Agroforestry adoption as a systems concept: A review

Adoption of innovations is central to improved livelihoods of smallholders and agricultural modernization. The means of achieving optimum adoption rates, however, remain blurred amidst decades of research and interventions. This paper employed both content and meta-analysis to summarize the theoretical and empirical studies conducted in the past three decades in agroforestry (AF) adoption practice and research. Literature from innovation, social networks, diffusion, and adoption of innovations streams of research are explored to analyze the main outputs of adoption studies. Positive critique is presented to advance the comprehension of AF adoption decision contexts and improve the effectiveness of interventions. Econometric models employed more than 151 variables to examine AF adoption and information diffusion. Qualitative and descriptive analysis explored further perspectives (e.g., innovation characteristics) complementing the focus on socioeconomic variables in econometric models. The innovation systems concept provided a broader menu of investigation by conceptually integrating a wide diversity of actors and activities thereby increasing our understanding of how such innovations are produced, transferred and adopted across communities, locations and time.