argued that farmer-managed trials are necessary to reveal the importance of sociological and institutional factors in farmers' decision making, and that such trials require a high level of farmer autonomy in their management.