Adoption of Sustainable Livestock Innovations: Evidence from Latin America

To maintain the vital economic benefits of Latin Americas livestock sector while minimizing its environmental footprint, producers must adopt clean and climate-friendly sustainable technologies such as improved feed and grazing practices and silvopastoral systems. Yet we have limited evidence the adoption of such innovations, particularly in developing regions where socioeconomic and geophysical conditions often differ from those in the developed countries. To help fill that gap, this monograph presents studies examining the drivers of adoption in Chile, Colombia, and Mexico; the efficacy of a program aimed at spurring adoption in Uruguay; and farmers preferences for adoption in Uruguay. Several broad findings emerge from the set of five studies. First, generalizing about the drivers of the adoption of sustainable livestock technologies in Latin America is ill advised: they are both technology- and site-specific. Relatedly, land tenure matters. Third, all good things do not necessarily go together: adopting one sustainable livestock technology does not necessarily increase the chances of adopting others. Fourth, the adoption of sustainable livestock innovations does not guarantee significant impacts on targeted outcomes. Finally, two of the most common policy interventionsenhancing access to credit and/or providing technical extensionare correlated with adoption, at least for some technologies and subgroups. A key policy implication is that one-size-fits-all policies aimed at promoting adoption are unlikely to be effective or efficient. Rather, policies must be carefully targeted and tailored to specific technologies and locations and/or must provide menus of technological and support options for diverse sets of farmers.